At first glance, ordinary furniture may appear very similar to office furniture but the design, structure and quality can vary quite dramatically.
The rise of home offices has blurred the lines between office and ordinary furniture, but this doesn’t mean you should ignore the benefits that dedicated office furniture can bring.
Improved Quality
Ordinary furniture tends to have an expiry date, and whilst it may last for months or even years in a non-working environment, it won’t last as long in a busy office. Using standard, ordinary furniture in a workplace shortens its lifespan and it’s likely that you’ll need to replace pieces fairly quickly.
Unfortunately, this can be unnecessarily costly for business owners and can increase downtime too. As well as needing to purchase replacement pieces, companies can lose money if staff are unable to work whilst furniture is being replaced or the office is refitted.
By using specifically-designed office furniture, however, you can negate the need for frequent replacements. Office furniture is designed for use in high-traffic areas and working environments, which means it should stand up to constant use. Whereas ordinary furniture may only be used sporadically, office furniture is used by numerous employees for over 40 hours per week or more.
Due to this, office furniture is designed to withstand the rigours of everyday working life. Reflected in the quality of our luxury office furniture, you can rely on to remain functional in spite of heavy usage.
This enhanced level of quality ensures your business can continue to function efficiently and that you won’t be forced to use company funds to replace ordinary furniture on a regular basis.
Functional Design
Employee needs vary depending on their job role, and you may find that employee needs change over time too. Office furniture is designed to reflect this, whereas ordinary furniture simply isn’t.
When you add ordinary furniture to an office environment, it doesn’t typically provide the facilities your employees need. Connectivity can be limited if ordinary furniture doesn’t cater for the numerous pieces of hardware your employees will require, for example. Similarly, storage space in ordinary furniture tends to be rather limited and may not take space into account.
With dedicated office furniture, you can create effective space-saving solutions and incorporate adequate storage facilities too.
Bench desking with self-dividing screens are a popular choice of office furniture, for example, and they offer a myriad of benefits that ordinary furniture doesn’t. Designed with your working environment in mind, bench desking highlights the differences between ordinary and office furniture.
With the ability to expand your bench desking set-up as required and modify its layout as needed, office furniture offers enhanced functionality. Added extras, such as partial or full dividing screens ensures your dedicated office furniture can be customised in accordance to the needs of your employees.
Whilst office furniture should be visually-pleasing, it must be functional in order to increase efficiency and productivity. Although ordinary furniture could technically be used in a working environment, it is unlikely to increase productivity and efficiency in the same way.
In fact, ordinary furniture could even decrease productivity and efficiency if it doesn’t enable your employees to work to their potential.
As a result, ordinary furniture could increase company costs, whilst specially-designed office furniture can enable you to reduce your outgoings.
Improving Workplace Safety
Ordinary furniture isn’t generally designed in accordance with workplace safety regulations in mind, and this can be a significant problem for business owners and managers. Whilst office furniture is designed to be used in a fast-paced working environment, ordinary furniture could prove dangerous in this type of scenario.
Furthermore, ordinary usage may not provide a comfortable and supportive environment for employees. Using standard, ordinary furniture for hours on end can lead to an increase in workplace health issues, such as headaches, repetitive strain injury and back problems.
Conversely, luxury office furniture is designed with employee safety and health firmly in mind. With supportive office chairs, adjustable desks and ergonomic workstations, your employees will be able to perform their duties in comfort and with a reduced risk of developing work-related health issues.
In turn, this reduces costs for companies and ensures their staff are kept happy and healthy at work. In terms of staff absence and morale, investing in luxury office furniture can be far more cost-effective than trying to incorporate standard ordinary furniture into your working environment.
Using Interior Design
Your office décor is an opportunity to promote your brand and your company philosophy, but it can be difficult to achieve this using ordinary furniture. Generally, ordinary furniture is available in a number of setups but it may not stretch to certain pieces, such as reception desks, modular seating and cluster desks.
This limits your choice when it comes to workplace furniture, and makes it difficult to achieve a consistent design throughout your office. As a result, ordinary furniture can detract from your interior design and result in an office environment which isn’t as cohesive or as visually-pleasing as it could be.
Alternatively, office furniture gives you the opportunity to create a stunning and consistent workspace, with interconnected themes and features throughout. Instead of having mismatched ordinary furniture adorning your reception space, for example, you can opt for a dedicated reception bench, with all the requisite features you’ll need and statement reception seating in a modular format.
This will provide your reception staff with the facilities they’ll need and ensure you have a flexible reception area which can be modified to suit the company’s needs. Furthermore, using luxury office furniture to achieve these objectives has the added advantage of creating a sophisticated and streamlined appearance too.
Choosing Luxury Office Furniture
Whilst ordinary and office furniture may appear similar at first, it soon becomes apparent that they have very different qualities. When you’re furnishing your workspace, it’s vital to take aesthetics, functionality and safety into account. With dedicated office furniture, you can create a harmonious and productive environment for your staff and your clients. To learn more, see what our office furniture could do for your workspace.
