Office furniture needs to be functional and must compliment the working atmosphere of an organization. Therefore, haphazard decisions to buy any furniture may prove wrong in the long run. Therefore, in this post, we will discuss a detailed buying guide for office furniture for corporate and small-scale offices.
The following factors play an important role in buying the right furniture for your workplace:
Suitability: The furniture is always selected based on the nature of job performed or carried out in the workplace. Therefore, furniture used within a factory office will be different from those used within a corporate office. The best way to choose suitable furniture would be to choose an adaptable design that can cater to multipurpose uses in the workplace. For instance, using height-adjustable chairs with footrests is the best option irrespective of an office or a factory.
Cost: Next comes cost. The cost of the furniture must always be reasonable and affordable within the limits of the budget. Overspending must be avoided while purchasing office furniture and frivolous spending on unnecessary aspects must be avoided. For instance, expensive chairs with all kinds of ergonomic features like cushioned seats, leg rests, etc. are usually not necessary. Rather choosing a chair that has durability and comfort within affordable costs is the best option.
Durability: Office furniture must have a long life. They must, therefore be manufactured from good quality material – be it wood, metal or plastic. The correct combination of fixtures, materials and manufacturing process determines the durability of office furniture and thus forms an important factor in the selection process.
Ergonomics: This is the most important aspect of office furniture. Ergonomics determines the comfort by which an employee will work throughout the day within the office. The performance of an employee is directly proportional to the comfort he experiences in the workplace.
Style: Office furniture must compliment the inner ambience of a workplace. Elegant and tasteful designs often create an alluring aura that creates a pleasant feeling of sophistication and status quo to an office. For this proper planning is essential where the correct combination of design, colour and form would bring out the latent ambience of a workplace.
Space saver: Office furniture must be compact and comfortable. It must not be bulky and must be easy to move round also. Being compact saves a lot of space and helps to utilize maximum area thus accommodating more employees per square feet area.
Finish: The finish of the furniture must be smooth. For instance, instead of using screws and bolts that have a protrusion, countersunk bolt/screws must be used so that the surface of the furniture remains smooth and does not injure the user. Glossy finish creates glares and must this be avoided. Instead, matte finishes are desirable. Wooden furniture has a longer durability than metal furniture but then it must be treated with appropriate chemicals to avoid fungal growth. Glass topped furniture must have rounded edges to prevent any injury to employees. Such aspects that can potential affect the comfort of people are considered while selecting office furniture.