5 Tips To Help You Create The Perfect Office Space for Your Business

5 Tips To Help You Create The Perfect Office Space for Your Business

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Creating an efficient and effective workspace is a must for any business professional. Luckily, a highly productive workspace can be easily achieved if you utilize the 5 simple tips in this article. Following these simple workspace principles will have you working comfortable and faster than ever before.

Tip 1: Set A Budget

The first step to any office interior design project should start by setting a budget. Understanding the cost of new furniture, seating, and installation will help prepare you for any workspace makeover. To create a realistic budget, first measure your space to determine the amount of furniture you'll need. Once completed, do some preliminary shopping online to find popular furniture for office in question. When assessing your needs, remember to include the desk, chair, and necessary accessories for your space.

Tip 2: Choose The Right Office Chair

All to often shoppers are in a hurry to outfit their space and don't realize the true benefits available in several of the top ergonomic office chairs for sale in 2013. Finding the perfect chair means you'll need to invest the necessary time to test and review the industries best models. Meeting with a healthcare professional or seating provider can be incredibly helpful for suggestions and tips on just what chair to use. Favorites include the Ride series office chair by Global, Mayline Commute Chair and the all new Avenger Big and Tall Chair by OFM for larger individuals.

Tip 3: Use Modular Furniture

The benefits of modular office furniture are simply incredible! Any business professional hopes to grow their company effectively and profitably. Using modular workstations for office spaces is the perfect way to start. The top modular office desks for sale in 2013 allow for simple reconfiguration to meet the needs of any growing business. Lines like the Zira casegoods furniture collection offer an extensive array of components that help prevent total area makeovers when your personnel needs increase. Collections like Zira allow companies to easily add on to existing furniture and re utilize workstations in inventive ways. This can save you a bundle and should be recommended by any industry professional. If you're on a mission to create the perfect office, modular products are a must!

Tip 4: Properly Accessorize

Adding ergonomic office accessories to your desk and workstation will greatly improve your day to day efficiency. Top products like ergonomic monitor arms and articulating keyboard trays are incredibly versatile and user friendly. These affordable products should be sourced from reputable brands like ESI Ergonomic Solutions that specialize in business productivity. The accessories of any office should be treated just as importantly as the desk and chair. The little details tend to make the biggest difference! In most cases, the ergonomic office products you add will be used more than any other item in your space. As a side tip to remember, if you're already purchasing ergonomic furniture for office applications, make sure to see what items are included first.

Tip 5: Don't Be Afraid of Installation

All too often consumers are quite intimidated by simple office installations. While office cubicles and larger furniture is a different story, new office chairs and smaller items require minimal efforts and provide an excellent avenue for budget maximization. Believe it or not, manufacturers like OFM Furniture specialize in the provision of office reception desks, tables, and workstations that require absolutely no tools for assembly! In your quest to create the perfect office, knowing how to assemble your products will definitely come in handy. In addition, saving money is always a plus and can be reapplied the other important business essentials.

10 Design Solutions for Small Bedrooms

10 Design Solutions for Small Bedrooms

Bedrooms decorating small spaces design solutions design tips

Are you wondering how to make the most of those small bedrooms you have? Sometimes it's as simple as re-arranging furniture, changing  colours or adding built- ins.  Here are 10  suggestions to make the best use of a small bedroom space, but don't stop there.   Many of these ideas can be used in other rooms too.

Build in around the window

miami interior designer Linda Fisher

Using a window to centralize the layout  of the room and building in around it is an efficient use of space.  It is also very visually appealing because it produces a symmetrical layout.

  tineke triggs

Another version of built-ins add seating space and the trundle bed provides an extra space for overnight guests. 

Symmetrical placement

Kerrie L. Kelly

Long narrow rooms seem to be a common problem in bedrooms.  This room again uses built -ins to frame the bed thus creating extra storage space and the perfect place to highlight a piece of art. Using the length of the room for the bed enables a very symmetrical layout which allows for access to both sides of the bed. Walking in to a room and looking over the length of the bed also makes the room look longer and more spacious.

Compact and serene with one wallop of design on the floor. Do you think removing the rug would make the room look even more spacious?  I particularly love the way the small window has been made the focal point with wall to wall draperies. 

Use the walls

Michelle Hinckley

No place to put a bedside table... just hang one on the wall.  

Move furniture to the edge of the room 

The Lettered Cottage

 Pushing furniture to the far edge of a room works well in some cases.  The addition of the large stripes visually expands this room.  Keeping the colours neutral with very little contrast also adds to the spacious look. This is little more than a large closet, but it is so inviting.

houzz

Another central layout that uses the edge of a room effectively. 

Build it up

  allchildrensfurniture.com

This seems to be such a safer solution than regular bunk beds.  The design also allows you to float it in the centre of the room. Lots of storage space is created as a result of the steps and centre placement.

Build it into a corner

source

Stonebreaker Builders & Remodelers

Using a corner to lay out beds is a very efficient use of space. I've seen this work effectively with two twin beds as in the photo above,  but never two bunk beds!  

Float the bed 

Lisa Adams, LA Closet Design

No closet space?  Don't let that stop you. Float the bed in the middle of the room  with a high headboard and install a closet system behind it. 

Use space at  the foot of the bed

Janell Beals - Isabella & Max

This is a creative use of space for a desk. It builds on the central layout of the room and keeps everything accessible .  Benches, chairs, trunks, a small bookcase etc.  are other possibilities. 

Use glass creatively

Jacobs Design, Inc.

A wall of glass covered closet doors expands the overall visual space of this room.  The see through headboard is another good trick.  To make the room look even larger keep all the colours light. Your eye automatically sticks on dark colours and stays there.  They have become an unwanted centre of interest.

Use furniture as a divider

momoy

This room is a fantastic  example of excellent use of space from the built- in shelves and drawers to the desk used as a divider. The large mirror also increases the visual space in the room.

Look for the bones of a room

Look for the bones of a room

design tips

There is nothing more boring in decor than an overly matched room!  I work in a home decor retail setting part time  and this gives me a good sense of what the "general public" is interested in or believes about home decor.  I've noticed two constant trends.  First is the belief that everything must match perfectly, and the other based on the first, is the practice of making  design decisions 12 inches from your eyes.  Both will lead you astray and create very boring rooms. The thing that really makes a difference never gets talked about.

 

This room could definitely be described as overly matched, but does it work ? What makes a room with such a limited palette work or not work? 

 One of the most valuable things I learned as an artist that applies to decorating decisions is the "10 foot rule ".  If you can't read a painting when standing ten feet from it, it isn't successful. The culprit is always a weak value range (not enough lights and darks) that causes everything to merge together no matter how bright or startling the colours. Squinting is another quick way to get the same information.

 The same goes for decorating. You need value changes (a range of lighter to darker colours) in a room to help create interest and variety to encourage "visual travel". Most people have no difficulty seeing colour ranges but they are not so adept thinking about the values of these colour ranges.

  If you want to know if you have a room that is visually interesting take a photo and do a black and white photocopy or change the image to black and white on your photo editor.  You'll soon see if your eyes will travel the room or stay in one spot. I believe that even in rooms where the intent is to create visual harmony, you need value changes.  Lets take a look at some successful and unsuccessful rooms. 

 

The Lennoxx

I choose to live in visually quiet environments because they are relaxing.  They are also the most difficult to make interesting.   Even though everything about the room above is soft, the black and white photo shows there are a range of values in the room that move your eye around.  The darks are limited but they are there in accessories mostly. The amount of white contrasts with the darks (legs, accessories on tables and don't forget the shadowing that occurs in every room.)  A light, airy and visually interesting room. My score:  quietly successful .

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Lovely use of colour with soft whites, lots of variety in textures and shapes but... something is missing for me. The darkest values are in the ottoman legs.  My eyes stick there. The area in front of the window needs some anchoring darker tones to make the furniture stand out from the window. The most obvious change would be the "disappearing lamp- perhaps a new shade is in order.  Having a different pillow in the chair (the sofa pillows) or having a slightly darker value table beside the chair or doing both would move this room up several notches in interest.  Will you look at your furniture legs in a new way now?

Let check out one of my rooms...   I automatically process a room for a range of values, but I've never looked at one of my own rooms in black and white. Ready? 

Not so bad.....

There's a good range of lights, mediums and darks spread around the room. I added a darker pillow near the fireplace because I found the chair blending into the fireplace just a little too much.   I am looking for a new lamp for the spot where the twigs are in the opposite corner. I'm thinking a light shade rather than dark.  Notice how my floor has lights and darks in it too as does the roman shade which my husband loves to jam up into the window frame as much as possible.

Here's a different view with the area rug bought solely for the purpose of making the table stand out from the floor.Like much of the furniture in my home, this table is hand crafted by my husband.  I have visions of a different table but  sentiment wins every time.

Let's go back to the lovely pink and white room and check out the value ranges. Is the room successful?  You can be the judge.

Think vintage wine

Think vintage wine

2011 accents colour schemes colour trends design tips Pillows purple re-purposing

No, not that kind!   I Googled vintage wine and didn't get what I expected. Isn't everything about colour?  To anyone familiar with Benjamin Moore Paints ,Vintage Wine  2116-20 is the colour of the year for 2011. 

Out of all the colours in the Benjamin Moore palette,  how and why was Vintage Wine singled out as "the" colour for 2011?  Benjamin Moore's team of experts observe the world looking for inspiration and trends.   Sonu Mathew, senior interior designer at Benjamin Moore and blogger, notes that the team is always looking two years ahead.  That means that the colour of year for 2011 was chosen in 2009! The key concept for 2011 is balance -  buying into our efforts to find  calming influences  in a hectic, disorderly world. As Sonu puts it "Remember that 2011 is all about balance- work/play, nostalgia/future state, new purpose/old materials". There's no doubt Vintage Wine is a calming colour that is both comfortable and luxurious at the same time. 

What would Vintage Wine look like in our homes?

Trends in colour are just that - trends or patterns to be considered.  Does it mean we should repaint walls a deep brownish purple?  Perhaps not. If you like a colour there's a continuum of possibilities for its use from over the top to the merest hint of it.

 source

This is my over the top application of a vintage wine colour.  I'm practical to the core and my personal design instinct for my  home is casual contemporary with lots of light colours, but  I love to contemplate extremes even when I know I could never live with  them .  This kitchen fills all my fantasy needs. I love its depth of colour and sleek lines, but I couldn't live with it for twenty years. That's my criteria when choosing hard surfaces or built ins in my home.

This room is featured in Benjamin Moore's Envision 2011 brochure. The colour scheme is from  the Soulful palette referencing the global balance achieved through communication technology- what was once foreign is now familiar.  On the style front, these beliefs are evident in the  "ethnic glam" trend characterized by  pattern on pattern, map motifs and  arts and crafts from different cultures, etc. 

Design Hint: This is not a look for every room. Don't try this application unless you have lots of architectural details and a high ceiling.

This is a good way to use a dark colour.  You aren't limiting yourself to several years of looking at 2011's trend.  If you want to change it to something else you'll need only several hours of work and a quart of paint. I love the way the dark draws you down the hallway into the main part of the house. I'm not a fond lover of accent walls everywhere, but this works.

 source 

 Design Hint: Consider using a strong colour as a backdrop behind a light coloured  bed or sofa.  It allows you to keep your remaining walls light and  include a strong vertical line in rooms where horizontal lines dominate. It is also a great way to integrate dark and light furniture into a cohesive design. 

 

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This colour, similar to Vintage Wine, is Benjamin Moore AF 650 Caponata .  It provides a great backdrop for the light  furniture and black chairs.  Without the amount of creamy white used here, this would  have been a dark, dingy room.

Design hint: Use dark colour on walls to provide contrast with  light furniture pieces. This application allows you to highlight your furniture while still controlling your  light colour balance.  My preferences are showing! Dark rooms and dark furniture depress me.

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 This very sleek, modern room uses a purple green scheme as a backdrop for creamy white. I like the way that the vintage wine colour is used modestly as an accent. 

Design Hint: Are you tired of your wood grain entertainment unit? A current trend in decorating is re- purposing furniture. You many not own built ins that look like this, but you can achieve the look  with a similar paint combination. 

 

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Just because I love the table and the sparseness of the room.... The sofa, plush and plum, is the luxurious item in the room.

Design Hint: Every room should have one luxurious item in it. Size doesn't count.

Sarah Richardson via Decor Pad

Design Hint: If you don't want to commit to design trends in a big way, accessorize with them. Pillows make great trend statements.  Consider recovering them when you want to nod toward the next colour trend. As always the magic colour, white allows you to do so much.

 

This is my idea of a luxury item for my kitchen. Le Creuset’s gorgeous enamelled pots, are the ultimate in my mind, but only in my dreams so far. I have a perfectly good set of stainless steel pots.  There's always the dream list....

What are your thoughts on using trend colours?