Thursday, June 24, 2010

Office Interiors Don't Have To Be Boring

By James D Cameron

Are you in a business with the goal to excite new interest in your venture? Do you want to look like a prospect on the go, or one who is cozy and comfortable? Do you have an existing corporate image or seeking to build a new one? Never discount the affect that you office interiors have on these important ideas.

Far too many businesses rely on the tired and trite floor plans that have been joked about for years. Are you surrounded by gray cubicles and cheap looking motel style carpeting? Is an exciting addition to your office space another silk plant in a basket? Do your customers politely decline to take a seat and wait for appointments outside or at a nearby coffee shop?

If you and your employees are feeling trapped in a miasma of dull and lifeless corridors, it is a good time to inject some new life into the same old scene. For starters, think about redesigning the box, as in stepping out of the box. This is always a good practice in your thinking, and can be a surprisingly good approach to layouts. Give the people some open spaces to work and play in.

What about your waiting rooms? Are they, too, closed in and stuffy? Open them up as well, and make an airy, cheery space within which one can relax and enjoy a second cup of coffee. Relaxed customers and colleagues will be far more amenable to you fresh and new idea if they are feeling refreshed and renewed. Your lounges can provide this opportunity for both of you.

What about cutting edge companies? How can you appeal to the technophiles and the eager eggheads you covet? If they are your employees, simply give them free reign. Your place will look like a manic panic in no time. If this is too extreme, then just go industrial bold, with hard colors and lights, and sheen on everything. Disco balls might even work somewhere.

Speaking of lights, it is absolutely essential to get the proper lighting in your working areas. Research proves that bad lighting, particularly bad fluorescent lighting, strain the eyes, hurts the brain, and creates bad moods. No one needs any extra bad moods at work. Use light that recreates natural sunlight. Better yet, open the blinds and shades and let that healthy sun shine in.

Colors, too, have a deep effect on moods. Some colors excite while others mellow. For instance, green is said to soothe while yellow can agitate. Of course red is always about excitement! Decide what sort of emotional atmosphere is important to your interests and create it through the judicious use of color and hue.

And never ever underestimate the most often used item in the workplace, the lowly chair. Can you afford ergonomic? If so, go there. At the very least go for serious comfort and solid support. Workers with good sitting postures are happy workers. Businesses that pay close attention to quality office interiors make happy workers. Happy workers make happy customers, and this is the end goal of business, is it not?

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