Your office should feel as though it’s an extension of who you are – it’s the space where you earn your keep, where you learn - and should represent the personality of your business.
The more productive office designs try to balance the comforts of a lively home setting with a professional image. To be productive, you’ve got to be comfortable and relaxed, but not to the point where you’re taking afternoon naps in your bean bag chair. The level of comfort in your office can easily be tailored to help perpetuate a feeling of ease, efficiency and simplicity.
This is the fun part – try to blend a perfect amount of your personal style with a flair for professionalism - you’ll end up with an office space that’s the envy of your industry.
Whether you’re trying to breathe life into your existing space, or designing a new empty space, here are a few tips for making the office your very own:
Make Your First Impression Count
Take a look at your current space. What does it say about you, about your company? How would a potential client or customer react to your office furnishings? Is it welcoming, but at the same time professional? Balancing aspects of business rigidity with comforts like colours, inviting chairs and wall art are integral to portraying an approachable, active business feel. Try gaining some perspective by investigating the spaces of your colleagues, or a friend’s office space. Ask yourself how the aesthetics of their spaces entice you to do business with them or not? Also, there’s great value in simply keeping a space tidy and investing a few dollars in a fresh coat of paint every year.
Ergonomics
Carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain and eye strain can pose serious productivity and happiness drains on you and your perception of your office space. If you begin to associate it with pain, literal or mental, you’ll begin to dread your space, limiting your enjoyment of life and your time spent at the office. Ergonomic design should be viewed as a crucial part of office furnishing; it’s an investment that will save you time and money down the line. Make sure that your office chair is the proper height to your desk and keyboard – make sure that your computer monitor is at eye level and at a proper distance so you’re not squinting to see. If your furniture simply doesn’t work for your body ergonomically, investing the extra time to research and test some new furnishings will help make you feel like you’re doing yourself a valuable favor. If you’re in charge of furnishings for your entire office, purchase a few ergonomically designed accessories for employees who request them – you’ll have a happier, more productive office because of it.
Clarify Your Requirements
Gauge your office furniture all the time. Decide what works for you and what doesn’t. Maybe the piece of art on your wall has outstayed its welcome, or maybe your desk and chair combination needs to be less intimidating to coworkers seeking your advice on a Wednesday afternoon. Decide what needs a facelift, and what doesn’t. Finally, decide what you can do without, and what you’re lacking. Do you really need the newest style of desk? Probably not, so don’t jump to conclusions when it comes to new furnishing fads – stick to classic designs and styles that perform well.
Stick With Reputable Manufacturers
It’s not all about brand names, but avoiding the cheapo knock-off brands will ultimately pay off in the end. Look for quality materials, and evidence of reputable craftsmanship. Investing in quality will not only make you feel like you’ve made a good business decision for your office, but it will help you to feel like you’re investing some care in your space. For customers traversing your halls, a good quality name and a clear attention to detail will bring them comfort and confidence in dealing with you, while a secondhand faded desk could scream second-rate business.
Shop For Where Your Industry is Heading
No lava lamps and shag rugs. When you’re looking for furniture and décor for your office, remember to look into modern day aesthetics, and be sure to take modern technology into account. Look into the future of your business, and play with ideas of expansion, design trends and relevance. Will your new desk accommodate a new computer or other piece of technology? Will your shopping decisions help potential customers and co-workers to feel as though the space is up-to-date in terms of style and utility? Will that piece of wall art still be a reliable conversation starter in six months? Furnishing your office should help it to reach, and stay at the forefront of modern trends to stay current.
Investigate Your Company Standards
Take the time to sit down with your staff to brainstorm a few company standards when it comes to office furnishings. This will not only yield some fresh ideas and a collaborative environment, but it will also help your office to portray a unified style. If your individual offices are wildly unique and different to the point where they portray very different modes of thinking, clients, customers and colleagues may become visually and mentally disoriented when searching for resources, advice or guidance. Laying out some very basic ground rules and sharing some visual ideas can help your office to unite under a broad banner of style, and function. Outline a few standards regarding materials like glass or wood, for example. Propose a colour palette for common areas and lobbies – maybe even go so far as to include your furnishings dealer in the conversation so future aesthetic changeovers can be tracked and helped to progress.
Embrace Art
Hanging up your favourite wall art in your office will bring to life a feeling of individuality and of personality. This will help you to feel cultured, and can further help unify the office in terms of ideologies and flavours. If you work for a digital multimedia company, try hanging an art nouveau piece, or a personal mantra illustrated with typography. Don’t be afraid of colour. If you work in a law firm or an accounting firm, hanging a degree or certification alongside a tasteful sculpture can go a long way in spicing up empty wall space. Remember, the more you like your space, the more you’ll want to be there.
Let There Be Light
What’s worse than sitting in a dark, dull room all day? Shopping for lighting fixtures is a great way to add style without going overboard. They can not only literally brighten up office spaces, but the style and form of a lamp, or new fixture can dramatically change the feel of a space. Light needs to project life, and this means opening up dark shades, replacing old bulbs with bright LED’s, and throwing in a side table with a reading lamp for client sitting spaces.
Take it Slow
There’s no reason why you have to overhaul your entire office in one go. Take your time to decide on which pieces compliment your personality, the energy of your business, add to the office culture of your space and work together to increase energy levels and breathability. If you begin your shop with six different things on your mind, chances are your renovated space will feel as though there were actually six different things going on – when you rush, your space suffers. Take some time to research looks, trends, materials, colour palettes and layouts. Buy less up front, try out your creation and add to the layout of your office as time goes on, building a personality for your work space.
Furnishing to Inspire Team-Building
The days of hierarchal corner offices and huge intimidating mahogany desks are over. Maybe the best choice for refurnishing your office space is to talk with your team about a larger shared space. Think and talk about who needs access to whom, and who needs less communication with another level of the business. This compartmentalization of space and tasks can be useful in helping design an inspired new layout for the entire office. Head for larger round conference tables to influence equal collaboration. Use glass to make small team rooms feel larger and loftier. Use powerful colours as accent walls to ramp up imagination and productivity. Respect privacy by discussing private spaces for people to retreat to when they need some space, and furnish them to feel relaxed, cozy and inviting.
In addition to helping your own office space feel more productive, it can double as a marketing tool for potential and existing clients. A revamp of your office furnishings can change what visitors think when they come by, and can help to boost or revitalize office culture by embracing modern design aesthetics and colour studies. What does your office space say about you? If it’s not what you had hoped for, feel great about changing it!