When you move into a brand new office space, it can be daunting when thinking about how to kit it out. The process of choosing and negotiating on a new office can be stressful enough so it often comes as a shock when businesses realise how much more there is to do once they move in.
Whether you’ve decided to go for an unfurnished or fully furnished office space, there are so many considerations and decisions to make to ensure that the new space is a pleasant environment and feels like you’re own. But if you’re starting from scratch, it can often become very expensive so we’ve pulled together some of our tips on how to kit out your new office on the cheap.
Regardless of whether you have a small or a large budget, it is always good to get some bargains when kitting out your new office. It will help reduce the overall cost, allowing you to splash out on a few additional pieces of artwork or you could spend the savings on an amazing move-in party.
So where do you start?
Firstly, it's important to consider how your team uses the office and design the space accordingly. Do you have a lot of presentations? Casual break-out meetings? Does everyone eat lunch together? Do you need a lot of areas for calls? Make sure to consider the following:
Types and frequencies of meetings
Noise and acoustics
Natural light (natural daylight - putting desks near windows saves on lighting costs)
Gatherings for informal meetings
Arrival experience
Storage requirements
Privacy requirements
Eating areas (and smells!)
‘Fun’ areas
Natural Light
A key consideration in the above list is natural light. In fact, an HR poll of 1,614 employees, published in the Harvard Business Review, shows the ability to access natural light is the number one attribute workers want in their office environment. So It's really important to maximise natural light within your office and there are some clever ways to achieve that.
SImply putting workstations near natural light will make a big difference by ensuring staff have access to plenty of light for the majority of the time they spend in the office. However, sometimes bright light from outside can cause glare and strain people’s eyes and so it can be beneficial to diffuse that light with window frosting (you can buy inexpensive stick-on film) or diffuser screens.
Taking advantage of natural light in your office can also help save on lighting costs. Rather than having ceiling lights on all day, make use of the sun to bring down your office bills.
It’s also worth thinking about how light travels through the office space. Avoid blocking light with partitions and be strategic with your placement of large furniture to ensure natural light can spread throughout the space. You can even use mirrors or reflective surfaces to bounce light around rooms.
Smiling lady working at the office
Division of space
Thinking about how to break up spaces? Bookcases can be a good way to divide up areas within the office instead of building costly walls or meeting rooms. They are also more decorative and allow you to start a book-sharing scheme to keep your staff well-read.
Also, remember, that furniture can be used for multiple purposes. It’s helpful to get furniture that can fold away and be used in different ways, for example, tables that can be broken up and hung on the walls.
Once you have thought about all of the above, make a list of all the items you need to buy. You can always delegate purchases to other team members to make them feel more involved.
Three people working in a cosy decorated offices space
Ikea has a great new line of commercial furniture, which has a great choice of items and all purchases come with a 10-year guarantee. If you can’t find what you are looking for, then another good option for budget-conscious purchases is Allemuir.
Another great source of new, but discounted furniture is Loftys. They provide luxury furniture from the high street and online companies at discounted prices including sofas, kitchen tables and storage units. They have new stock weekly and do free, next-day delivery.
Another good option is second-hand items. You can source these from traditional sources - eBay or ask around on LinkedIn and in Slack groups.
How to make the office look great?
It's important to decorate your office to reflect the culture and values of your company. A little bit of branding and decoration goes a long way to making your employees feel like part of a team, so think about how you can introduce artwork and decor to acheive this. Maybe try looking on Pinterest for some inspiration?
A nice low-cost idea is to print pictures of your team and put them up around the office. You could even have a noticeboard on which you put polaroid pictures of the team.
Alternatively, if you are looking for prints then there are lots of free artwork galleries online where designers donate their work. Buy some cheap frames from Amazon.
Another great way to make your office feel like home is to fill it with plants. You can buy some cheap plants at crocus.co.uk or go down to Colombia Road Flower market, who will often deliver for free.
Keeping plants alive can be a bit of a task in itself, but there are some plants that are easy to care for, for example, succulents, or create a watering rota for your team.
If you are looking for a new office to kit out then let us know. The Tally Market team can help you find a new space for your team to call home. Drop us an email - [email protected].
