2014 Furniture Trends Set to Stay Big in 2015

The past year was an awesome time for conference room design projects. Super cool design trends came plenty, effectively helping businesses raise the level of their office meeting spaces to new heights. Here are some of the most captivating conference room office furniture trends of 2014 that are sure to remain popular this year and beyond.

Elliptical Tables

Elliptical tables were a hot commodity in the 2014 office furniture market. Apparently, a lot of businesses felt that rectangular, oblong, and round table shapes were far too overused. One major benefit of this design, apart from the sleekness and elegance, is that it offers space-saving advantages that allow businesses to maximize conference room square footage.

Office Layout and Productivity

It has often been said that the way a company’s office is laid out directly affects employee performance, and the results of various studies and surveys, some of which are discussed below, would bear this out.

Stats and Facts

Numerous studies have found out that a comfortable, well-ventilated and adequately lit office amps up employee productivity and job satisfaction by 16 and 24 percent, respectively, significantly reducing absenteeism among workers. It’s not hard to see why—an engaging, lively workplace is something almost everyone would look forward to.

Oil Prices May Affect Office Furniture Choices

The increasing popularity of shale as an alternative to oil has caused an unprecedented plummet in oil prices. You know what happens when oil prices drop; everything else follows. However, it seems like oil prices always have the tendency to go back up and in the years to come, you can expect it to poke a hole in your pocket again.

When oil prices rise, people will likely search for ways to avoid buying it, such as transitioning to eco-friendly measures in terms of office design. Offices may invest in newer hardware and software systems to help them achieve their goal of going paperless. Accommodating more equipment, however, will require a major redesign of the modern office.

Go Environment-friendly with your Office Furniture

Going green isn’t limited to just meeting energy ratings and best practices. You can also go green by creating a conducive work environment. This is the recommendation from various authorities on building design, alluding to the increase in demand for a better workplace with workers’ comfort in mind. Design, however, is just one aspect of better building strategies to enhance workplace efficiency and workers’ satisfaction.

While the rating system of the Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) sets the standard for greener buildings, something basic to any worker’s heart needs just as much attention. Workplace comfort and turnover rate have an indirect—and linear relationship. Discomfort leads to pain, which, in turn, leads to loss of focus and low productivity—and in the end, concludes in job termination or resignation.

Setting Up A Startup’s Office

Startup companies are a dime a dozen across the country. You may even name some companies that were only startups last year, but have now reaped a lot success with their products or services. If you’re opening a startup firm and secured some space as a base of operations, you will need to invest in some quality new or used office furniture.

Tables

Buying a good set of tables depends on the startup’s initial pool. You must evaluate if you require a large table for communal activities or smaller desks for more personal work. In some cases, the business owner may have the only individual table and include options to buy extra tables in the future.

Arrange Your Office Furniture to Your Benefit

Open floor plans don’t always make for fun offices. Yet with the right execution and appropriate office furniture, an open floor plan can spice things up in your workplace and even boost employee satisfaction and productivity. Here are some of the advantages of this type of floor plan:

Lower cost of doing business

As the term suggests, an open office floor plan literally puts everyone in one room, with no dividers or walls to separate them. Given that open floor plans do not require partitions, a company can save a lot in terms of construction, materials, and labor. Instead of maintaining several individual spaces, the company only needs to manage one large area, which translates into lower utility bills.

The Health Benefits of Standing Desks

Standing desks are a new but welcome addition to any office environment as they offer certain health benefits. First, they can help enhance your metabolism. Second, they help you flex your muscles more regularly. Third, they can help with blood circulation.

Benefits to the Mind

Aside from these health benefits, though, many offices equipped with standing desks have seen significant improvements in terms of employee productivity and creativity. Standing desks, among other things, make it easier for employees to concentrate on their work because their focus is not diverted toward the poor ergonomics of their office chairs that often results in backaches and discomfort.

Tips on Buying the Right Office Furniture

An office needs the right furniture to brighten it up. Here are a few tips on selecting the right pieces to complete your office interiors.

Consider your space measurements

Before buying anything, make sure that it fits the room where it will be installed. For instance, buying a conference table that turns out too big for its intended space could be just as useless as having no table at all. Get furniture pieces in the right size so you don’t end up with a crammed office.

Should You Buy Used Office Furniture?

Every now and then, businesses are faced with the difficult decision of whether to buy something new or resort to a used alternative. Since office furniture is often built to be sturdy and take quite a lot of abuse from its users, drawing a line on when to buy new or stick to used furniture isn’t always a clear-cut procedure.

Tips on Maintaining Office Furniture

In any office, seeing to the furniture is of utmost importance. The biggest reason is that attractive and functional furniture help foster a good working environment, which results in increased productivity and worker satisfaction.

This benefit is reason enough for businesses to take good care of their furniture, as these items easily fall into disrepair if not treated properly. Here are some steps that any businesses can take to maintain their furniture’s condition:

Some Factors in Choosing Office Furniture

Many business owners understand that a comfortable office equates to better production from their employees. Providing employees with comforts to help them produce more is a truth that more companies should take note of if they want to grow and expand their sphere of influence.

The choice of furniture is one of the greatest concerns that companies must be able to deal with. An environment where employees are comfortable working is ideal, and good furniture can help in creating that inviting environment.

Here are some tips that can help any business owner choose the best furniture for their business:

Assembling the Conference Room

Nearly every office has a conference room. Everybody knows something is up when employees are summoned there for various matters. If your team has secured abundant space for a conference room and need to get it up and running fast, you must act quickly with help from your preferred office furniture provider.

Entrepreneur’s Guide to Buying Used Office Furniture

Whether you’re someone getting a startup company off the ground, a freelancer, a self-employed boss working from your own home, one of the drawn-out but exciting things you’ll have to do for your office (or home office) is shopping for your office furniture. You don’t have to go all out and shop brand new for this, though. Instead, you can save by buying used furniture, with the help of these tips:

Tips for Evaluating Wood Furniture

If you’re choosing office furniture, you should know that wood is one of the most practical and durable material you can opt for, and if you choose right, you can have furniture that will enhance the look of your office considerably. Choosing quality wood furniture matters a lot in how your office will turn out, but you don’t have to be an expert to be able to tell what’s good.

Here is Why You Should Buy the Best Office Chairs

It’s simple scientific fact that sitting on a chair for long periods of time is unhealthy. Sitting relaxes the muscles and, in turn, lowers enzyme activity in the body by up to 95 percent. If this goes on for hours on end, a person’s healthy cholesterol levels will drop by at least 20 percent.

Some Tips for Buying Used Office Furniture

Naturally, offices need a variety of furniture pieces for employees to work on. However since these items are very durable and meant to last for long periods of use, such furniture tend to cost a pretty penny. Both business owners and startups with limited budgets might have trouble acquiring brand new office furniture for their own use, although they have the option of settling for used equipment, which are sure to be more affordable in price.