5 Rules of Creating a Tasteful Office Space
Office spaces of many top companies such as Google, Airbnb or Adobe are cool and fancy, with many special spaces and features dedicated not only to work but also to spend a free time. The reality of small businesses is far from this, though. Creating an office layout, lighting, ventilation, and square yards are relatively easy to figure out. However, the tricky part is satisfying and motivating employees to be productive.
Office spaces whose owners give free rein to their vivid imagination, usually become stockyards of peculiarities with the passing of time, at the same time ceasing to resemble offices. Unfortunately, too much love to a specific kind of beauty often leads to solutions that are not only non-functional, but simply grotesque. Therefore, if you want your office to be neat and to proudly represent your company, avoid kitsch at the first place.
Abraham Moles identifies some basic characteristics of kitsch:
⋆ incompatibility of function and form,
⋆ accumulation of various functions in one object,
⋆ synesthesia, or the impact on many senses at once,
⋆ mediocrity,
⋆ comfort and lack of complexity.
The conclusion is simple: to escape from a tacky final effect and to create a tasteful office avoid any furniture, equipment and decorative elements that have at least one of the above mentioned qualities.
Rule #1
Apply Timeless Décor in a Good Quality
Remember that the most important rule of arranging an office is: an office is supposed to look professionally, with the supremacy of neutral and personalized elements. In no case, it shouldn’t imitate the style which you prefer in your own home. Therefore, avoid any exaggeration — and this also applies to the subsequent points.
Finish
Take care of the proper finish of the interior — instead of cheap carpets, cover the floor with planks in a natural colour. Paint the walls with a uniform color, adjusting the hue to the amount of light in the rooms. Finish the whole with wooden slats in the color of the floor.
Woodwork
The element that is crucial for the overall design is the carpentry: the entry door and these leading to the rooms — make them tight and solid, with glazing that let the light pass through them.
Lighting
Make sure the artificial lighting in your office is of the highest quality — desktop and wall lamps should have rather a cool light temperature, so it’s best to equip an office with led lamps that have an additional advantage — are eco-friendly and energy efficient. Note the lighting design — it’s best when it’s simple and functional, and not overly decorative.
Rule #2
Apply Neutral Colors — Use Contrasting Hues to Accentuate the Space!
In all areas of the interior finish remember about the colors — they should be neutral, so that they don’t bore you quickly, and, in the case of small spaces — don’t cause an optical reduction of the space. Hence, the colors that best work in offices are whites, beiges and grays — it’s worth sticking just to these colors in case you don’t feel like a great colorist.
Of course, you can make use of bright, even neon colors (for example, those that stay in accordance with your logotype) when it comes to decorative elements, but it’s important to remember that any office decoration should be limited to the indispensable minimum. Stylish wall mural or a 3D print on wall will create a professional atmosphere of any space — and they will communicate your company’s DNA. If you own an open space office, you can use colors as a divider of the functional areas of the space (dedicated to a group work, to receive clients, as well as to relax). Anyway, limit the color palette up to a maximum of three colors, otherwise you will get an effect of chaos.
Rule #3
Invest in Customized Furniture (Instead of Typical Modules)
The office furniture’s type and style depends on the size of space and its disposition, but in any event the best furniture for an office is the one that is custom-made to size: ordered after consulting an interior designer, from a recognized carpenter or a relevant company. It’s worth to invest in comprehensive furnishing that will give the whole office space a unique and uniform character.
Depending on the industry in which you work, choose the appropriate furniture: cabinets and cupboards, and desks. You can spice up the office style by equipping it with varied chairs — bet on hi-tech ergonomic chairs, choose minimalist soft seats or classic office chairs with chrome elements. Equip every functional area (or every room) accordingly to its function: place comfortable bean bags and cover the floor with a soft carpet in the social space; hang a large blackboard in the conference room — it will be helpful during brainstorming.
Rule #4
Keep Order — Hide Hardware & Cables, Sort the Documents
It’s a real challenge to maintain order in the office so that it’s not overshadowed by things lying here and there: paper sheets, cables and electronic equipment. Though, if you decide to buy custom furniture, you won’t have any problem with hiding the equipment in cabinets designed specially for this purpose and with organising documents and placing them in on shelves.
You can also use colored binders in two or three colors to put your papers in — it can be an interesting decoration. Moreover, on the market there are many products that enable hide cables, which are usually what first catches the eye in the office space.
Rule #5
Decorate Rationally — Fall in Love with Minimalism
Instead of placing ubiquitous trinkets on desks and cheap prints with landscapes on walls, try to show your brand by covering walls with personalized wall murals. In PIXERS you can order tailored wall murals and posters that will add some personality to your office space and will show your competence and good taste.
Take a look at their offer for companies — it’s a final step if you really have no idea how to arrange your office space!
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