In recent years, business owners and even self-employed people have come to realize the importance of a well-designed office space.
Whether you’re in charge of a large company and you want to keep your office designed for productivity and creativity, or you work from home, and you want an engaging, comfortable home office, design is important.
The design of an office can impact the attitude of the people who work there and can help foster things like collaboration and teamwork. On the other hand, bad office design can have a negative impact on morale and overall productivity.
Below are some tips that can be useful to give any office, big or small, a design refresh for 2017.
Ergonomic Furniture
Perhaps one of the biggest trends in office design, whether it’s a corporate office or a home office, is ergonomic furniture.
Ergonomic furniture is comfortable and well-designed to keep people from experiencing pain or stiffness while they’re working. The result? They can get more work done because they’re not focused on those aches and pains.
Consider swapping out old, uncomfortable desk chairs for ergonomic options, or even make a minimal change such as having a keyboard pad to keep wrists from becoming sore after typing all day.
Flexible Furniture
Another tip you might consider if you want to revamp your office that has multiple employees is flexible furniture. Furniture designers are offering modular systems that are versatile and can be used as sofas and seating, desks and collaborative furniture, yet they’re all one piece or a few different, flexible pieces.
It makes it easy to have a fluid workspace where employees can work separately when they need to, and then come together when the situation requires brainstorming or creative teamwork.
Natural Lighting
If your office has heavy drapes or outdated blinds, remove them and go with something like pleated shades that will allow soft, natural light in, even when they’re closed.
Natural lighting is important to keep employees alert and active while they’re at work, and it’s much better emotionally than relying on something like harsh, fluorescent overhead lighting.
Bring In the Green
If you’re in charge of designing a large office, you might consider something like a living wall, which brings in greenery, facilitates a natural environment, is calming and can even remove toxins from the air. Some larger businesses are even adding entire atriums or indoor gardens to their workspaces, giving employees a calming, peaceful reprieve in the middle of the work day.
If you are working on redesigning your home office, think about adding some green potted plants to your space.
It can completely change the atmosphere of a business environment to have greenery present.
Cleaner Air
Along with adding greenery, another way to make a workspace healthier is by using air purifiers. Of course, larger businesses would need industrial models, but if you have a small or home office, you can consider a Dyson air purifier or something similar, which can be used to remove toxins, allergens, and odors, making for a more pleasant workspace.
If you want to start 2017 on a positive foot, consider revamping your office, whether it’s where a team of employees works, or it’s a corner of your home.
