IDEAS ON HOW TO DECORATE AN OFFICE

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH LIGHT

Nigerian workers (Lagos) spend approximately 70 percent of their working hours indoors, Lack of natural light can have negative impacts on mood and productivity, and so both employees and their employers would greatly benefit from more exposure.

Natural light is a much overlooked benefit in office design, but it should be one of your major considerations in office design and layout. It can make a big difference.

“Natural light offers a much wider color spectrum making it easier for us to see details and perform basic tasks, At Simplinteriors School of interior design the students study the essence and importance of natural light, particularly in manufacturing environments. In addition, our eyes are designed to work with the changing light levels of sunlight, in contrast with the harsh continuous artificial lighting in offices. Natural light will reduce eye fatigue and complaints about headaches.

With a great knowledge as an interior designer, I advice  you  get more light in your workplace: To improve the amount of natural sunlight within an office, create an open environment by tearing down interior walls, using glass walls for private offices and benching desks instead of claustrophobic workstations and also don’t forget to make good use of artificial lightening.

 GIVE EMPLOYEES ENOUGH SPACE.

You get to offices and it looks so beautiful but not spacious! That’s the reason a boss who wants the employee to have a good working space has the need to contact an interior designer in Nigeria to help design the space. It’s not only important to give staff big enough desks, but you must also consider ‘circulation space, this is the space in corridors and between desks that enable people to move around freely. There is nothing more disturbing than having someone bumping into you every time they walk by. Just think of the last time you were on an air plane sitting in front of a hyperactive child.”

“Of course you want to give people a quiet place to work, but you also want to create a dynamic and fun atmosphere where people can interact and bounce ideas off each other, Open plan workplaces literally and figuratively take down walls between people. Bench-desking brings people together and helps to create that team interaction that you may be after.”

CREATE BREAK-OUT SPACES

Break-out spaces aren’t just somewhere your employees can eat lunch—they provide a crucial place away from the desk, which can aid creativity. When planning a standard interior design office in Nigeria, you should enquire more tips from  good interior design companies to “Create non-bookable, break-out spaces for those informal chats or just a change of scenery. These spaces take down barriers to communication and encourage spontaneity in the office.

You want to designate casual meeting or lounge areas in your office for employees not only to relax but also to exchange thoughts. Great ideas come from inspiring casual spaces.

KEEP THINGS TIDY

When it comes to small offices, it is even more important to consult an interior designer so as to make sure that everything works together. In a large office, clients might never see the work area, because there is a ‘behind the scenes’ space, but there is no such thing when it comes to small offices—everything is out in the open.

“Keep things tidy. It’s amazing how quickly a neat and tidy office can turn into hurricane zone. One of the worst offenders is food at desks. At Simplinteriors school of interior design & entrepreneurship we have a ‘no eating at desks’ policy which keeps rubbish in its proper place as well as crumbs off the floor. We also recommend this to offices, that you ban bins at desks to avoid the inevitable pile up of rubbish at workstations. It also encourages recycling.”However, all this lost if you don’t address the storage issue. Storage is often an afterthought when companies take on office space, but it is usually the second biggest complaint—after temperature. When you plan your office space, make sure you incorporate a storage audit.

INVEST IN FURNITURE

Cash-strapped companies may be tempted to save money on budget furniture, but in the long-term, you’re not saving anything.”visit a good interior design company ( simplinteriors & décor) where you would get the real  value of money spent on office chairs and also helping you to save thousands of naira in the long run,” “It may be a relatively small object, but workers spend the majority of their workday sitting in an office chair. Only when they begin to suffer the ill effects of an uncomfortable chair—low back pain and general discomfort—do they begin to pay attention to where and how they are sitting.”

“Don’t skimp on furniture. A cheap chair can cause back pain, contributing to complaints and absenteeism. Invest in a good movable monitor arm to put the screen at eye level to reduce neck pain. A good desk will have systems to get rid of annoying cables hanging on foot. 

BRAND YOUR WORKPLACE

If your workplace could just as easily be compared to other offices around you, then you’ve gone wrong somewhere. Branding your office is just as important as branding your stationery, Joy Ofili Yebovi the CEO of Simplinteriors & décor and proprieties of Simplinteriors School of interior design & entrepreneurship located in Lagos says:

“Branding should not stop with the business card and website. It should be infused into the space where everything happens. It should be all around the employees and it should speak to the clients. It should be the environment.”

Majority of Nigerians that own offices don’t see the essence of having a very nice wall covering on their office walls “Wall covering (wall paper) on the wall is not needed, nor the framed images on the wall”, but in a way, these details are the whole point of the office. It gives the space an identity—it tells others and reminds us what we are here to do,” No one is going to believe that you take your company seriously if you say you are modern as you sit on a flowery Victorian couch you inherited from your grandmother.

DESIGN ONE THE WALL

Another nice touch? A Logo, You can contact an interior designer in Lagos to help design any of the walls in your office where you build a Logo. “Putting it on a feature wall is a simple way to create visual interest. The Logo should carry identifying factors through the space, be its color, a shape or idea. Modern offices make sure that the Logo sends the right message. It is all about the message and the image telling the same story.”

I would further advice on this topic as an interior designer in Nigeria, “The physical appearance of your office can lay the foundation for your corporate culture. In designing your office space, inject your firm’s slogans, logos, philosophy, attitude, products and color palette into the environment in order to showcase your firm’s corporate culture at the most elementary level. The clothing does not make the man, but it does make him more attractive!”