Gone are the days of Working Girl, where the offices are cramped and the crowd of colleagues is choking the environment. The latest trends in office design has gone in a whole new direction; think Google. Here are a few of the hottest office trends, and how you can adapt them to your own space.
Plant life
It’s no surprise that plants are good for our health, but did you know that surrounding yourself with plant life in the office can also boost your levels of creativity and work ethic? Keeping plants are a huge trend for offices, and they offer heaps of benefits too. Plants can help reduce office related stress, increase productivity, reduce noise and increase your creative mind. So go ahead and grab some plants, and seat them near your desk; they’ll do wonders! You can even create a small section of the office, perhaps the dining area, with some artificial grass on the floor. Green, as a whole, promotes innovation in the office, but more on that later.
Flexible Seating
A huge trend that has hit the Pinterest scene lately is the phenomenon of flexible seating. Gone are the days of rocking up to the office and sitting at your desk. Now, get your laptop and sit anywhere you like. Open plan offices can create a friendlier space for you to work in, allowing you to relax and blend the feelings of working at home with a corporate environment. So if you’d rather sit on a nice, soft rug instead of that binding office chair, get yourself a flexible working space.
Colour
It’s often noted that colour can induce feelings, but did you know that there are certain colours you should avoid when designing an office? Painting the walls white, whilst may be a smart move if you don’t own the office space, is one of the worst choices for producing a productive work space.
If you’d like your team to think more creatively, work harder or feel more energetic, consider painting those white walls a different colour. Orange induces creativity, so if you’re in a creative design space, consider making the seats orange, or even the walls orange. Inspire innovation by injecting blue and green hues into the office. If you take a look at any of the office spaces owned by Google, you can see nothing but bright colours, and a substantial lack of white. Colours that are often seen in inspiration boards for offices include greens, orange, reds and blues, as they promote positive thinking, innovation and increase work stimulation. White may look crisp and clean, but it could be one of the worst colours to paint your office.
The latest trends in office design aren’t just for show; they promote innovation, positive thinking and creativity. So get painting those white walls orange and watch your workplace thrive!
Ally Feiam is the marketing & content creator for MyDeal, an online marketplace with over 25,000 products.
