Do you know how much time an average person spends at work?
About 90,000 hours on average over a lifetime.
Yes, you heard right. An average person spends a chunk of their life at work. According to the well-reputed and widely known writer Annie Dillard, in her beautiful book "The Writing Life" said, "How we spend our days is, of course how we spend our lives".
An average person spends about one-third of his life in his workspace. Thus the office environment must be appealing and complacent enough to help the person feel at ease and perform his tasks efficiently.
As a business owner or manager, ask yourselves; what kind of place do you want to spend over one-third of your life?
What ambiance do you want your employees and colleagues to work in?
Good furniture and a pleasant environment play a prime role in increasing productivity at work. Keep on reading to begin building the office of your dreams!
Things To Consider When Setting Up Your Office Furniture
To make your office look classy and professional without compromising on the efficiency of your employees and co-workers, you must consider the following things.
Refuse Compromising Your Comfort
Disease or illness is not limited to well-being, social, physical, mental, and emotional factors exist. Comfort and well-being must be on priority and not be compromised.
Although the classic, trendy furniture on Pinterest might look appealing to the eyes, be sure to consider the functionality of your surroundings.
The Basics
The following pieces are considered basic furniture that all offices should have.
Find Out The Best Chair
An ergonomic chair with a wide range of adjustments can support more body types. It would be worth every penny you invest in it. It would also help the well-being of your employees by providing comfort for extended work hours.
Look out for comfy adjustable chairs at All Homely.
Invest In A Desk
A comfortable desk must have a broad surface space. A desk that can accommodate all your projects is worth your investment too.
For small home offices, invest in a footrest to keep your feet flat on the ground. Position your office furniture in a way that would put less stress on your body during long work.
You can get 14% Off at Prepac Tall Bookcase with Doors - White, professional desks and chair designs for your office at Hayneedle.
Keep Your Body Supported
If you work from home and want to refuse the stress of long work hours and sitting in one place to get to you, here are a few tips to make you feel comfy and at ease:
- Reduce neck pain: position the top of your monitor just a little below the eye level
- Prevent pain in the forearms: place your keyboard in a way that your forearms are parallel to the floor
- Use an ergonomic headset if you are on the phone for long hours
- Move around: find reasons to get out of your chair to prevent getting stiff limbs
- Stay hydrated
- Adjust your chair such that your feet are flat on the floor.
Furnishing Your Workplace
Colors are an essential part of our life. They affect our mood as well as our ambiance. Hence, you must not go overboard with your office's color and interior design. Too bright colors might distract people from their tasks. And a monotonous, gray gloomy office would feel more like a prison cell. Instead, you should keep the colors neutral, pairing them with accents of a few different colors.
For instance, the following colors would go well with dark brown furniture:
- Warm golden yellow
- Soft medium blues
- Restful grayish-greens
- Creamy tans
- Soothing grays
If you work from home, you should ensure that the area behind you is always neat. Investing in a desk with built-in wire management would help to keep your desk clear and fit for use at all times.
Get Closer To Nature
Proved numerous times that exposure to sunlight or natural elements is linked to a high productivity rate and job satisfaction. Accessibility to a natural environment can promote many desired outcomes and increase functionality. Humans naturally incline toward nature. Being within the proximity of greenery and plants can enhance efficiency by ten-folds and relax the mind.
When setting up a new office or trying to renovate your workplace, you must consider setting up your new furniture near a window. It would help reap the benefits of natural light, and simultaneously boost the mood to perform tasks efficiently.
Although setting up a workplace near a window might be challenging, investing in plants and adding some greenery in your office can have significant benefits like boosting creativity, stress reduction, clean, fresh air, etc.
Also, setting up a small home office gives you the benefit of escaping the stuffy office life. Set your stuff near a window and decorate your desk with small potted plants to keep your creativity going.
Storage For Your Stuff
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace so is our lifestyle too. Likewise, storing documents and files has also become a serf of technology, as most offices are moving away from endless rows of file cabinets and are transferring to paperless options.
Nevertheless, paperwork floating around the workplace is never a good omen. Be sure to equip your workplace with a good filing cabinet, and keep the clutter at a minimum.
A magazine rack or a wall-mountable bookshelf would be pretty constructive as well.
It could be a great hack for those trying to set up a home office, as storing books and files on the wall can save valuable floor space moreover add a touch of visual appeal to the room.
You can also use mobile storage file cabinets to help you move your stuff around comfortably.
Devaise offers a wide variety of elegant and classy file cabinets. Check them out to find the perfect cabinets that suit your taste!
Functionality Is The Key
As important as having high-toned office furniture is, one should never compromise the functionality of the furnishings. The role of business furniture is to create a practical yet alluring environment for the employees and the workers. One of its key elements is to provide comfort for the employees and aid in professionalism.
Hence it will be appropriate to say that the furniture you choose can make or break your workplace efficiency.
Invest in desks which would provide you with more storage space and chairs that would lessen the stress of sitting for long work hours. According to Tim Cook, “A great product is not just a collection of features, its how it all works together”.
Check out exclusive desks with modern designs at Casa Mare.
Create Cozy Environment
Breaks are an essential constituent of office life. They help to rejuvenate exhausted employees hence decreasing employee turnover. Although frequent short breaks reduce productivity, it helps lift persons' spirits.
Create a cozy lounge area with comfy couches, ergonomic chairs, sleek coffee tables, bookcases with entertaining and illuminating books, and perhaps even a TV with video games. It would help invigorate weary employees and increase job satisfaction. Of Course, a happy employee is more willing to do things further than their job description. Never forget one rule of thumb. A happy employee leads to satisfied customers, which leads to more profits.
Cafeteria Furniture
You obviously cannot starve your employees for a whole day, so you would have to give them lunch breaks. Not having a cafeteria is a deficiency, a pleasant canteen would force your employees to leave the office during lunch breaks.
For worst, officials might choose to skip lunch to avoid the hassle of leaving the office just to grab a few bites. To keep the officials' health intact, setting up a small cafeteria for them to have their meals restored themselves would not only increase their productivity but strengthen interoffice relationships.
Considering that these segments of office furniture will be there for need but not only for relief, you also will not demand anything fancy or too exquisite. A simple, elegant table and chair set would do the task.
Virco has to offer ergonomic chairs, benches, and desks for casual use.
Don't Forget The Boards
Whiteboards are a productive way to enhance mental and physical abilities. Hence whiteboards are a significant piece of furniture every office needs. They are perfect for brainstorming, project visualization, and keeping track of the team progress while keeping everyone engrossed in the task.
If you are not a huge fan of whiteboards, try considering its advanced alternative, a smartboard. With touchscreen technology, a smartboard works the same as a whiteboard, without all the things you hate about markers and erasers.
Whiteboards are extremely useful for small home offices as well. They help you keep organized; You can write messages and reminders for yourself and other people living in the house.
It inspires ideas, is feasible, and can be shared with your housemates too!
Make ‘Em Feel At Home
For most people, an office is their second home. Instead of making your workplace look like a prison cell that makes you feel dull and ready to bolt, start turning your place into a home away from home. Choose the correct layout and great office furniture to build up the workplace of your dreams!
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