Know Everything About Hunting for the Best Furniture?
A reclining
chair, tables in beech wood, a glass top dining table, designer
cupboards or a wrought iron bed - it's the furniture that imparts the
maximum glamour and comfort to a home or an office. When it comes to
furniture, the wish list is endless. People are often seeing planning
for furniture for their home/office even before they actually
finalize the deal on their home or office.
If you visit,
any furniture
shops (and there are plenty out there in the market), you would
be bedazzled by the wide range of furniture. There are all kinds of
designs available on various furniture items (and they are available
in all kinds of price range too). There is furniture that is designed
to give modern look and there are pieces that are more oriented
towards imparting a traditional look.
Similarly,
sometimes the focus might be more on comfort whereas at other times
the focus might be more on the look of the furniture. In any case,
the quality of wood/metal, used for the furniture, is the main factor
that determines the life of a piece of furniture. Polish of the
furniture is another important factor that goes into determining the
quality of furniture. Again, there are separate designs for office
furniture and home
furniture.
Knowing how to
select the most appropriate office furniture requires more than just
a flair for what is in vogue and feels comfortable.
Jim DiPersia,
vice president of the American Society of Furniture Designers, has
worked in the business for 29 years and has witnessed many changes in
how individuals choose office items. For example, it used to be
trendy just to simply buy the most contemporary styles for chairs,
conference tables and other necessities.
Things to consider
? Location of
natural lighting
? Location of
artificial lighting
? Location of
power outlets
? Noise abatement
? Scale of
furniture to space
? Ergonomic
qualities of furniture
? Tasks that
will be performed by workers
? Whether
customers will be coming into the office
? Flexibility
and mobility of furniture
? Durability
? Color scheme
Source:
American Society of Furniture Designers and Business and
Institutional Manufacturers Association
"I see a
swing toward higher-end manufacturers.
People are always looking for durability, but in the past I think
price was more an issue and would sometimes cloud good judgment,"
said DiPersia. "Today, the most popular types of office
furniture are simple, straight-line pieces where functionality
precedes gadgetry."
The ASFD,
founded in 1981 and located in New London, N.C., is an international,
nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing and supporting the
profession of furniture
design and its impact on the marketplace.
Certain office
buildings, such as those which might house scientific laboratories,
require flexible furniture that can be easily and inexpensively moved
to suit the environment or type of research that is being conducted.
DiPersia said the flexibility issue is always determined by the
office environment and what type of work the employees will be
performing. There are no set rules about the need for mobile,
flexible furniture.
DiPersia said
individuals in charge of purchasing the furniture for an office
should consider the type of business, its location, the employees'
needs, the amount of lighting
and the function of the work space. He said the most commonly
overlooked factor is ensuring the chairs,
tables, desks and other items can be adjusted to meet various
heights and are ergonomically correct.
"Efficiency
is one of the foremost issues to be dealt with in laying out a new
environment, communication systems, lighting and an overall feeling
of a relaxed atmosphere. This is achieved with not only the furnishings,
but color tests are being done now to determine the outcome that
color has on inmates in the state penitentiary," said DiPersia.
"The findings vary with warmer colors as opposed to cool. The
warmer tones have been proven to render a more calming effect. A
well-planned office will produce a more efficient, congenial atmosphere."
Tom Reardon,
executive director of the Business and Institutional Furniture
Manufacturers Association, said the most important matter that
purchasers need to remember when equipping their office is the work
that will be done by the employees. Factors that should be considered
include how much time they will spend at their computer, talking on
the telephone, interacting with co-workers and customers.
"It's
important to determine whether the corporation has any image
objectives. Are customers going to be coming into the business like
at a law firm where they typically have high-end furniture to impress
clients," said Reardon. "High-end furniture may be at the
top of one company's priorities and not at many others."
Reardon said
large corporations usually call professional designers to help them
plan and purchase new office
furniture, while smaller offices typically have to make their
own decisions.
Reardon said
corporations that work with architects to construct new buildings can
ensure their needs are met and selecting furniture
is usually a much easier task than when a company moves into an
existing facility.
"If you
are stuck with the building, you have to work around it as far as
where the walls are situated, what type of lighting it features and
where the power sources are located," he said.
Reardon said cubicle
office systems often minimize noise in a busy office because the
panels that separate the work stations have special acoustical
properties. Appropriate floor covering and ceiling treatments can
also help eliminate noise, but are sometimes overlooked when the
office furniture is being replaced.
Reardon said a
"caves and commons" atmosphere has evolved in corporate
America today where there are common areas for collaborative work and
private office areas where individuals must complete reports and
other tasks. |
