Charlie Harris Choosing furniture for your office can be a difficult process, especially when it comes to considerations such as accommodations for disabled employees, modular and moveable workspaces, and reflecting your brand identity through your office. From matching the right colour schemes for your interior design to ensuring your furniture is comfortable and easy to use for your employees, there are several different things to think about. So, in this article, we’ll take you through some of the factors to keep in mind when you’re choosing the right furniture to suit your company, your office, and your employees.
Choosing the Right Furniture for Your Office: A Guide
Choosing furniture for your office can be a difficult process, especially when it comes to considerations such as accommodations for disabled employees, modular and moveable workspaces, and reflecting your brand identity through your office.
From matching the right colour schemes for your interior design to ensuring your furniture is comfortable and easy to use for your employees, there are several different things to think about.
So, in this article, we’ll take you through some of the factors to keep in mind when you’re choosing the right furniture to suit your company, your office, and your employees.
Choosing the Colour of your Office Furniture
When you’re choosing your office furniture, it’s essential to plan out your colour scheme.
Generally, it’s a good idea to base this on your office furniture colours on the wider colour scheme of your office and your brand.
This all depends on your brand identity, too - for example, if your company is more fun and informal, vivid furniture would suit your office, whereas if your business is more professional, neutral colours such as greys, whites and blacks would be better.
In short, it’s important to ensure that the office furniture you choose suits the colour scheme of your office and your brand, as well as your logo.
The Style of your Office Furniture
The next thing to keep in mind when selecting the right furniture for your office is ensuring the style suits your workplace.
For example, if your office is more professional or corporate, furniture with more sleek lines and no patterns would work better than bean bags and William Morris upholstery.
Conversely, if you want to bring some fun into your more relaxed office, pouffes and sofas with more interesting shapes and designs could be the way to go.
The Layout of your Office
Another aspect to consider when deciding the type of furniture to use in your office is the layout of the space.
This can have a surprising impact on the furniture you choose. For example, if you have a smaller office space, you might want to consider using modular furniture, so you can adapt and change your office layout as needed to accommodate different uses.
However, if you have more space to play with, there are more options, including large boardroom tables and ergonomic seats.
So, it’s important to think about what you’ll be using your furniture for, and if it might need to move around every so often as your office layout changes.
Different Furniture for Different Areas of your Office
You might also want to consider where your furniture will be going, whether it’ll be in a certain area of your office, or if it’ll be in a different room.
This is important because it can affect the functionality of your furniture. For example, if you’re looking into getting new furniture for a boardroom, you might want more comfortable and high-quality chairs, especially when meetings go on for hours at a time.
Therefore, the area or room you’re putting your furniture in around your office definitely changes the type of furniture you should look for.
Different Uses of Office Furniture
As you’d imagine, different types of office furniture are used in different ways.
This is why it’s important to add a wide range of furniture types to your office, including more informal furniture such as sofas, which can be added to more informal areas of your office like the kitchen or break room.
When you’re selecting the right furniture for these types of rooms, a few things are important to think about, including the comfort levels of your furniture, as well as how many you’ll need to ensure your employees get a chance to sit down and relax on their breaks.
Comfort Levels of your Office Furniture
Just like we touched on above, it’s important that your office furniture is as comfortable as possible, in both relaxation and working areas.
In fact, studies over the years have shown that more comfortable work environments - which includes furniture - can help boost employee productivity.
In addition, you can help contribute to your employees’ wellbeing if you provide furniture which reduces the risk of back problems, which can be an issue in office work.
The Functionality of your Office Furniture
Functionality is an important part of choosing the right furniture for your office.
It’s essential to replace broken furniture as soon as it’s reported, to ensure that your employees can continue working at your office without their work being disrupted.
In turn, this means that things won’t suddenly slow down at your office, or at your company in general, as long as you keep on top of the functionality of your furniture and how well it’s working for your employees.
Furniture should work for the purpose it’s designed for, and if this isn’t the case and it doesn’t function as needed, it’s time to look for a replacement.
Brand Values and your Office Furniture
One of the things people might not consider when it comes to choosing office furniture is ensuring that whatever you select matches your brand values.
This mostly applies to companies with an ESG strategy, or companies which focus on sustainability.
The best way to reflect this in your office is by ensuring that your furniture is as sustainable as possible, whether that means that it has been ethically sourced, or if it means the company you bought it from also prioritises sustainability.
First Impressions and your Office Furniture
An important thing to remember is that the furniture in your office can contribute to the first impression which new and potential clients have of your business.
The first impression they get depends on the furniture you choose, its quality and standard, the colours you select, the style and aesthetic it provides your office, and how it suits your company’s brand identity.
All of these will form the first impression for new visitors to your office, which is why it’s so important to put a lot of thought into the furniture you select for your space.
The Impact of your Office Furniture on Employees
As we mentioned above, comfortable and functional office furniture can help boost employees’ productivity, as well as improving their welfare.
This is why it’s always a good idea to run your furniture ideas and designs past your employees before making the final decision, to make sure they agree with your choices.
That way, you can ensure your office furniture has a positive impact on employees, from their comfort to their overall health, which should be your main concern when choosing the right furniture.
The Impact of your Office Furniture on Clients and Customers
We’ve established above that office furniture can have a wide range of impacts on clients and customers alike.
Essentially, your office is a representation of your company, so everything has to reflect your values and identity to your new and existing clients and customers.
This means maintaining your furniture and replacing old or broken items quickly, so that your workplace is never in a state of disrepair, as this will negatively impact the way your clients see you.
So, with office furniture that’s kept up to date and fully reflects your business, you can ensure you’ll have a positive impact on clients and customers.
How to Choose the Right Office Furniture
In this article, we’ve taken a look at some of the factors to keep in mind when choosing the right office furniture for your company.
From the colour and styling of your furniture, to the layout of your office and choosing furniture to suit, there are so many things to think about.
First and foremost, your office will be the place your employees spend the majority of their time, so your furniture needs to be comfortable and functional for them, as well as inspiring and impressing clients and reflecting your brand.
With all this in mind, you’ll be well-primed to select the right office furniture for your company.