Not every office revamp requires extensive renovations. When changes to infrastructure like plumbing or wiring isn’t necessary, there is no need to strip a space down to the studs for an overdo office interior revamp.
Table of Contents
Talk to Employees
Define Refresh Goals
Budget
Choose an Office Renovation Company
Tips for Refreshing Your Office Interior
Sunlight
Bring Green into the Design
Open Collaboration Spaces
Movable Partitions
Paint
Electrical Switch Plates & Switches
Flooring
Furniture
Technology Integration
Final Thoughts
Talk to Employees
Whenever you’re making changes, especially to the way people use and interact with a space, it’s best to consult with those people. Discussing changes with employees gives them the opportunity to voice concerns and request specific changes that will no only refresh the interior, but also help them achieve their work goals.
Define Refresh Goals
Extensive renovation or not, it’s easy to get carried away. Defining your goals ahead of time will ensure you and your employees get what you need out of the refresh. You can redesign the office layout to include collaborative or private workspaces, brighten things up with new paint, and more.
Working with your and your employees’ visions for a new and functional office space will help you generate a list oof the most important areas of focus to achieve the best outcome.
Some things to consider when planning your refresh include company brand identity, values, and mission. Creating an office environment that fosters the work culture you hope for as well as the refresh you desire is paramount to a successful endeavor.
Budget
As with any refresh or renovation, you need a budget. Not only is it another aspect of the project that will keep you from getting carried away, but it narrows your scope when it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the choices you have. Office chairs run from basic task chairs all the way up to the most comfortable executive chairs with all the bells and whistles
When you have a budget, you can reign yourself in as well as search for the best quality options in the price point you’ve decided upon.
Choose an Office Renovation Company
While you’re not undergoing significant renovations, getting the right help means you can continue to focus on company operations rather than executing the project yourself, or babysitting workers from the lowest bidding contractor you chose.
Realty Asset Advisors specializes in design-build services, providing a highly-skilled staff that focuses on whole-project design and delivery, including design and project management, all the way to completion. We have built trusting relationships with all of our employees and contractors, so you can be rest assured the right people are on the job and care as much as you do about your project’s success.
Don’t take our word for it. Do your due diligence and research and vet a number of contractors, focusing on those with extensive office renovation and cosmetic refresh experience. Dig into reviews to narrow your options, ask for references – and contact each one, and schedule consultations. Make sure to very the legal side of things, like licenses, insurance, and certifications.
Finally, ask to see a contractor’s standard contract, warranty, and other paperwork. Read carefully, ask questions, and consult your lawyer if necessary. If the most experienced company hesitates to provide such papers during the vetting process, walk away.
Tips for Refreshing Your Office Interior
Now that you have all the basics and legalities out of the way, it’s time to start your project. These changes can help your office sparkle with freshness, without needing to take drastic measures.
Sunlight
This may be difficult, depending on the location of your office and the number of windows it has. Taking advantage of the light you do have is as simple as moving furniture. Create work spaces near windows to maximize exposure to natural light.
Natural light brightens up the space at no cost, and has been shown to improve employee happiness and productivity. Just make sure to situate furnishings in a way that doesn’t cause glare off computer screens or hit directly into employees’ line of vision.
If you can’t bring the sun inside, consider taking advantage of unused outdoor space and provide seating and make equipment like tablets or laptops available so employees can work or take a break outside in the fresh air and sun.
Bring Green into the Design
Not necessarily sustainable building materials, but greenery through biophilic design. Plants, flowers, living walls, and the like do double-duty by adding splashes of color as well as improving air quality (and overall health of occupants), resulting in healthier, happier, more productive employees who take fewer sick days.
Adding a touch of biophilic design includes these elements but also answers humans’ natural call to be connected to nature. Bringing the natural world inside is a simple, inexpensive way to refresh your office look without knocking down walls or adding windows.
Tip: if you include potted plants, choose pots in colors that harmonize with your office’s updated color scheme and provide a soothing feeling.
Open Collaboration Spaces
In a larger office, there may be room for open space. With strategic planning, you can create an open collaboration work area where teams can meet to discuss projects and work together without having to walk around the work area to touch base with multiple team members.
Creating an open collaboration area gives the office a different feel than the grouping of cubicles or desks that may separate people from one another. Employees that have to get up and move to another area, or group together in a popular traffic pattern hinder productivity.
Movable Partitions
In direct opposition to open collaboration spaces is the need for privacy. Some tasks are solitary and require intense focus to get done. If you focus on an open office design, make sure to include some private space where employees can retreat to, whether it’s to get important work done or for the more introverted employee to get some alone time.
An easy solution that doesn’t require building new walls is movable partitions. These temporary pieces can be moved around, arranged for an appropriate size private workspace, or stored off to the side to create a completely open space.
Movable partitions come in a number of sizes, colors, and can include soundproof paneling for ultimate privacy.
Paint
Paint is probably the easiest, and potentially most inexpensive way to refresh your office interior. Even a new coat of white paint brightens up an interior and adds a clean, fresh, look. For more on how color influences employee mood, read our article on The Role of Color Psychology in Workplace Design.
Choose colors for the mood you want to create in each area, and focus on company logo colors for the front entrance to emphasize brand identity.
For a sustainable touch to your painting project, consider natural paints and low- or zero-VOC paints for a lower environmental impact as well as cleaner, fresher air for happy, healthy employees.
Electrical Switch Plates & Switches
If painting is part of your office revamp, you’ll need to remove or tape around plate covers anyway. Additionally, the drab, beige outlet covers and switch plates of yesteryear will likely stick out like a sore thumb against a bright new paint job and other colorful office makeover details.
Changing out switches and plates is an easy upgrade that provides a fresh, clean look. You can also take the time to change from traditional three-prong only outlets to outlets that host USB ports.
Flooring
You don’t have to rip up carpet or hardwood floor planks to give your office flooring a refresh. Having hardwood professionally stripped and polished or giving carpet a thorough industrial strength shampooing will make them just like new.
Another way to freshen up flooring is to add area rugs. Rugs come in a number of materials as well as colors and designs. Rugs can function as a way to define work areas as well. Choose a colorful, splashy design for the open collaborative area while choosing a solid color in a muted tone for the private focus areas.
Furniture
Your furniture, from chairs to tables, desks, and cubicles, may be showing some wear and tear. Fabrics naturally break down over time, and scratches and scuffs are inevitable. Consider replacing furniture in stages to keep costs low. Start with the most pressing needs first – if employees are sitting at uneven desks and spending more time collecting pens that roll onto the floor, replace desks first. If employees are complaining about uncomfortable or damaged chairs, make sure new chairs are on the top of the list.
Whatever comes first, make sure to choose high-quality pieces that will last as well as ben attractive, dynamic, and functional. Ergonomic options, as well as desks or cubicles with ample storage may be the answer to your office furniture refresh needs.
The staff at Realty Asset Advisors will help you wade through the available choices to help you find exactly what’s right for you and your employees.
Technology Integration
You won’t be ripping out walls or taking things down to the studs, but your tech may need a refresh, too. When considering new office furnishings, look for tables and desks that integrate power outlets, USB outlets, data ports, or wireless charging stations.
You’ll see a jump in productivity when employees don’t have to search for outlet across the room since it’s integrated into their workstation.
Final Thoughts
Breathing new life into your office space doesn’t have to be difficult or time- or money-consuming. With a detailed road map, you can find the best route to upgrade and refresh your office without tearing everything down and starting from scratch.
We at Realty Asset Advisors can help you make the changes and renovations you need and want without breaking the bank or breaking down walls.
Contact us today!
