Going Paperless & Making the Most of a Small Living Space
Main Topics:  
Going Paperless: Guest Interview with Brooks Duncan from DocumentSnap
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We had a fantastic interview with Brooks.  There's no doubt he's way out front as a lead expert in the field of going paperless.  Here is a list of questions we asked Brooks (you definitely should listen to the podcast because he gave some great answers and advice!):
So, Brooks...who are you and how do you make people's lives simpler?
Is it really possible to go paperless? What about...



Tax paperwork (Brooks sent IRS guidance, too.  Links below.)
Receipts
Contracts
Other docs that people have been "married to" forever?


How do you recommend people get started with going paperless?
What does the workflow look like, or are there lots of different workflows?
Your article "We Are Our Own Worst Enemy When Going Paperless" is fantastic! Can you describe some of the challenges people face when going paperless?
What equipment do you recommend and why?



Mac
PC
Scanners
Mobile device/apps
Etc...


Your Paperless Document Organization Guide and it's an amazing value...do you have other courses?
How can people sign up for your newsletter?
What is the best way for people to reach you?
Website: documentsnap.com
Twitter: @BrooksDuncan and @DocumentSnap
Facebook: facebook.com/documentsnap

Dan and Vanessa Discuss Tips for Small Home Living

Planning Our "Dream Home"...five years of planning
Taking Action...designing, saving, paying it off and then...
Oooops! Rethinking Our "Dream Home"...reasons for our change of plans: affordable green living, time to travel and visit family, not wanting to be slaves to possessions

Intro to Cece Reinhardt + Brenda Daugherty from the blog “On the Green Road”



Downsized their lives
Totally eco-refurb’d an Airstream remodel and lived full-time in their RV
Now they’re transitioning to a 500 sf house and planning a complete eco-refurb of that, too!
They blog about health, travel, self-sufficiency and as they say, “anything else that blows our skirts up.”


Guest Post on On The Green Road from Katie White from the blog DIY Mother: “DIY Tricks to Make the Most of a Small Living Space” (Note: We added some tips, too! Our additions to this are Italicized)

The main theme was:



Reducing your footprint doesn’t have to be uncomfortable

She also pointed out some of the advantages of living in a Small home. They are :

Use less land and raw materials
Cost less to heat and cool
You’ll be less tempted to fill them with things you don’t need.  Ties right into the spin off of Parkinson’s Law we talked about back in Episode 004...“Storage requirements will increase to meet storage capacity"

Kitchen Keypoints:


Small kitchens can be noisy, crowded little pressure-cookers, breeding hot tempers and short fuses.
Paint your kitchen in light, cool shades to help everyone relax, and if possible, coordinate the entire kitchen in two or three colors to avoid a busy, disorganized vibe.
Another simple trick to increase the visual space in your kitchen is to try open shelving instead of cupboards.
We have raised Euro-style cabinets off the floor so you can see under them...it adds visual depth. Also, a mix of solid frosted glass cabinet doors help, too.
Tall upper cabinets really max out your vertical storage space.
Pull-out lower drawers, versus standard cabinets are a lifesaver.
Forego “uni-tasker” appliances and opt for multitasking appliances.

Living Room Lessons: The easiest way to open up your living room is to get things off the floor.


Instead of a clunky bookshelf, try wall-mounted shelves.
Small house plants and lighting can also be placed on the walls or ceiling (Hanging plants are especially good for small living rooms).