Designing for Comfort and Employee Well-Being with the Resimercial Office Trend

Resimercial Office Trend HON Westhill Lounge

Lines between our personal and professional lives have blurred with instant communication and cloud storage. Kids and colleagues can get in touch as needed. There are boundaries, of course. But the 2020 stay-at-home orders showed that many companies found a way to keep operating with nearly all of their employees at home.  Enter the Resimercial office trend.

Now that the focus is once again on the corporate setting, the Resimercial office trend is more popular than ever.

Create an inviting office where home-style comforts are mixed with commercial durability. The benefits of resimercial design include increased comfort with a boost in productivity.


Photo: Snowsound Perline Acoustic Panel

Why can’t a corporate office have the needed functionality plus personality?

This type of office bridges the settings of home and work—while being flexible enough to incorporate the best of both residential and commercial.

A well-planned resimercial office space following the resimercial office trend will have the furnishings that are needed with intangible elements that can make your office a welcome destination.  The addition of biophilic design (bringing elements of nature indoors) also is a huge benefits as it helps improve overall office wellbeing and positivity.

Resimercial Office Trend: Attitude and Atmosphere

Use as many large windows as possible to get rid of stuffy feelings inside. Southern California has a diverse landscape of beaches and mountains, plenty of sunshine, and some of the best weather in the U.S.

Office settings that incorporate natural elements create a pleasant atmosphere—especially when maximizing natural light and using colors that represent the surrounding environment.

Offices in Pasadena or Monrovia can use as much window space possible to capture the red and purple hues of the afternoon sun on the San Gabriel Mountains.

In Playa Vista or Culver City, an office can make use of ocean scenes and equip an outdoor space to experience the ocean breezes.

Use green on your walls strategically with the Nevins Bio Canvas Frame. Bark, moss, and stone panels are tastefully arranged in this no-maintenance option.

These touches make an office personable while getting rid of a sterile feeling.

Work is demanding, but these familiar connections can reduce stress and show employees that they don’t have to be separated from the soothing elements of the world.

Resimercial Office Trend: Furnishings and Fabrics

Office spaces that are planned effectively have a clear purpose. Visit 2010 Office Furniture’s resimercial office trend page to stir your own creativity.

Don’t wall people off from each other. Use furnishings that allow for a flow of open interaction yet provide private spaces. Placement, look, and feel are factors that the team at 2010 Office Furniture considers when assisting clients in planning their spaces.


Photo: Maverick Apex Desk Workstations

You’ve got many choices ranging from the inventive DARRAN Chameleon Workspace to the Maverick Apex Open Plan Desking and the Global Zira Desking Workstation.


Photo: Darran Chameleon Workspace

Each solution is unique with finishes that look pleasant, has comfortable seating, and can be incorporated into a soft, office design.

In a home office, you should have a dedicated workspace, but you’re free to move around and work on the sofa or at the kitchen table. Design that same freedom into your office setting.

Make your breakroom personally stylish using items like the Arcadia Betwixt Table.


Photo: Arcadia Betwixt Table

Consider the DARRAN Honey Lounge Seating. It’s a seating solution that incorporates nature, provides ergonomic comfort, and has been proven to help reduce stress, bolster productivity and enhance well-being.


Photo: Darran Honey Lounge

Storage space is important in both the residential and commercial worlds. Step away from gray metal with the OFS Hitch Shelf and Storage, a unique, modular storage system available in a range of wood veneer finishes.

Resimercial design has a range of ergonomic benefits when quality furnishings are used.

Expect durability. Commercial grade furniture is meant for heavy use, several hours a day, while a sofa in your home is meant for much lighter use. You can still have comfort with quality seating and workspaces.

People and Productivity

The Resimercial office trend isn’t just about furnishings. It’s about letting your employees work in comfort while maintaining high levels of productivity.

Promote well-being.

Quality office chairs are a good place to begin.

The OFS Pret Chair is the type of ergonomic seating solution that’s pleasant to look at while supporting an individual’s body weight and shape.


Photo: HON Solve Chair

Lighting matters, too. Forget big and bulky lamps. Sleek is in for corporate settings and home offices. The Workrite Fundamentals 2 Desktop Light focuses light as needed without getting in the way. It’s one of many ergonomic lighting options.

Channeling sound is another way to make the office pleasant and comfortable. Use acoustic panels of all shapes and colors to deflect and absorb potentially distracting conversations and clacking keyboards.


Photo: Nevins Bio Canvas Panels

As you make the office comfortable, employees will find it a desirable setting to work in. It could become their home away from home.

Rely on 2010 Office Furniture for Resimercial Office Trend

The team at 2010 Office Furniture has more than 50 years of combined experience working with clientele that are among Southern California’s most notable corporations, universities, and other not-for-profits, and small businesses in all industries.

Contact them with your office needs and questions.

Read Also: 6 Reasons to Use a Resimercial Design for Your Office
Main Photo: HON Westhill Lounge
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Arcadia, Darran, HON, Maverick, Nevins & Snowsound

Infusing Offices with New Energy Using Fresh Interior Design Office Tips

Interior Design Office Tips Friant System 2 Screen

The upcoming year have many of us starting anew and looking for ways to freshen up our office.  And like most things, we want our workspace to look and feel better, as well as work more efficiently for our needs.  These great interior design office tips not only help revamp and elevate your office space, but truly are more practical than you’d think — and incredibly simple to incorporate.

All in all, it’s all about bringing in new positivity, so don’t forget to have fun.

Interior Design Office Tips ODS Artiv Workstation
Photo: ODS Artiv Workstation

Interior Design Office Tips

Boring office environments should fade away because there are tremendous options available to design a workplace that reflects your brand. Don’t worry about busting budgets since modular furnishings make it possible to start small and expand as needed.

An office that’s planned well can boost morale and be a key to retaining top talent. This leads to greater productivity and profitability.

But how do you capture the best interior?

Plan the Area

The first of these interior design office tips is planning.  Take note of the personnel, their tasks, and how often they’re in the office. Who works full-time, in-office, and who works a hybrid schedule of working in the office and working remotely?

List your needs including:

  • The number of workstations
  • Flexible meeting areas
  • Communication plans with remote workers
  • Storage


Photo: Deskmaker Catalina Storage

Don’t cram an area with furniture; leave open space where possible. This acts like white space on a website to draw people in.

Reflect Your Brand

Designing your office is a reflection of your brand. If you’re a professional firm, you don’t need to be stiff and formal, but you should inspire confidence in your staff and clients who come to visit.

Begin the moment the office door is opened. Make sure the first impressions in the reception area and foyer are well received. Use furnishings that are welcoming so they don’t have the appearance of barriers.


Photo: Global Adaptabilities Reception Desk

Look at the DeskMakers Overture Reception Desk as an example of a light color that also brings a unique wood look into the office.

Have comfortable seating arrangements for visitors who need to wait.

You can also check out 2010 Office Furniture’s Office Inspirations page to see how colors, placement of cubicles, and open plan benching impact the surroundings, in conjunction with these interior design office tips.

Light Up Your Spaces

One of the most important interior design office tips is to address your office lighting.

Stream as much natural light as possible. Enlarge windows, use skylights, or create outdoor spaces on patios and balconies.

Natural light is proven to boost morale, aid employees in being as productive as possible, and helping them to sleep well at night.


Photo: Koncept Gravy Desk Light

A well-lit office is part of the overall use of ergonomics. Check for the best lighting accessories so sore and tired eyes don’t become problems.

Desk lamps, floor lamps, and LED concept lights like the Koncept Mr. GO! Lantern, with a curved light handle, provide the right amount of light at the workstation. You can easily move it around the office or to a common waiting area.

Use Natural Materials

Compact offices can be inviting and reflect a brand just like their sprawling corporate counterparts. Eye-catching concepts bring greenery into the office in unique ways like the Nevins Bio Canvas Frame. It’s a maintenance-free collection of moss, bark, and stone on easy-to-install frames.


Photo: Nevins Bio Canvas

Incorporate Green Office design to bring more of nature into the work setting, known as biophilic design. The concept isn’t new; think back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This design helps us renew and rekindle our connection to nature.

Get more ideas and learn from a retail tea shop in Brazil that’s home to a popular brand. The shop uses plenty of natural materials and items like rope on the staircase, as seen on Dezeen.com.

Have a Health-Conscious Focus

Today’s offices can promote employee health through the use of specialty fabrics and plenty of accessories that reduce the spread of harmful bacteria. An example is the Social Distancing Office using antimicrobial fabrics, countertop shields, and privacy screens.


Photo: Enwork Deskwrap Screen

Freestanding screens come in a variety of heights and hues.

Try Plywood

Plywood is well-known in residential construction for walls and as decking on roofs, but you can also use plywood to create stylish offices as seen in the article Ten stylish plywood interiors that give the material a luxurious upgrade.

Create benches or increase your storage using plywood.

The material can act as a warm space divider and sound barrier. Decorate using hanging baskets filled with indoor plants, decorate the wood with fabrics, or both.

Get in Touch for Interior Design Office Tips

Get input on your potential design or re-design with a commitment-free consultation. Our team at 2010 Office Furniture has decades of experience advising and supplying major corporations, leading universities, and small businesses throughout the Los Angeles basin, Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Contact us for more interior design office tips and share your questions.  We’re happy to help!

Read Also: Plan Your Office for the Employee Experience
Main Photo: Friant System 2 Screens
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Deskmakers, Enwork, Global, Koncept, Nevins & ODS

Now’s the Time for Inspired Office Designs Ideas Post Covid

Office Designs Ideas Post Covid OFS Rowen Lounge

(IMPORTANT NOTICE: The recommendations on this article on how to help protect workers are NOT from health experts, and have not been medically tested nor proven as an effective cure or prevention for COVID-19 or any other diseases.)

The 2020 covid pandemic have drastically changed the ways we work and live.  If there’s ever a time to look at office design ideas post covid, it’s now.

We now know how much work can get accomplished remotely. Employees can easily flourish in their home offices, and numerous surveys show how the majority of office workers feel just fine not coming into the corporate office.

So is the workplace finished?

Hardly.

Take a clue from big corporations. In September 2020, Amazon Music signed a lease agreement for a 40,000 square foot space in Brooklyn. That’s in addition to leases in Seattle and other tech companies signing leases in other cities. They must be expecting workers to show up again in real life.

Companies have an opportunity to break away from the same old approach using typical desks and chairs, or simply setting up workstations without much thought to the surroundings.

The corporate office can’t just be about functioning and completing tasks, because many functions can be done in home offices.

“It’s not a time to design a workplace of the future that looks a lot like the past, only more spaced out,” writes David Schwarz on Workdesign.com. “[Create] interactive, multi-sensory experiences that put collaboration and culture at the center.”

A positive office setting will bring people together to share an experience.

Creating the New Office Experience

How do you envision new office design ideas post covid? It’s more than just bodies occupying desks and ergonomic chairs.

Think through colors and furnishings that reflect your brand and foster an atmosphere of creativity and problem solving.


Photo: HON Concinnity Desk

The 2010 Office Furniture Office Inspirations Gallery reveals settings that combine home décor with the work environment; minimal and abstract design; industrial and open office design. Offices support company goals, but the trend is bringing people together and is really an extension of ergonomics—making sure the environment is equipped to help people do their best.


Photo: Rouillard Lead X Chair

But there’s another key to an office that’s designed effectively: flexibility.

Why is that important?

It’s one of the traits that keeps top talent engaged so that they feel a part of the company’s culture and want to stay put.

Look back to the Gensler 2016 Workplace Survey that links innovation to office design:

“The most innovative companies provide their organizations with a diversity of well-designed spaces in which to collaborate and to focus, as well as empowering employees with the ability to work when and where it best suits their work needs.”

Designing a Community

What kind of spaces are needed in today’s office?  These are key when planning and gathering office design ideas post covid:

  • Individual spaces to focus
  • Conference rooms to brainstorm
  • Social spaces to interact with co-workers over coffee and lunch

Does the office have to be all things to all employees?

Evaluate your expectations for your workers. Do you grumble if they don’t come into the office? You can decide if you want to hold them accountable or trust them to do their best and deliver so that corporate benchmarks are met and exceeded.

Top talent doesn’t stay put in one place.

The Gensler Survey that was conducted five years ago reports that “innovators report spending only 74% of the work week at the office.”

They were twice as likely as non-innovators to use “cafeterias, coffee shops, and outdoor spaces.”

Don’t design a workplace to keep people in one place, but aim to link people together in supportive relationships.  This is very important and at the heart of office design ideas post covid.

Aligning with Nature in the City

Los Angeles is a sprawling urban center and yet it has amazing natural elements—the beaches and cool breezes from the South Bay and Playa Vista, north to Malibu. Then there’s the ever-present Mount Wilson, visible throughout the year from downtown Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, and other cities to the south.

Bring in the sunshine that bathes the region and make the office green to boost morale.

An example of a unique office setting is Second Home, a co-working company based in London with a two-acre campus in Hollywood. The website makes a bold claim—they’re “LA’s healthiest work space.”

There’s plenty of greenery inside and outside in a space that was formerly a parking lot. Fresh air is pumped into offices. They make use of the comfortable climate with working areas that are “60% outdoors, 40% indoors, and 100% clean.”

Second Home maximizes the use of sunshine with light wells that were cut into the two-story main building to bring daylight to the bottom floor. Breezeways were created to circulate fresh air.

The lead designer on the office space, Diego Cano-Lasso, told the Los Angeles Times that “How architecture relates with the environment is crucial to our well-being.”

Second Home is an office experience that’s not easily copied, or can’t be copied, in a home office.

What if you’re in an office tower in a city like Irvine, near the John Wayne Airport, and it isn’t possible to create a lush outdoor garden and none of the windows are designed to open?

Plan a Green Office with plenty of plants, natural light, and organic fabrics. It’s highlighted on 2010 Office Furniture’s Office Inspirations.


Photo: OFS Grow Up & Roo Planter

Design indoor-outdoor spaces for trainings or other uses.

The sheriff’s department in Contra Costa County has a conference room that seats up to 175 people. If that space fills up then “the back wall can be opened up entirely to a shaded patio via a glass garage door, to accommodate another 100 people,” as described in Metropolis Magazine on Post-Covid outdoor workspaces.This creates flexible multi-use work areas.


Photo: Nevins Bio Canvas Divider

Imagination and Resources

Covid created challenges that forced companies to reimagine how they’d get work done. Now the future is here, and it’s the best time to reimagine your office space.  With 2010 Office Furniture’s space planning expertise and wide array of office furniture products, it’s easier more than ever to create a workspace that reflects the times as well as your brand.

We Can Help You With Office Designs Ideas Post Covid

Our team at 2010 Office Furniture has worked with some of the most recognizable brands around Los Angeles and Orange County, plus leading nonprofits and small businesses that are expanding. Through it, we’ve gained more than 50 years combined experience and knowledge on the furnishings that build brands and help keep employees engaged in their work.

Contact us for a consultation on your next projec.  We can help you with suitable office design ideas post covid.

Read Also: Work From Home Office Furniture
Main Photo: OFS Rowen and Wyre Lounge
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: HON, Nevins, OFS & Rouillard

(IMPORTANT NOTICE: The recommendations on this article on how to help protect workers are NOT from health experts, and have not been medically tested nor proven as an effective cure or prevention for COVID-19 or any other diseases.)

Your Guide to Office Feng Shui for the Best Office Environment

Your Guide to Office Feng Shui OFS Riff Table

Creating the best office environment isn’t only about arranging furniture and equipment, it’s also developing an ambiance that has a positive flow of energy. Consider laying out your workspace using office feng shui.

Imagine the benefits:

  • Having a workplace with reduced stress
  • Using appealing natural elements
  • Maximizing employee comfort
  • A cleaner and organized office

What is Office Feng Shui

The word feng shui means “wind” and “water,” and is based on the concept that we’re impacted by our surrounding environment. The most productive offices are planned and laid out with purpose and aren’t arranged in a haphazard manner.

Office feng shui design is meant to bring harmony between people and their surroundings. Nature plays an important role.

Finding Balance in Office Feng Shui

Feng shui incorporates five elements that create a balanced atmosphere when they’re used well together. This can be accomplished in an individual home office or in a corporate setting.

See how each element plays a role and blends with the others for a balanced and harmonious work setting.

Wood

Wood represents creativity and includes growth, birth, strength, and flexibility. Trees, plants, or green objects can represent wood. Feng shui practitioners don’t define wood as hard surfaces, but they look at what flows out of wood like greenery and flowers.


Photo: Nevins Leaf Living Wall

Now, let’s add boldness and energy into the mix.

Fire

As you might imagine, fire represents passion, energy, boldness and change or transformation. Natural light, candles, and the color red bring the fire element into a space.  Feng shui practitioners say this element promotes leadership.

Now think about combining this leadership with inspiration.

Your Guide to Office Feng Shui Stylex Metrum Lounge
Photo: Stylex Metrum Lounge Seating

Water

The element of water is linked to emotion and inspiration. Colors in shades of blue represent water. The incorporation of water in office feng shui balances personalities and temperaments, and encourages ideas and inspiration.


Photo: Stylex Free Address Table 2.0

Certainly so far, each element has a universal quality. Let’s look at strength as a foundation to build on.

Earth

Stability and strength are found in the earth element. Rocks, carpets, old books, decorative pottery or other items that are brown or tan in color capture the tones of the earth and provide stability and strength. Now, let’s focus and bring everything together with the next element.


Photo: Source International Lore Lounge

Metal

Metal is a unifying force with all the elements. It promotes focus and order. The colors of metal are white, silver, or grey.


Photo: Arcadia Worksmith Meeting Tables

Ideas for Using Feng Shui in Offices

Feng shui identifies and eliminates stress points and is compatible with biophilic design, or using natural elements at work. Basic initial steps are to get rid of unnecessary clutter and have good air circulation.

Browse ideas from 2010 Office Furniture’s Office Inspirations for ways to use colors and furnishings so you reach a result that promotes well-being among your team.

Discover how the elements blend together in green offices with an emphasis on nature. Or, combine the properties of residential and commercial spaces with a resimercial layout. The industrial space promotes strength while a minimal office lets you use the elements in subtle ways.

You can also decide how many of the feng shui elements already exist in your current layout and decide how many of each are needed.

If an office feels lifeless or drab, then use office feng shui elements to generate freshness and vitality. Is there an overabundance of one element, like wood and not enough of fire or water? Too many elements related to earth can create a sense of boredom or dullness.

Too many bold designs can be overwhelming.

The Use of Elements in Offices

If fire is related to leadership, then use red tones in specific workstations and executive offices. Blend with the needed strength and flexibility.

A graphics department, marketing, or other area needing a creative boost can decorate with blue and teal.


Photo: Source International Lore Lounge and Clever Plane Tables

If the office space has plenty of natural light but creates glare, don’t use heavy draperies or dark shades to block the light. An idea from Workplace Design.com is to use material that diffuses light so it shines in but reduces the stress of glare.

Feng shui will impact how furnishings are arranged. Desks have a power position when facing a door from the furthest spot in the room. Workers also need support. In feng shui, this can be conveyed behind a desk with  solid wall and plants.

The elements of feng shui can also be found in the furnishings and brought together in one space. A helpful summary from Work Design.com shows a conference room with a large communal table that represents Earth.

A variety of light fixtures and natural light from the windows can bring in fire. Wood can be represented by using the material in communal table and chairs. A glass top on the table will introduce water, along with any blue chair, bench or sofa seating. Also, wall coverings that depict the image of gentle rain evokes the water element.

In the conference room, metal may be represented in the furniture finishes of the table, chairs, light fixtures and other objects. Wall treatments and art or photographs can represent metal, as well as the other elements.

Bring in Plenty of Plants

Plants contribute greatly in office feng shui.  It’s said that bamboo conveys health, happiness and long life.  Peonies help soothe emotional problems.

Succulents are seen as power plants, as they collect water in their stems, leaves, and roots. Feng shui practitioners believe the best places to set them are on desks, sunny terraces, and near windows.

Get Expert Input on Office Feng Shui

For further advice and input, contact our team at 2010 Office Furniture about feng shui and its benefits for your office.

The team members are experienced in office designs and space planning for corporations, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. 2010 Office Furniture also serves the Inland Empire.

Contact us with your questions and project needs.

Read Also: Checklist of Wellness Activities for 2019
Main Photo: OFS Riff Table
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Arcadia, Nevins, OFS, Source International & Stylex

Five Benefits of Using Plants in the Office

Five Benefits Using Plants

Why We Need Plants in the Office

Concerned about office stale air?  Thinking about creating a positive mood? Check your office greenery and consider the five benefits of using plants in the office!  Studies have shown that indoor plants refresh breathing and rejuvenate the spirit. Read on and discover all the great health contributions of having plants in the office.

Plants Tackle Hazardous Materials

In the 1960s, swamp plants in Florida were shown to clean up the devastating effects of Agent Orange, the chemical that the U.S. infamously used during battle in Vietnam. An environmental researcher working with the military, B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., made the findings and soon worked with NASA to counter-act indoor air pollution.

Sending astronauts to the moon and into orbit for long periods of time in a space station led NASA to clean up the effects of “off-gassing,” the slow release of chemicals from synthetic materials.

Buying quality furniture is important and near the end of this article are easy-to-follow tips to minimize off-gassing.

Plants Aid Office Wellness

By the 1980s, a new term came into being called “Sick Building Syndrome.” Wolverton released a full study by the end of the decade that focused on “energy-efficient buildings” and how both furniture and computer and electronic equipment would “off-gas hundreds of volatile organics.”

Here’s where plants became important. More research from England showed that buildings with the highest levels of microorganisms had the fewest symptoms. And the opposite scenario was true. People who had more ill symptoms worked in mechanically ventilated buildings containing low levels of microorganisms.

Plants Create an Indoor Ecosystem

How do plants work their magic? Water vapor they emit pulls the air’s contaminants to the root levels. The plant then converts it into food and microorganisms in the potting soil do the cleaning work.

Pollutants from the air are absorbed into the plants while they’re taking in carbon dioxide. That’s then turned into oxygen through photosynthesis. Here’s where the microbes come into play. They’re in the potting soil and they do a lot of the cleaning.

Plants Boost the Spirit

A home or office that has nicely placed greenery has a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. It’s a way to spruce up the look of industrial grade gray. A 2014 study from the University of Exeter that was noted in Science Daily stated that a green office can boost productivity levels by 15%.

Plants also improve the air quality by raising humidity levels which benefits employees who have naturally dry skin and eyes. Dry air can also be troubling for asthma sufferers and spread germs leading to colds and flu.

Plants Absorb Sound

Air contaminants aren’t the only thing that plants absorb. Leaves and stems can capture sound waves and reflect them. That helps boost concentration levels.

In the open office, plants can act as green dividers in many creative ways. Open plan benching workstations could have small plants that are placed every several feet to create personal space.

In spaces with solid walls, plants on shelving can add color.

Recommended Indoor Plants in the Office

The following are some of the recommended plants for a healthy office:

  • Spider plants – known for purifying the air
  • Succulents – easy to care for and work well in small containers
  • Peace Lilly – are good for creating more moisture in the air
  • Aloe – a type of succulent; easy to grow and care for
  • Philodendrons – are popular as hanging plants

Tips to Reduce Off-Gassing From Office Furniture

  • Buy tables and desks that are well crafted.
  • Remove packaging outdoors since that’s where the largest concentration of gas is released.
  • Filter and circulate the air
  • Use plants as noted in this post

Read Also: Designing a Healthy Office
Main Photo: Loftwall Weave Screen
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Loftwall

 

Get More Work Done with a Green Office

Get More Work Done With A Green Office

Benefits of a Green Office

If you want a more productive office, then create a workplace that is as green as possible. Creating a surrounding that’s green and welcoming is really an investment in people. People have an innate desire to connect with the outside world, literally. Natural light and thriving plants can keep moods up and thinking sharp. Achieve fewer yawns and droopy eyes while using workstations and dividers that have a pleasant appearance and make room for greenery at work. Read on to see how the interior environment becomes more conducive to feeling fresh and alive, especially with a green office.

Natural Light

Want to give your team a competitive edge? An article in the Harvard Business Review referred to natural light as “The Number One Office Perk.” Natural light and outdoor views were more desired as an office benefit than onsite cafeterias, fitness centers and fun events like bringing dogs to the office, according to the HR advisory firm Future Workplace.  Also, survey opinions from 1,614 employees in North America found that 47% of workers felt they didn’t get enough natural light and 43% felt gloomy. Why the craving for light? Future Workplace’s survey linked it to the use of smartphones and other electronic devices. People spend up to four hours a day on mobile devices in addition to working in front of computer screens. Outdoor scenery offers a much-needed visual break throughout the day.

How to Let the Light Flow

Install large size windows, skylights, or solar tubes if possible. In southern California, west-facing windows in the hottest months of the year can get uncomfortable so use a lighter type of fabric that allows light to pass through while blocking the heat.  You can also place desks within 20 feet of windows and use workstations with partitions that are translucent or clear. A frame and tile cubicle system like the Friant marks personal space while offering openness.

Office Plants in Your Green Office

Put living “green” into a green office for even greater productivity. A person’s need to connect with other living things that include plants is called biophilia. The design of workspaces is now taking this need into account. One or two well-placed plants create a visual break just like outdoor scenery. In open bench seating, a small potted plant will change what could otherwise be a monotonous view.  Hanging plants like philodendrons can act like a divider. Walls can also be decorated with succulents. But don’t overdo the concept. Too many plants can create a feeling of being crowded.

4 Benefits of Office Plants

  1. Provide color: green comes in various shades and can add a variety of colors when blooming.
  2. Refresh the air: plants look like they’re sitting in one place, but there’s activity going on that you can’t see. They take the pollutants out of the air and microorganisms at the root level do the scrubbing action.
  3. Aid in Wellness: refreshing the air means there are fewer airborne germs and plants can indirectly aid in the fight against colds and flu. They raise the humidity level which can make the office more comfortable for people with dry skin.
  4. Absorb sound: broad, leafy plants can minimize distracting conversations or music. The buffer is minimal, of course, but leaves and stems redirect sound waves.

Read Also: Five Benefits of Using Plants in the Office
Main Photo: OFS Brands Roo Planters
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: OFS Brands