Trying to decorate any professional area without the help of an interior designer can be tough. Trying to decorate an office welcome area meant to impress and wow visitors can be even tougher. Having a waiting space that reflects a company's commitment and mission is a central part of almost every office environment. The goal is to keep customers happy and content while simultaneously showing off your business. Unfortunately, with the wrong colors, textures, and arrangements of furniture, guests can feel awkward and weirded-out by poor decorating choices. Don't worry though. If you're out to decorate you office reception area, there are always a few tricks in the book. Here's just a few quick ideas to get you started!
Artwork
One of the biggest mistakes a designer can make in a room is bare walls, and in a public business environment where the goal is to keep a guest entertained until you can reach them, this is a big no-no. Think about it. If you were a guest told to sit and wait for somebody, would you rather stare at a blank slate, or something you could think about? Not everybody's a magazine reader. In order to gain the best publicity and customer satisfaction, a business owner should try to meet the needs of each individual person. Of course, trying to please everybody is virtually impossible, but that doesn't mean you can't expand entertainment sources, and artsy walls is one of the best places to do this. A room can end up looking a hundred times more interesting with paintings or photos that match it's color scheme on the walls. Artwork also tends to make a room look bigger, particularly if it is pictures of scenic photographs. If a reception area is in a close space, try adding a few large images of skies, open fields, or beaches on the walls and see if that doesn't open up the space a bit more. Filling in the walls makes any place feel homier, and in a guest environment, comfort is what matters most!
Indoor Plants
It's shocking how much more lively a place can look with plants in the room. If your welcome area is dull and drab, and the lively photographs on the walls can't seem to give quite enough energy, adding a few indoor plants might be just the thing you need. Choosing certain plants to share an indoor space with can actually have many beneficial qualities. In psychiatrist offices, hospitals, an DMVs, plants like lemon balm can give off energizing scents that may uplift clients. On the other hand, lavender gives off a lovely relaxing scent that can calm and content guests who may have to wait a long time in other office facilities (although some people have been known to become drowsy around these plants). However, if scents are not something that's welcome in your welcome area, there are plenty of other plants that have been known to improve health by other means. For example, geraniums, spider plants, golden pothos, and peace lilies are all low-maintenance plants that have been proven by university studies to improve air quality by removing volatile organic compounds. Not only could keeping a pot of gerber daisies on stylish curved desks for reception use enliven the whole waiting area; it could also improve the health everyone in it!
Area Rugs
In tall office buildings where a waiting room may be on the first floor as easily as it may be on the forty-fifth, area rugs are an excellent decorating tool. Not only do add color and zest to any room they're in, but on higher floors, they also serve as a sound barrier. In rooms with sold walls and floors, sound bounces around and echoes, whereas fabric surfaces tend to trap the sound. In bustling lobbies, reception areas, and waiting rooms, this sound may aggravate neighbors in the next office over. In addition, with guests always coming and going, comfortable modern office lounge chairs may get moved around some. If the floor is made of linoleum or wood, chair legs could easily scratch the surface, making a welcome area appear run-down or used. Area rugs can act as a protective barrier against this as well as a decorative sight. After all, if you've got art on the walls, why not carry the colors throughout the rest of the room?
Coffee Tables
Coffee tables are a decorator's staple in homes, and the same is true for waiting areas. In office environments, visitors may have to wait as much as an hour before being seen, and it is up to the business owner to provide their entertainment until that time arrives. Stocking the reception area with entertainment like television, magazines, books, and informative pamphlets about the company is the best way to assure a client's patience. Unfortunately, all those things can be brought down by one thing - the lack of a place to set it all. For this reason, coffee tables are saviors in reception areas because they provide visitors a place to set reading materials and refreshments until their name is called. In addition, adding one or two cool coffee tables for office reception use can also add a lot to a room visually. A fun table can bring a sense of texture into a room. It can make a room look fuller if the table stands on large, solid supports, or it can make a room seem more open if the table is made out of a material that doesn't obstruct view, such as glass.
End Tables
Like coffee tables, end tables are a vital part of reception area decoration. They provide guests with a place to set beverages and magazines when their names are called. But end tables can also help to fill a room, and bring in some uniformity. Most popular office furniture brand names manufacture furniture that matches easily with other things they sell. Since coffee tables are a very popular item, end tables are great ways for them to get more sales, but buying end tables for guest reception that match coffee tables also makes great design sense. When a table is in a room by itself, sometimes it can stick out like a sore thumb, but when surrounded by matching furniture elsewhere in the room, a place looks much more complete. Coffee tables and end tables look great together, and they serve functional purpose in all sorts of waiting rooms. Remember, guests like to feel comfortable, and making a place as homey is possible is the best way to do it. Adding art, tables, comfortable lounge chairs, area rugs, and plants sounds a lot like a living room, but in the end that's really what any smart decorator strives for!
Artwork
One of the biggest mistakes a designer can make in a room is bare walls, and in a public business environment where the goal is to keep a guest entertained until you can reach them, this is a big no-no. Think about it. If you were a guest told to sit and wait for somebody, would you rather stare at a blank slate, or something you could think about? Not everybody's a magazine reader. In order to gain the best publicity and customer satisfaction, a business owner should try to meet the needs of each individual person. Of course, trying to please everybody is virtually impossible, but that doesn't mean you can't expand entertainment sources, and artsy walls is one of the best places to do this. A room can end up looking a hundred times more interesting with paintings or photos that match it's color scheme on the walls. Artwork also tends to make a room look bigger, particularly if it is pictures of scenic photographs. If a reception area is in a close space, try adding a few large images of skies, open fields, or beaches on the walls and see if that doesn't open up the space a bit more. Filling in the walls makes any place feel homier, and in a guest environment, comfort is what matters most!
Indoor Plants
It's shocking how much more lively a place can look with plants in the room. If your welcome area is dull and drab, and the lively photographs on the walls can't seem to give quite enough energy, adding a few indoor plants might be just the thing you need. Choosing certain plants to share an indoor space with can actually have many beneficial qualities. In psychiatrist offices, hospitals, an DMVs, plants like lemon balm can give off energizing scents that may uplift clients. On the other hand, lavender gives off a lovely relaxing scent that can calm and content guests who may have to wait a long time in other office facilities (although some people have been known to become drowsy around these plants). However, if scents are not something that's welcome in your welcome area, there are plenty of other plants that have been known to improve health by other means. For example, geraniums, spider plants, golden pothos, and peace lilies are all low-maintenance plants that have been proven by university studies to improve air quality by removing volatile organic compounds. Not only could keeping a pot of gerber daisies on stylish curved desks for reception use enliven the whole waiting area; it could also improve the health everyone in it!
Area Rugs
In tall office buildings where a waiting room may be on the first floor as easily as it may be on the forty-fifth, area rugs are an excellent decorating tool. Not only do add color and zest to any room they're in, but on higher floors, they also serve as a sound barrier. In rooms with sold walls and floors, sound bounces around and echoes, whereas fabric surfaces tend to trap the sound. In bustling lobbies, reception areas, and waiting rooms, this sound may aggravate neighbors in the next office over. In addition, with guests always coming and going, comfortable modern office lounge chairs may get moved around some. If the floor is made of linoleum or wood, chair legs could easily scratch the surface, making a welcome area appear run-down or used. Area rugs can act as a protective barrier against this as well as a decorative sight. After all, if you've got art on the walls, why not carry the colors throughout the rest of the room?
Coffee Tables
Coffee tables are a decorator's staple in homes, and the same is true for waiting areas. In office environments, visitors may have to wait as much as an hour before being seen, and it is up to the business owner to provide their entertainment until that time arrives. Stocking the reception area with entertainment like television, magazines, books, and informative pamphlets about the company is the best way to assure a client's patience. Unfortunately, all those things can be brought down by one thing - the lack of a place to set it all. For this reason, coffee tables are saviors in reception areas because they provide visitors a place to set reading materials and refreshments until their name is called. In addition, adding one or two cool coffee tables for office reception use can also add a lot to a room visually. A fun table can bring a sense of texture into a room. It can make a room look fuller if the table stands on large, solid supports, or it can make a room seem more open if the table is made out of a material that doesn't obstruct view, such as glass.
End Tables
Like coffee tables, end tables are a vital part of reception area decoration. They provide guests with a place to set beverages and magazines when their names are called. But end tables can also help to fill a room, and bring in some uniformity. Most popular office furniture brand names manufacture furniture that matches easily with other things they sell. Since coffee tables are a very popular item, end tables are great ways for them to get more sales, but buying end tables for guest reception that match coffee tables also makes great design sense. When a table is in a room by itself, sometimes it can stick out like a sore thumb, but when surrounded by matching furniture elsewhere in the room, a place looks much more complete. Coffee tables and end tables look great together, and they serve functional purpose in all sorts of waiting rooms. Remember, guests like to feel comfortable, and making a place as homey is possible is the best way to do it. Adding art, tables, comfortable lounge chairs, area rugs, and plants sounds a lot like a living room, but in the end that's really what any smart decorator strives for!
