Having new office furniture installed can be one of the best ways to make changes around an office.  In addition to improving the office aesthetics, there are many other added benefits to an office refresh.  Here are three benefits not typically thought of when considering a change. 

Declutters the Office

Modern offices these days tend to have more of an open design and provide more mobile flexibility.  When getting rid of older furniture there is a natural tendency for employees to take an “out with the old and in with the new” mindset.  By adding new furniture, it requires they go through their office space and get rid of items which may have built up over a long period of time.  Equally, with many employees working with laptops, the days of the traditional desktop cluttered with post-it notes have gone more toward individual laptops with docking stations and/or data plug-ins.  With a major shift to remote work, “Hoteling” allows remote workers to reserve a spot to work when they must be in the office.  Since no employee wants to leave behind papers or other personal items, these areas naturally remain clutter free.  Lastly, that old unused desk in the corner which has become a repository for leftover pages of memo’s and unused equipment can be removed entirely opening up new space.

 
Adding Color Improves Work Habits

Changes in the body and brain occur when people look at colors.  In fact, subconsciously, color affects many things in our life including mood, our ability to focus (or not), communication, creativity, and productivity.  Take, for example, four primary colors green, blue, yellow and red.  When used in an office setting each influences our behaviors.  The color green boosts creativity, promotes harmony & balance, and reduces anxiety.  This color is ideal for a brainstorming area.  Blue is known to reduce heart rate and breathing, promotes trust and communication, and improves efficiency and focus.  Blue is great for both collaborative and detail-focused areas.  Yellow says sun & fun!  Yellow promotes energy, stimulates optimism, and promotes innovation.  Yellow is tricky though and too much can increase anxiety.  So, feel free to paint the break room yellow, but limit yellow to accents and decor.   Contrary to blue & green, red can make people feel that a room is warmer than it is.  It is known to boost heart rates, increase brainwave activity and incite activity.  Red works well in spaces that involve physical activity or nighttime work. When you replace your old office furniture with new, this is the perfect time to change up the color scheme, thus improving work habits.

Controls Office Workflow

It used to be that accounting had its own area, marketing another, sales another, executives another, etc.  In some industries that layout makes sense.  But, with the evolution of electronic communications, many companies today are thinking about the workflow process and intermingling disciplines.  This allows employees to know what each other is working on, can encourage areas for a short break when losing focus, or have an impromptu meeting even if the conference room has another meeting going on.