11 Points to Consider When Designing an Office Waiting Room

1. Practical Design

What do your design components say to your customers? Natural wood and stone wall add to a supportive friendly country ambience, yet may not give the picture you wish to paint. If your customers/visitors/clientele is essentially high class, a conventional style may be more appropriate. Choose a design that is practical instead of going for a something extravagant.

 

2. Flooring

In this day and age various types of flooring is available. When choosing flooring, remember the purpose of your waiting room – to make your visitors feel comfortable. Parquet flooring, for example, can convey richness, but may not be as inviting as carpeting or an oriental rug.

 

Tip: Looking for durable, resilient, low-maintenance commercial flooring like marble and tiles and stay away from hardwood floors as they require careful maintenance to keep them safe from damage.

 

 

3. Pay attention to visitors

When planning your space you need to have a reasonable idea of where your visitors will enter and exit and furthermore, these spaces are clearly marked with entrance or exit signs.

Also make sure the seating arrangement is according to the amount of visitors expected as you wouldn’t want your customers to stand and wait in an uncomfortable manner.

 

4. Fill with the right/durable furniture

The most essential aspect of your waiting area is the furniture, not only is it the main feature of your room your visitors will see, it also decides how comfortable they will feel in your space. Clients waiting on stiff, hard chairs will feel the wait is longer than it really is. Make it easy for them to relax. Invest in good, durable and cozy furniture which will be a one time investment.

5. Space around the Reception Desk

Whether a person is coming to your office for the first time or the 100th, they should feel welcomed. Make sure your reception desk is comfortable, spacious, welcoming, and aligned with your brand. It should not be cramped with papers and packages, or people who are trying to reach for assistance. A reception desk should be large enough to hold all the deliveries neatly and enough space around so people can move freely.

 

6. Choose colors carefully

What colors you choose for your office can have a dramatic effect on your clients and other visitors. After all, the colors you choose will effect how they feel and how productive you are. Research has shown that blue colors affect your mind, yellow your emotions, red your body, and green your balance. By combining these colors you can influence your guest’s behavior.

 

7. Color Toning the Ambience

Lighting in Interior Design is one of the most overlooked and yet essential in terms of creating the right mood. Try to have light from several directions to brighten the room. Use windows, as natural lighting is fresh and soothing. The right kind of lamps, fixtures, and bulbs will give you wonderful interior lighting design for your space.

Mood lighting uses different tones and colors of light, as well as different levels of brightness, with the aim of creating atmosphere in a room.  In many cases it uses soft, warm lights to induce a feeling of calm and relaxation, but at the opposite end of the spectrum it can also be used to provide a lively and invigorating effect.

 

8. Personal Decorations

When you have settled on your furniture and color schemes, you need to select some décor items that can likewise set the mood in your waiting room. Pick furniture that individuals will recollect and remember. For instance, set yourself apart by including tasteful art pieces, an aquarium with intriguing fish, giving them something fascinating to view won’t just make your office different but it can help your visitors feel comfortable before their appointments.

 

9. Flowers and Plants

Bringing potted plants into a space to liven it up is a trick that’s been used by interior designers for many years, but did you know that our leafy friends are also influential filters that cleanse the air around us? If you think plants can be time consuming then fortunately there are several plants that are low maintenance, but will actually flourish your workplace.

 

10. 24/7 News Channel

It updates us with the current situation including the weather, traffic, politics and many more! Having a 24/7 NEWS channel in a waiting room can be an advantage as it takes the mind off the people.

 

11. Technology / Wi-Fi Details

Because your visitors are in your waiting room, it doesn’t mean that their work stops. That is the reason you might need to consider making outlets effectively available so they can charge and utilize mobile phones, laptops and tablets while they wait. Free Wi-Fi always keeps your customers occupied while waiting, making the wait feel a lot less than it actually is.