2024 Office Trends to Create an Engaging Office Environment

2024 Office Trends Senator Haven Pods

What’s in store for 2024 office trends and what do we watch out for?

When Edmunds, the car people, opened their office in Santa Monica several years ago they suspended a Corvette above the reception desk.

The staff coffee bar was designed without traditional solid walls and featured chrome wheels arranged behind the coffee pots.

Fun? Engaging?

These touches reinforced the staff’s mission and created a creative office environment.

Workstations were grouped together according to tasks and departments, but people were free to move around the office if they needed a change of scenery.

How do you plan an office space with design trends that bring the best out of your team and puts them in a mindset to succeed?

Let’s read on.

Creating Community

Think of your office space as an engaging community, not just a place that’s solely functional. In a pleasant community, there are places where residents converse and move easily along a main street.


Photo: Friant Nik Lounge Chair

They know they belong.

Harvard Business Review addressed this just a few years ago and found that 40% of people feel isolated at work. Look at the benefits of belonging, as described in “The Value of Belonging at Work”:

“High belonging was linked to a whopping 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.”

Creating a place of community and belonging is definitely up there in 2024 office trends.  Now take some steps in creating a community.

Your 2024 Office Trends Roadmap

2024 office trends are all about creating engaging spaces.  And engaging offices don’t just happen. They’re well-planned. The team at 2010 Office Furniture knows this. They bring over a half-century of combined experience planning office spaces and furnishing recognizable brands in Southern California.

Think through your own roadmap. Start by thinking through the following questions:

Function: how is your office currently functioning and how can the functions be improved? Does the workflow bog down in any specific area?

Charting the function helps you to see how to brand your office for employees and visitors from the time they step into the reception area and move to the interior spaces.

Needs of the team: what types of workstations, desks, and chairs best meet the task needs and physical needs of your team?

Bring ergonomics into the picture by matching the employee’s needs with the furnishings that will provide for their well-being and help them do their best.

Aesthetics

Now you can integrate your branding with the details that help motivate your team by placing them in a positive mindset.

Check the 2010 Office Inspirations page, an online showcase highlighting 2024 office trends that lend to an engaging environment.

See how different elements like furnishings and colors blend to create inviting workspaces with a specific look and feel.


Photo: OFS Eleven Wood Table

The Scandinavian office has minimal simplicity while an upbeat contemporary office mixes and matches an array of colors and furnishings.


Photo: Stylex NYC Wrap-Over Lounge

Everyday Life

In communities, people like to come together but still have quiet spaces. It’s like being alone … together.

Open office designs are here to stay, but 2024 office trends bring a sense of boundaries back in.  No doubt, it’s important to define spaces such as specific places for workstations in a department. Let’s use the marketing department as an example. Someone will need creative focus when writing up the campaign slogans of a specific product.

However, they can’t do this in isolation. They need to interview others to get their inspiration.

Have interactive spaces where the marketing team gathers with the production team to highlight the benefits of your next great project. This is where you let ideas flow with robust conversations.

Here’s another trend to be aware of.

Add video conferencing to the mix so you can have internal teams and participants working remotely.

How do you handle it all?

Go Modular

2024 office trends includes the power of keeping it flexible and adaptable.  And Modular furnishings keep you in control. You can easily accommodate workers on hybrid schedules and people working on a freelance basis. They can come in at scheduled times for a day or a meeting before leaving to finish their tasks elsewhere.

Just like a community, isn’t it?

People come and go but they’re brought together under the banner of fulfilling corporate goals.

Think of the breakroom as the General Store where informal discussions can lead to collaborative gatherings.


Photo: ERG International Carlton Stools

Cities use parks as green spaces to enhance the quality of life. Your equivalent could be designing lounge areas for both spontaneous small group use and individual use.


Photo: OCI Seating Breeze Lounge

It’s also possible with So Cal’s sunny weather to design indoor-outdoor spaces.

Why be limited by four walls?

Make sure office functionality is present and people’s needs are met. Use these ideas to make your office environment an engaging place that inspires people both professionally and personally.

Great Office Spaces with 2024 Office Trends

An engaging office environment is one where people know they’re supported while being challenged professionally.

Get expert input from 2010 Office Furniture and their space planning services along with their ability to furnish what you need.

Their focus is on helping you create the spaces that work best while bringing in quality that will last.

Contact them with your questions and possible project needs.

Read Also: Plan Your Office Branding for the Employee Experience
Main Photo: Senator Haven Pod
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: ERG International, Friant, National, OCI Seating, OFS, Senator, Stylex

Resimercial Office Designs and Trends

Resimercial Office Designs and Trends

When looking at resimercial office designs, it’s important to go back and remember where it all started from.

Remember when all work was performed in the corporate office?

Then came use of the home office.

Third spaces then evolved as popular alternatives between home and work that helped avoid the grind of commuting in Los Angeles.

As coffee shops went from being grunge and turned fashionable, they became acceptable places where professionals could work on their laptops or have one-on-one client meetings. Co-working spaces attracted freelancers and employees who didn’t want to make the drive from their homes in places like the foothills to their employers near LAX or Long Beach.

The coffee shops came with a relaxed informality. Co-working spaces had perks added like coffee, snacks and even professional development seminars for the monthly fee of renting space.

Of course, the table and chair arrangements were nice as well.


Photo: OFS Rowen, Bistro, and Elani Seating

Boundaries between work and home continued to grow blurred with the popularity of urban villages. Retail stores and professional offices on the first floor with living quarters on the upper floors meant you could take the elevator down to the office or step outside and walk a few blocks to work.

You’ll see this trend anywhere you go in Southern California. The urban village concept drew young professional families to neighborhoods along Hollywood Boulevard.

Live-work spaces and third spaces are common in Irvine, Pasadena, and in Ontario or Rancho Cucamonga.

The trend has had enough of an impact to result in a new term: Resimercial.

What is Resimercial Design?

Resimercial design brings personal elements of home into the commercial office space. Think of it as an approach that respects the personalities of employees and their various moods and mindsets.

A mixture of familiar and business-like elements creates an atmosphere that’s less sterile and more welcoming to our senses.


Photo: OFS Rowen Lounge

The Upbeat Contemporary Office is a nice example of resimercial. Splashes of comfortable colors with soft fabrics have a personal appeal.

Resimercial doesn’t mean sloppy or random. Instead, the use of workstations and lounge areas with circles and triangles give structure with an inviting look.

Resimercial’s Growing Popularity

Policies and practices like implementing family leave for spouses after the birth of a baby was another way that private lives and occupations intertwined. Telecommuting had already been a widely used term and practice since the mid-90s, but when Covid-19 hit it became a forced reality.

The majority of companies let their employees work from home, and now, many will continue to work remotely. According to the National Association for Business Economics, only 11 percent of companies in the U.S. expect to have all their employees returning to the corporate office.

Tech giants Twitter and Facebook are currently letting all their employees work remotely while Google will likely go to a hybrid model of office-home later in 2021.


Photo: SitOnIt Reya Table

How Resimercial Benefits Employees

Evidence exists that resimercial design has a positive impact on wellbeing, collaboration, creativity and overall productivity in the workplace. Work Design Magazine describes how this arrangement means more “than merely placing residential objects in a commercial setting.”

Products and materials are used that are especially designed for the unique purpose of bridging the familiarity of home with the professionalism of workspaces. Doing so allows for more comfort for employees to work how they want instead of staying cooped up in sterile cubicles.


Photo: Stylex Still Screens

Resimercial and the Impact on Office Layouts

The look and feel of resimercial doesn’t have to affect the physical placement of departments in an office. However, the fabrics, colors and style of furnishings can reinforce a company’s brand while defining specific areas of an office.

Re-imagine the finance department. Instead of a traditional desk, there could be a comfortable use of open benchingthat has partitions with an attractive color. Lamps and tables with a wood grain finish can add personality.

A manager’s meeting space can be transformed from the inflexible looking cubicle into a more casual feel using modular furniture.

The furnishings can be budget friendly. The payoff can come from an atmosphere that boosts creativity and productivity.


Photo: SitOnIt Novo Chair, OFS Rowen and Wyre Lounge, OFS Staks Benching

If your office needs a refreshing, or you need to plan new space, then the team at 2010 Office Furniture has nearly 50 years of experience to share. They’ve worked with Southern California’s most distinguished corporations, universities, and growing small businesses.

Contact 2010 Office Furniture with your project needs.

Read Also: Developing a Supportive Office Work Environment
Main Photo: Arcadia Contract Delen Meeting Table
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers:  Arcadia Contract, OFS, SitOnIt & Stylex