There are many benefits to working from home: no commuting, no boss, no need to shave, etc. However, one disadvantage of working from home is that it is all too easy to get distracted. Thankfully, this can be easily dealt with by installing a home office.

Home offices are available in several different styles:

Traditional
Deep woods such as mahogany and walnut are very effective for creating a traditional work space that has an opulent feel as the detailing and deep finish help to achieve a timeless look that will never look or feel old. The simple addition of a few vintage lamps, bookcases or rugs can help to round off a traditional looking office with some style.

Contemporary
Contemporary office furniture is ideal for a light and vibrant looking home office. Indeed, contemporary computer desks and office chairs have smooth, clean lines that create a sleek and relaxing style. Contemporary styling generally works best in offices that are open, spacious and free of superfluous additions. Contemporary furniture designs are available in pine, oak, dark wood and painted finishes so regardless of your home’s decor, there will always be an option to suit your needs.

Practical
Because the limits on space, the type of office furniture required for home offices often needs to be practical in design. Therefore, office tables and desks that have a ‘hide away’ element are a perennial favourite in this category as they provide home-working pragmatists with a simple and practical fold away solution.

Although office desks and chairs are very important, it can often be the smallest of details that can make the biggest difference when creating an organised and aesthetically pleasing office space.

Organisation
Of course, office tables, desks and chairs are obvious and essential additions to your office workplace as no work would be possible without them. However, less obvious items such as desk tidies, monitor stands, cable tidies and multi plugs can all help to make your office a more organised, and therefore less stressful, place to work.

Aesthetics
Simple aesthetic touches like plants, wall prints and display cabinets can all help to make your office feel more relaxed. Indeed, plants can soften the often hard edges of an office and the art chosen for wall prints can reflect your business as well as look nice. In addition, display cabinets can allow you to show off awards or achievements that will not only impress visiting clients but also make staff members feel proud.

If you’re not sure - ask
If choosing office furniture isn’t your strong point and you don’t have access to professional advice; do the decent thing and ask your employees what they would like. After all, they are the ones who will be there 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, so it stands to reason that they should have a say on what they would like to have in their work space.

So remember, when choosing office furniture; don’t forget the details.

Every business has the ability to grow and develop. Therefore, when choosing office furniture and designing your office layout, you need to consider two things: will the style you choose still be suitable in the years ahead and; will the build of the furniture meet the needs of a potentially expanding workforce and their evolving technological needs?

Style
When designing your office, you must consider what is likely to be stylish in a few years as redecorating your entire office every year can be expensive, time consuming and disruptive. Therefore, it can often be wise to choose a classic design but give it your own firm’s twist; that way your office can look independent and stylish for many years to come.

Build
Naturally, workers’ desks need to be able to comfortably accommodate monitors, telephones, keyboards and mice whilst still allowing plenty of space to do work and store various items. However, by investing in larger office desks you can ensure that your office will be ready to accept any new developments in the technological world as and when they become available. Furthermore, office tables and desks that can be assembled in different ways can also offer you much more choice in the future as they can be completely separated or added together to accommodate evolving work space requirements.

Nobody can predict the future, but choosing office furniture that is durable in both style and build can help ensure you get the best value for your money.

There are two key aspects to keep in mind when furnishing an office: style and functionality.

Style
When furnishing an office, it is important to select a style which will accurately reflect your company. For example, a creative agency may want a bright and vibrant environment, whereas a law firm may prefer a more traditional surrounding. Certainly, your choice of office furniture and the design of your work space can directly express what your company’s attitude to work and business is. Indeed, even aspects such as the presence of name plates on office tables and the background music you choose (or don’t choose) to play can all say something about your company ethos.

Functionality
Creating a stylish space is one thing, but you also need to remember that your office must first and foremost be a place where your staff are able to work productively. Therefore, your office furniture must offer your employees enough support and comfort to ensure they can stay focused on their tasks for the duration of their working day. Ergonomic furniture is essential in this respect. Indeed, ergonomic office chairs, desks, and keyboards provide significant amounts of support that can help to reduce the risk of back, wrist, arm or muscle pain which is typically related to office work. Furthermore, the addition of ergonomic office chairs, desks and keyboards can also help to reduce stress levels amongst workers, so your employees will not only be more comfortable; they will also be more content.

One important factor to consider when choosing office furniture is; ‘What office design or furniture combination will provide my employees with enough space for them to comfortably work in?’

Occupational claustrophobia
A heavy presence of office desks, chairs and storage cabinets can often make a work space feel somewhat limited at times. Unsurprisingly, feeling ‘hemmed in’ can have a negative effect on staff productivity as it can make workers feel as though they don’t have enough space to think. Having a spacious lounge-type area in the office can be a great solution to this problem as it can allow workers to have somewhere to go when they need a break from the confines of their office desks or cubicles.

The right desks for the job
When it comes to choosing desks for your office, consider the type of work your employees do. Do they need to discuss their work between them or do they need to concentrate by themselves? If their work does need to be discussed then an open plan office allows this to be done easily. However, work that requires individual concentration may be better served by singular workstations.

With a little bit of careful thought and consideration, you can turn your office in to a place where your staff enjoy having the space to think. To find out more about office design and view our great range of desks, chairs and meeting tables; explore our pages further or call our free customer hotline on 0800 7314592.

It’s every employer’s responsibility to ensure that their employees are safe at work, and not unduly exposed to health risks. In the office you could be forgiven for thinking that this would be easy. After all, there are few hazardous substances to deal with and very little equipment that presents any level of immediate danger.

However, even the humble office desk can be the cause of serious long-term health problems if not set up properly. Working long hours at a deak that is not properly adjusted can lead to back and neck problems, repetitive strain injuries, increased stress, eyestrain, and more. It’s crucial to make sure that office chairs and desks are fit for purpose and can be fitted to fit an individual worker.

It’s the office chairs that should be adjusted first. They should be just high enough that the person sitting has their feet flat on the ground and their thighs horizontal. The upper and lower legs should form a right angle. This seated position creates the least stress on the body. Next comes the office desk. It should be set at a height such that when the user is typing on a keyboard, the arms sit low down. Again, look for a right angle between the upper and lower arms.

Obviously there are some things that don’t need to be adjusted- meeting room tables for instance. They must be reasonably comfortable for everyone involved, but all-day meetings will be rare so most people won’t spend many hours working at the table.

All too often, meeting furniture ends up in the conference room because it’s the stuff nobody really wants to use all day every day. It might be not quite as comfortable as the regular chairs and tables or a little on the old and shabby side. Letting meeting room chairs and your conference table get battered and aged is a big mistake- the meeting room might be out of sight and out of mind most of the time, but when you need it, you need it to be clean, tidy, comfortable and sleek.

It’s not just about impressing potential clients and business partners (although that should be something to think about). Meeting room chairs don’t have to be chosen from our range of the finest executive chairs, and most businesses don’t need to invest in a hugely expensive table for the meeting room, but everything in there does need to present the right image. Remember, when your staff walk into the meeting space they should feel comfortable, professional, and ready to do their best even if it’s only an in-house gathering. The right surroundings will encourage them to give 100% every time.

Don’t wait for that big meeting date to get any closer. Take a look at what’s in your conference room right now. If your meeting furniture is unmatched, uncomfortable, grubby, or just not as bright and new as it once was, now is the time to think about replacing it. Make the right choices and your whole workforce will feel more professional.

There are several reasons to choose glass or glass-topped office furniture instead of the more traditional metal, wood, and plastic options. The first is ease of cleaning. It’s very hard to stain glass even if you actively try. Even the hottest, most sugary coffee spill will wipe straight off. It might even be allowed to try first. It doesn’t matter- almost anything will come straight off for a cleaner armed with nothing more than a damp cloth.

Glass can also appear more modern than an opaque material. If you want office furniture that builds an impression of a forward-looking, sharp, dynamic company, it’s a very good choice. Glass-topped meeting tables can be especially effective. There is nothing quite like a sparkling expanse of glass to make a room seem clean and bright. And of course, a glass table will show off your sumptuous yet business-like office seating to best effect!

Glass meeting tables are the perfect choice for conference rooms that aren’t quite as bright as they could be. A large, dark wooden table can make a space with limited natural light seem even dimmer. Pick a pale wood finish with a high shine or go for glass, which will make the absolute best of the available light.

The glass used in modern furniture is toughened to the highest standards so you don’t have to worry about compromising on safety or product lifetime. Our tables are beautifully constructed from very high quality materials, to offer durability and strength as well as stunning good looks.

Unfortunately, most offices don’t have room for comfy sofas, generously sized desks, and all the filing cabinets and storage space any employee could hope for. These days working in a cubicle is a fact of life for most people who take office jobs. However, there is a big difference between an efficient, well set-up cubicle and a cramped one that’s poorly equipped.

Building healthy, happy cubicles that promote productivity and reduce stress starts with the right choice of office screens. They won’t be able to block out all noise in the way that a full wall can, but a good acoustic screen can dramatically cut down background noise. This is particularly important for call centre workplaces and others where spoken communication goes on all day every day.

The configuration of the office screens will be determined by the available space and the number of cubicles required, but where possible, take care to leave generous walkways and some clear areas for workers to pass, chat, and congregate from time to time.

The right choice of furniture is also crucial. Large, cumbersome office tables that take up the lion’s share of cubicle space aren’t ideal. Look for compact desks that offer adjustability. Built-in storage space can be a real advantage too, because it cuts down the need for other furnishings.

Office tables that fold away can also be really handy in a workplace that’s not quite as spacious as it could be. We stock a whole range of helpful products that let businesses get the most out of their space. Take a look at the catalogue- there are sure to be some ideas in there that will help you build a small but effective working environment.

Most offices manage to keep workplace accidents to a minimum but that doesn’t mean offices are perfectly safe places to work. Slips, trips, and falls are amongst the biggest contributors to accidents at work and they are by no means confined to heavy industries and the manufacturing world. In an office environment, cables present one of the most persistent problems. There are computer power cables, printer cables, network and internet cables, phone line cables, cables for the copier, the scanner, the fax machine and even the coffee machine. With all of those snaking their way from A to B it’s no wonder so many people are injured in trip accidents.

To minimise cable mess, choose computer desks that are pre-prepared for electronic equipment and have cable ports so the cords can go under the work surface rather than over it. This is particularly important for executive office furniture- the higher up the ladder an employee is, the more gadgets they are likely to have on their desk.

Cable ports are also something to look for on meeting room tables. These days many people bring laptops to conferences, and a table with half a dozen power cables scattered around it is an accident waiting to happen.

Of course, computer desks and tables with cable ports don’t get rid of the problem entirely, but they are the first step towards managing cables effectively. You might also like to consider other measures like running cables up to the ceiling rather than along the floor, or keeping them enclosed along the skirting boards.