Your daily routine can feel more like a prison sentence if you’re forced to work in a dull office space with zero flair. You’ve no doubt seen offices with bland coloring, sterile arrangements, and uninspiring furniture that was plucked from some mass produced purgatory. Thankfully, that doesn’t have to be the case. There’s a whole host of office design geniuses out there that can help you pick out new furniture, new colors, and completely reimagine your office space so that it’s a haven of productivity instead of a prison of boredom.
Which Office Design Ideas Will Work for You?
You’ll recall when we gave you some tips for improving your online space, now let’s take a look at just a few of the ways in which your physical office can be reborn.
Add Some Color – This is one of the first things you can do to start turning the office space around. Is there some rule that everything work related has to be gray? If not, then you should invest in making things more festive. Break out the swatch book and the color wheel, and start finding the options that will work for your space. Complementary colors are a basic design technique that can add interest to a space quickly.
Have you heard of the designer Jean de Lessard? Check out how he successfully used mere splashes of color to create a big effect at the Bicom Communications office in Montreal. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s in just the right places to draw attention to critical details. Of course, you could go in the opposite direction and turn the color up to the max, like the Mind Candy office in Britain decided to do. The colors might be extreme for some workplaces, but they perfectly accompany the kind of work that they do. Success!
Break out the multi-person workstations – Today’s office world is abandoning the one desk per person rule. To further collaboration, have your employees in situations where they can collaborate. Eliminate many of the single person desks and replace them with cost-effective team desks where multiple people on your crew can get together and accomplish their tasks. This will bring your workers closer together, and help facilitate creative problem solving.
High style – Maybe you want to convey that your business is prim, proper, and highly sophisticated? Check out how Ubiquitous in Manchester revamped their space. Distinguished leather furniture, heavy wood, upscale gold and tile. They even added a large grandfather clock and some antique bookcases to complete the look. It’s proof positive that an office can be high style, professional, and fun all at the same time.
Go wild – You could, of course, choose to abandon everything traditional and turn your office into an Eastern-inspired fantasy backdrop, like Google Japan. They’ve thrown everything into a wildly varied office space that blends multiple elements that you might not think would work together, but surprisingly enough do. Floral wallpaper, bright colors, wood panel graphics, full-size wall photos, and dizzying patterns all meld to create a cacophonous medley that revels in its disharmony.
Throw Your Employees a Bone – Not literally, of course. However, instead of leaving their workspaces undecorated, allow them to put a personal touch on them with a few items to make the office feel more like home. Family photos, a few cherished collectibles. This touch of personality lets employees feel more at ease increases productivity and helps them get along with their co-workers better since they are more prone to just act natural. In addition, get their input on some renovation options you might be mulling over, or even better, observe their behavior to see what parts of the current office layout they like, and which parts they avoid like the plague. It’ll give you a pretty good idea of what should be included in your redesign.
Keep Researching to Find More Ideas
As we mentioned, these are just a few ideas and techniques that you can incorporate into your office. You can start researching more, and for maximum effect, team up with a skilled interior designer to help you narrow down choices for an office redesign. Remember, there are designers who specialize on renovating and modernizing offices, and it’s a safe bet that they can aid you in bringing yours into the 21st Century as well.
