Often the advice given about how to improve our health and wellbeing can be conflicting.  Don’t eat fat – do eat fat. Eat 5 a day – no, make that 10 a day. Drink a bottle of wine a day - you get the idea! There are all kinds of contradictory messages out there and it’s sometimes difficult to know which of the latest guidance to follow. That’s why we thought we’d give you the lowdown on height adjustable desks – are they just another fad or do they really provide wellbeing benefits to their users? Standing desks certainly aren’t a new invention. The idea of standing whilst working was popular back in the 18th and 19th centuries too. However, height adjustable desks in the workplace do seem to have made a comeback with their health and wellbeing benefits being considered by many employers. There is scientific research to prove many of the benefits linked to standing rather than sitting, especially for long periods of time. Using a standing desk, over the period of an afternoon in the workplace, rather than remaining seated, has been shown to burn 170 more calories, equating to quite a difference over an entire working week.* But, would a brisk walk in a lunch break not burn even more calories and provide additional health benefits too? With back pain being such a common complaint, especially amongst office workers, can sit-stand desks offer some relief to back pain sufferers and reduce sick leave? Is it the sitting that’s the problem or can bad posture, whether seated or standing, cause issues? There is some evidence to suggest that going straight from working at a seated desk for 8 hours a day to working at a standing desk for 8 hours a day, may cause transitional problems, so an extreme change in working methods isn’t advised.** Some of the research in support of standing desks has been questioned. Many studies are now suggesting that it isn’t sitting that’s the problem – it’s simply being still. So whether you’re sitting still or standing still, you are of course being ‘less healthy’ than if you’re moving and being active.*** So, are treadmill desks the answer? In essence, and after digesting reams of research on this subject, we have concluded that as with many things in life it’s about finding the right balance for the individual. Certain back complaints could be aggravated by too much standing or by too much sitting – so treat each case on the evidence presented. Employees should be encouraged to include breaks and short walks within their working day. Sit-stand desks that can be adjusted between the two heights offer the benefits of both positions, enabling personal choice depending on the user and their tasks. It’s about finding out what’s right for your organisation and your staff, offering choice wherever possible and encouraging good working practices. * https://authoritynutrition.com/7-benefits-of-a-standing-desk/ ** http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-truth-behind-standing-desks-2016092310264 *** https://www.techinasia.com/health-benefits-standing-desks-separating-hype-reality

There are now over 2 million #shelfie posts on Instagram, this trend of perfectly curated shelf spaces has worked its way into all aspects of interior design for the home. You can see it in beautiful kitchens, with pots and pans artfully displayed, in quirky bedrooms, with prints and treasures above the bed, even the bathroom cabinet has been given a #shelfie makeover, with lotions and potions now proudly on display. Office design in 2021 is going to be all about making the workplace more homely and comfortable, as we transition back from home working. There has never been a better time to add some #shelfie style into your office, we’ve picked our favourite Instagram #shelfies to inspire you to give this trend a try. Use a layered shelf design to let your desk plants breathe. This industrial shelf space gives a masculine take to this trend. The view isn’t bad either! A perfectly curated all-white display, complete with a stylish Eames Bird This would make a great display for any industry awards your team has won, along with some positive quotes or inspiring prints. The rainbow bookshelf is a great way to add a pop of colour to your office, and encourage your team to pick up some reading materials. This harmonious display creates a sense of calm, perfect for quiet zones in the office By contrast, a dark background looks dramatic and intriguing, add unusual trinkets for a great talking point to get ideas flowing in a brainstorming room. Your #shelfie can be functional and include items you need day to day, but remember to give space to your objects so it doesn’t look cluttered and disorganised. If you have a kitchen or break area in your office, adding layers of mismatched plants instantly gives a relaxed homely feel. (Cats optional!) Perhaps your office needs to be very clean and formal, you can still add a touch of fun and kitsch with a playful #shelfie tucked away in the bathroom.

What is an Experiential Workspace? In recent years, the office has transitioned from a cubicle-based desk farm to an open plan, collaborative workspace. Over the last decade, some of the world’s largest companies, such as Facebook and Apple have designed and built huge workspaces with one thing in mind: employee experience. Now, as leaders consider the future of their workspace and how they work in a post-pandemic world, the experiential workplace has become even more important. Countless surveys have revealed a conundrum: the number one thing people miss about the workplace is face-to-face time with colleagues, and yet they also appreciate the benefits of working remotely- no commute, better work-life balance… the list goes on. The solution is to make the workplace a destination, an experiential place, that your people will remember for how they felt while in that space – the togetherness that comes from working as a team, the empowerment felt as they choose how and where they work. The experiential workplace prioritises one thing: people. Both how it makes them feel, and how much they enjoy their time there. In the words of Richard Branson “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” Why Experiential Workspaces Matter In the 1950s, people equated economic prosperity with ownership. Flagship purchases, such as buying a car, or a first home were major life milestones. Younger employees now feel real value and a sense of identity is derived from experiences as opposed to possessions. For a generation brought up on streaming and subscriptions, this is not surprising. Driven by the same factors of reduced costs, customisability, experience over ownership, and personal interaction, this shift is reflected in the workplace with the move from fixed desks and personal space to flexible, unassigned spaces. Experience is assuming an ever more important role in workspace design and with the needs of your people and business evolving as we emerge from the pandemic, adaptability will be key to keeping your office relevant. Through flexible furniture, your space can be changed on a regular basis. This will help to reflect the needs of your teams and create premium experiences for your people. To avoid becoming redundant, the role of the office has to transition to its new purpose as an experiential “destination” that prioritises connection and collaboration – a destination that your people want to spend time in. Through focusing on employee experience within your space, you can boost productivity, creativity, and engagement – all of which will be reflected in results. However, you don’t have to break the bank to create an experiential workspace. Through utilising and adapting what you already have, along with a few carefully selected design elements, you can create radical change in your office for a relatively modest investment. How to Make Your Workspace Experiential Understand Your Needs It goes without saying that the first step in creating your own experiential workspaces is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the needs of your people and business. Different job roles and personalities require different things of the workspace. Introverted parents may need quiet spaces to focus, while socially starved younger employees will look for more collaborative spaces. The needs of your employees also need to be considered in conjunction with those of the whole business. With the rise of hybrid working, the traditional office role has been challenged like never before. If and how you implement remote and hybrid working will have a major impact on the role your office needs to perform for your business and making sure it is designed with that in mind is essential for its success. Zone-Based Working Creating an experience is all about forming a feeling or memory that is tied to a space or environment. In the workspace, that means providing a wide variety of spaces that closely match employees’ requirements for all different tasks, so that they are in a space that meets their exact needs at that moment. Staff are at their happiest (and most effective) when given a variety of spaces choose from in which to do their work. Whether that’s café-style spaces for informal meetings, pods for focussing (alone or in small teams), or academy facilities for people to communicate & learn a space that properly facilitates the work they are doing will have a huge positive impact on their effectiveness. Create FluidSpace™ Modular and adaptable furniture allows one space to facilitate a wide variety of different working styles and experiences. We have developed FluidSpace™ as a means of ensuring that you have the flexibility and confidence to create exceptional workspaces for your people.  It does exactly what it says – it creates agile, flexible workspaces that can be quickly and cost-effectively reconfigured to meet the changing demands of organisations. ​ By utilising furniture to create rooms and zones rather than traditional methods of fit-out such as partitions, it allows for maximum flexibility – new zones and rooms can be established without the need for disruptive and expensive construction works. As the lines blur between work and relaxation, individuals and teams, agile spaces are required to meet the evolving needs of your people and businesses. Experiential Workspaces By thinking about your workspace not in terms of features but in terms of holistic user experiences will make your office far more user-orientated. This will have huge benefits for your people and your business. These spaces can play a key role in the attraction and retention of top talent, as well as facilitating collaborative and fulfilling experiences that just aren’t possible when working remotely, alone. The experiential office is about more than just the physical work environment – it involves every part of what an employee in the space will experience throughout the day, right down to the tea and coffee. Every touchpoint is an opportunity to reinforce who you are as a company and align your people with that throughout the day. Experiential office design gives us an insight into what the office of the future will be: a destination in and of itself that your people will want to come and work in, because of the experiences they can be part of when at work.

Personalities in Your Workforce Since the office was created, for decade after decade, companies treated staff as units of labour, who received a bland, featureless experience, identical to every one of their co-workers. Only in recent years has this started to change, as managers began to appreciate the productivity benefits of an office design that catered to the unique personalities of their employees. In an age when workers across the world have had their eyes opened to the possibilities of working from home, it is crucial that your workspace delivers an enjoyable and productive experience for all your staff. Companies that try to continue with a “one size fits all” approach will see poor staff engagement and culture, as well as below-par productivity and profitability. According to Steve Case, former AOL CEO, “the strength of a team is different people with different perspectives and different personalities.” If your office design gives your people a choice of a bland desk or a drab conference room, you are excluding the vast majority of staff who don’t do their best work in this environment. Even if your office is a collaborative and energetic open-plan space, you are likely side-lining the introverts amongst your team. Only when your office design caters to the characters of all your staff will you unlock the full potential of everyone. The 5 Personality Traits There are many different theories and classifications on personalities, but many researchers now agree that there are 5 core personality attributes: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Openness Openness is a person’s willingness to try new things as well as participate in imaginative and intellectual activities. People with a high openness score tend to be seen by others as creative and innovative. On the other hand, people who prefer routine and structure score low on the openness spectrum. They avoid change and innovation, preferring security to adventure. Conscientiousness Conscientiousness considers the level of a person’s goal orientation and their level of self-discipline in regard to their targets. Highly conscientious people are very organised and detail-oriented planners who focus on their goals and reaching them. Those with a low conscientiousness score are prone to distractions, often leaving tasks and goals unfulfilled in order to chase new opportunities. Extraversion Sometimes known as the extrovert-introvert conundrum, extraversion is the most often discussed workplace characteristic. Extroverts tend to be confident, outgoing, and fun-loving. Introverts tend to be more reserved people who prefer time and space alone. This does not mean that they are shy – they are just more self-sufficient than extroverts. Agreeableness This aspect of personality refers to how people view others around them and their relationships. Highly agreeable people are trusting, altruistic, and popular. While they are easy to please and encourage team harmony, they tend to be easily distracted. Less agreeable people are often competitive and tend to be scarcity-minded, leading to them being perceived as uncooperative and even manipulative. Neuroticism Neuroticism is the personality trait that considers how an individual’s emotions are affected by their perception of their surroundings. Highly neurotic people are often anxious, insecure, and prone to severe mood swings. Those low in neuroticism characteristics are more emotionally resilient and self-dependent people. It is essential to recognise that these characteristics are not binary – each person is somewhere on a continuum between the 2 extremes. However, these 5 factors give you somewhere to start in understanding how your people vary, and the different workspace requirements that they have. The Importance of Office Design for Different Personalities It may seem impossible to create a workspace that is perfect for everyone, and in fact, you don’t want to. By developing a workspace culture that is closely aligned with your brand and values, you will appeal to staff who share similar values and goals. However, with that, it’s crucial that you have a diverse workforce of different backgrounds, perspectives, and personalities, as this will make your team more resilient, flexible, and varied. As one of the most visible and significant elements of any workspace, furniture has a crucial role in making your office design work for the unique personalities of your people. Whether it’s office pods & booths that give your people time and space to focus, collaborative furniture that brings your people together to innovate, or learning furniture that facilitates educational experiences for all your staff, furniture can make your space inclusive for all personalities. Not sure where to start? View our gallery of workplace furniture options to get some inspiration for your perfect workspace, or speak to one of our workspace consultants today to gain a deeper understanding of your requirements, and how you can create a workspace that maximises the potential of all your people.

What is social capital? Previously unheard of, social capital has become a key part of the workplace conversation over the last 12 months. While remote working initially seemed to be going great, as isolation continued over time and teams dispersed, the level of understanding and collaboration between staff dropped significantly. This is social capital – the understanding and commitment built between colleagues and teams over time, through small, frequent interactions. Remote working denied teams these “watercooler moments” by making communication much more formal and structured. At first, this didn’t matter, as teams had high levels of social capital already built up, but over time, the gradual erosion of this team spirit has caused a serious wellbeing and productivity drop. Social capital is defined as “the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.” The concept has been around for more than 200 years, but until recently remained unknown to the wider public. Over recent months, however, the lack of it has led to far greater awareness. The drop in motivation, productivity and effectiveness of remote working has all been attributed to the lack of social capital. Social capital has two main forms: bonding and bridging. Bonding is the social capital created within a group that have common interests and aims – such as departments and functions within your company (and your company as a whole). Bridging refers to the creation of social capital across these groups, who have some common interests, but separate purposes or roles. This could mean between two different functions of your business, or between your company and a client. Social Capital in Covid-19 At first, remote working seemed to be going great. We had fewer distractions, no commute, and a healthier lifestyle. We could work with close colleagues in virtual meetings, and ignore all the distractions of the busy office life. It became fashionable to loudly herald the end of the office and a new era of remote working. The office was a thing of the past, now obsolete and irrelevant. But over time, a realisation has emerged of the long-term damage that working from home is doing to both people and business. As social capital is diminished between teams over time, and not built up with new team members, working together becomes a lot harder. While staff are holding more meetings than ever before, they are also feeling more isolated and lonelier. That instinctive understanding is lost, making meetings slower and more laborious. Social Capital in Your Company Social capital is critical for the creation of a thriving workplace (and company). In the physical workplace, every time someone is stuck, they can share a problem with helpful co-workers, who will offer expertise and assistance, even if it's “not their job”. And when you help someone out, even though you stand to gain little from it, the reason behind that urge to help is the social capital you have built with that person over time. So, while remote working may make everyone better at their own roles, it can lead to reduced innovation and problem solving, which could be fatal for your business in the long run. Crucial to the successful building of social capital in your workplace is designing for “collisions” -unplanned meetings of co-workers who may or may not know each other. It's why Google encourages staff to move around their workplaces and create long queues – so that unrelated staff members can build networks and openly discuss problems and solutions. This is why done right, over time, social capital creates successful organisations. It enables the effective flow of insight, expertise, and information. It empowers innovation and creativity. The inevitable constriction of networks when a team is working from home not only prevents all these essential interactions but makes your staff more isolated and less productive over time. Building Social Capital with Furniture As the elements of your workspace that your people interact with the most, furniture has an integral role to play in the building of social capital within your workplace. Ordering your staff back to the office (whether full or part-time) and hoping for the best won’t work. By creating social spaces with the use of breakout furniture, you can encourage people to relax and bond, building the foundations for effective teamwork. Creating different zones in your workspace designed for different types of working will encourage your people to move around throughout the day, building new relationships and strengthening existing ones. From small team pods to events and training spaces, communication happens best in environments designed for it. Ultimately, a culture that promotes wellbeing, happiness, and collaboration is as important as effective time and task management. Socialising and enjoying time together is not an unproductive waste of time – it’s an essential team-building exercise that makes the “real work” far quicker and more effective. Not sure where to start? Book a call with one of our workplace consultants or explore our collection of breakout furniture for inspiration on how to rebuild social capital in your organisation.

For centuries, business leaders have been grappling with the issue of how to maximise the return on their two greatest costs (and opportunities): people and workplace. The workplace is constantly evolving and adapting to improve the productivity and experience of its users, striving to give companies an edge in the battle for talent to help them grow and thrive. To ensure a bright future for your business, you have to ensure that your workspace is maximising the productivity and wellbeing of your people, both now and in the years to come. The amount of disruptive change in the last few months has created high levels of uncertainty about the immediate future, let alone about 2, 5, or 10 years ahead. However, through examining what are lasting factors, and what are passing trends, you can set a blueprint for the way you work in the future. By using this systematic approach you can create a workspace and workforce that can fulfil and drive lasting results for your business. A well designed and implemented workspace can be very powerful for a business looking to future proof culture and performance. The key to ensuring that you have the best chance of a positive outcome is to make sure you have a good understanding and communication of “what” your new workspace is going to achieve and “why” this is going to be fantastic for the future of your business. Focus on People The only thing that hasn’t undergone a complete overhaul in the workplace over the last 100 years is the central element: people. By ensuring that your workforce is at the centre of the way you think about workspace, they will feel supported and empowered. Thinking about your workspace not in terms of features but in terms of holistic user experiences will make your office far more effective and user-orientated. Your workspace can play a key role in the attraction and retention of top talent, as well as facilitating collaborative and fulfilling experiences that aren’t possible when working remotely. A user-centred workspace that prioritises wellbeing can have a dramatic positive effect on the happiness and performance of your people. Offering your people varied and dynamic environments to support them in their roles and considering their comfort can dramatically increase their wellbeing and consequently their capability to perform. At a time when the need for skilled and innovative workforces has never been greater, a cutting-edge workspace will increase their wellbeing, enabling them to achieve their full potential and create amazing results for your business. Flexibility Over the last few months, our perspective on work has completely changed. No longer is it a place we all attend, all day, every day. It’s now an activity that we can accomplish in a variety of environments, locations, and even time zones! With this in mind, your office has to be flexible, to meet the needs of your people as seamlessly as possible. By utilising furniture to create rooms and zones rather than traditional methods of fit-out such as partitions, FluidSpace™ allows for maximum flexibility – new zones and rooms can be established without the need for disruptive and expensive construction works. It can even incorporate ‘hackable’ spaces- areas that the users can re-arrange in seconds to match their needs for a specific task, project, or meeting. With furniture offering mobile and modular systems, your workspace can continually adapt and evolve to the changing need of your people. This offers you the agility to adapt to your changing requirements as and when they happen, giving your people the environment they need to drive your business forward in the future. Sustainability Whilst sustainability used to be viewed as an optional and expensive luxury, it is fast becoming a workspace essential. In the future, the reputation of a company will be linked to its sustainability credentials. As a spatial embodiment of your company, your office has a crucial part to play in this. Furniture is one of the easiest ways to make your office more sustainable. Your first considerations here should be the “3 Rs”- can you Reduce the amount you need through effective design, Re-use what you already have, or purchase products that are wholly or partly Recycled? Many manufacturers offer product ranges with recycled and/or sustainable materials. When selecting furniture and materials, opting for classic ‘timeless’ styles, both in finishes and structure, can reduce the need for costly redesigns when passing trends go out of fashion. Durability and longevity of materials and products are also critical factors. If products use poor quality materials or badly designed, they will not be as popular within the space and will remain unused, inevitably needing to be replaced sooner. Furniture should last at least 7-10 years from new, and even after this time you can sell it to second-hand dealers or recycle it, rather than send it to landfill. The Workspace of the Future With many organisations unsure of how their real estate portfolios will look in 12-24 months' time, FluidSpace™ is an ideal way to ensure you have the flexibility and confidence to create exceptional workspaces for your company and your people. FluidSpace™ does exactly what it says – it creates agile, flexible workspaces that can be reconfigured to meet the changing demands of teams and organisations. The flexibility of FluidSpace™ allows it to adapt and grow with your needs, therefore helping to future proof this significant investment. With economies and industries changing so rapidly, companies need adaptable workspaces that can be repurposed easily and effectively. Exceptional workspace plays an integral role in both attracting and creating exceptional employees, which in turn create exceptional results - and companies. The workspace is not only a building but a destination that empowers your people, without boundaries or constrictions. Through FluidSpace™, you can create your own workspace that meets the current needs of your business and can adapt seamlessly to an uncertain future.

Your workspace is an excellent opportunity to showcase your brand and culture to prospective staff and clients, as well as affirm it to your people every day. As the element of your workspace that your people interact with the most often, furniture has an essential role to play in representing and affirming your company’s meaning, both subconsciously and consciously. It’s crucial that the design of your workspace has the right balance of personality and professionalism to reflect and enhance your company brand and culture. This is not only the furniture itself within your space – the type, the design style, and the finishes. It extends to the layout of the whole space, and how your furniture interacts with the people in the space. Effectively utilising furniture in your space can create a cohesive experience that can make a real difference for your people every day, reflecting and enhancing the culture and brand of your company. Your goals, identity and beliefs can be communicated to staff and clients alike through careful furniture design and curation. We’ve selected 5 of the most popular design styles of office furniture, and broken down what they say about you, and how you can make sure you’re sending the right message to clients and employees alike. Modern Office Design Modern office design has a clean and uncluttered aesthetic. With a focus on minimalist shapes, personality can be communicated through the addition of biophilia and brand graphics. The go-to starting style for most workspaces today, this can become very bland if not enough personality is added, dampening creativity and innovation. The modern office design focuses on keeping things simple, avoiding unnecessarily ornate elements and loads of accessories. This clutters the space and leaves the design (and your people) muddled. With a cool colour scheme predominantly featuring cool, neutral shades along with a pop of brand-based signage and furniture, this is an undistracted design that enables focus and clear thinking. Rustic Office Design While modern workspace design is cool and uncluttered, rustic is contrastingly warm and worn. This style utilises a natural colour palette of creams, greys, and browns along with natural leather and aged wood to warm up space and set that comfortable but professional tone. For areas where you want energy and creativity, you can add accents of colour with feature walls, try on-trend mustard or fresh green for an Insta-worthy brainstorming room. With a welcoming rural feel, this design trend can recreate a domestic atmosphere, making your people comfortable and secure. Rustic design is certainly not for every brand, and it would likely be inappropriate for firms in the software and technology sectors. However, for brands trying to create a relaxed, domestic atmosphere, this design is worth considering. Industrial Office Design The industrial workspace design trend has become increasingly popular over the last few years, as companies look to differentiate themselves from corporate office design. Featuring a unique blend of metallic and wooden and materials, industrial design embraces the utilitarian style of many office buildings built in the last century, such as exposed brickwork and metal structures. This wood and metal aesthetic can create a raw room tone that can be rather stale if not complemented by biophilic elements or other complementary colours. However, if these colours are not used very carefully, it can leave a space looking synthetic or fake. A truly industrial design that creates the feeling of an old-fashioned factory will create a trendy and slightly quirky impression in the minds of your visitors and staff, promoting collaboration. Traditional Office Design A design style that looks like it came out of Westminster Palace or a barrister’s chambers. This high-class style is visually impressive and amazingly comfortable, whilst being relatively easy to achieve in most spaces. The warm brown woods, ornate panelling and nail-studded leather give the space an elegant and even opulent feeling of luxury. This style could appear too elaborate in a large open plan space and is generally used for smaller boutique spaces and executive suites. However, the classic combination of dark leather, warm wood, and ornate detailing sends a very clear message about your brand, clearly stating reliability and high quality. Transitional Office Design Nearly every workspace is a combination of 2 or more of the above design styles rather than just a single theme. The most popular combination is between traditional and modern, known as transitional design. The cool, understated colour scheme of the typical modern office could not be more different from the rich, luxurious tone of the traditional office. Transitional design brings the two together with some eye-catching results, such as bold block colours with warmer wood and leather tones side-by-side. Many companies find the modern office design too featureless and cold for their brand, while the traditional seems unnecessarily complicated and outdated. Combining the two provides scope to accurately reflect your brand and culture, reflecting and enhancing the personality of your business and people. How to communicate your brand through furniture No two companies are the same, and no two workspaces should be either. In order to get the best out of your people, they need to be surrounded by a spatial embodiment of what your company is and what it is trying to achieve, only then will your people produce their best work. By considering every aspect of your company, you are then able to work with office designers and consultants to translate that vision into a space that perfectly matches who you are. With a strong background in workspace design as well as workspace furniture, our team will be able to guide you through the entire process; defining the initial brief, developing an agreed budget, coordinating furniture audits, creating a furniture schedule, organising furniture mock-ups, trials, and showroom tours, and then advising on bespoke options, finishes and fabrics to create your dream workspace. Get in touch today to find out how we can help you create a workspace that accurately showcases your brand and culture.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a huge rise in home-working, with many organisations being forced into it to simply survive. But is this going to be the future of work? Some global organisations such as Twitter, Square and Shopify have announced that employees will be able to work from home once the pandemic is over. Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg expects half of its workforce to do their jobs outside Facebook's offices over the next five to 10 years. However, other organisations aren't quite so sure! Ecommerce giant Amazon has announced it will be investing $1.4 billion opening 6 new tech hubs in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, New York, Phoenix, and San Diego. The rise of video-conferencing technologies such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet has shown employers that set hours in an office environment is not necessarily the way forward. Many organisations have indeed found that team productivity has increased with employees working from home, with access to cloud-based technology and time and space to focus.

Cottagecore, heard of it? The latest interior trend to take the internet by storm, Cottagecore is a hark back to a bygone era, romanticised through a rose-coloured Instagram filter. Fuelled by lockdown, spending time at home has never been so fashionable. Quaint pastimes like knitting, embroidery, baking and gardening have all made a resurgence. Against a backdrop of Covid, Brexit and the US Elections, it’s been a turbulent time. Cottagecore’s style of uncomplicated country living promises a cosy antidote to the stress of modern life. But in the age of social media, even the simple task of baking becomes a stylised piece of theatre for our fans and followers to admire. Cue baking an artisan sourdough in a vintage Range cooker, while wearing grandmother’s apron, donning handpicked flowers in your hair. Wholesome, chintzy and homely. Think rustic, but prettier with florals, lace and pastels. Idyllic country life without the mud. And that in a nutshell, is Cottagecore. Cottagecore in the workplace might seem an unlikely match, admittedly it’s not the most practical of trends, you probably don’t want your office to look like an antiques store after all. However, there are elements of Cottagecore that you can bring into your office to make it a comfortable home from home environment. And if you still don’t know why you’ll need to do that in 2021, make sure to download our free Resimercial guide to find out why. Here’s how you can bring Cottagecore into your workplace: A statement sofa Every office deserves a comfortable sofa. Whether it’s for informal meetings, a welcoming reception, or a place to take five minutes out of the working day. This mismatched sofa and chair combo give a nod towards Cottagecore without you feeling like you’re at Granny’s house. A nod to nature Plants are a staple feature of the Cottagecore trend, and the calming effect of greenery is universally known. Upgrade your desk plants to create a feature space, with rows of foliage that give a nod to the rural life. Cosy lighting We love the set up of the lighting in this office breakout area. Soft pendant lights give the room a cosy atmosphere. This is the kind of relaxed communal space, away from your computer, where really great ideas can happen. Play with patterns Patterns, patterns and more patterns. They are everywhere in the Cottagecore look. But for the work environment this could be a little overwhelming. To make this work for your office introduce patterns in a more subtle way. The chintzy foliage pattern on these chairs is just the right amount of quaint without being overpowering. To find out how to create the incorporate cottagecore into your workspace, get in touch with our office design experts today.

Most people spend around 90,000 hours of their life at work. And if you have been working remotely since March, you have likely spent at least 1,600 hours working from home. That is a long time. And while most offices have reasonably good ergonomic setups, the same cannot be said for home working. When we started working from home in March, we had no idea it would last more than a few weeks. And yet, 8 months in, we may well be working from the kitchen table for a while yet. There are common issues that a lot of people have when working from home. Nearly three-quarters of remote workers do not have proper lumbar support, while more than half have their screens in the wrong position. Over 1,600 hours, that can cause serious health issues, from carpal tunnel syndrome to chronic back pain, that can be easily avoided with proper equipment preparation. So, what can you do to improve your home working setup from an ergonomic perspective? Tip #1 – Get A Proper Chair That Gives Support While a dining chair may be fine for a couple of hours, over time it will become very uncomfortable due to a lack of back, neck and lumbar support. You should be able to sit back in your chair with suitable support for your lower back and your feet flat on the floor. A purpose-designed office chair, such as the Chiro Plus or the Mirage, will offer appropriate support, allowing you to sit for extended periods without developing back or neck issues. Tip #2 – Your Desk Needs To Be The Correct Height Just as a dining chair seems OK, a dining table or worktop can also seem fine for short term use. And it might be if the height is correct (around 740mm) and it has enough depth. However, a proper desk will ensure optimal ergonomics for long-term working, and a workstation such as the Drop or Box offers a unique solution if you are short on space. For the ultimate ergonomic solution, a height-adjustable workstation such as the i-Stand or the Alto desk will provide the comfort that you need to stay productive! Tip #3 –Make Sure Your Monitor Is At The Proper Angle The main reason why working on a sofa is a bad idea (comfy as it is) is that your neck is at a poor angle, and this can also be true when operating from worktops or kitchen tables. Your screen should be at about arm’s length away, and the top should be level with your eyes. A great way to achieve this is either a laptop-stand or a monitor arm such as the Kardo. Tip #4 –Use An Ergonomic Keyboard & Mouse A separate keyboard and mouse are essential to achieving a natural body position, as nearly all laptop keyboards are too narrow, and will cause elbow and wrist problems over time. Ergonomic gaming mice such as the Pro Click can also be beneficial, as they work better with your natural wrist motion. When your keyboard and mouse (and desk) are set up correctly, your shoulders should sit at a natural height, with your elbows and forearms at the same height as the desk and shoulder-width apart. Tip #5 – Proper Lighting Is Very Important While not strictly ergonomic, the lighting of your workspace is very important to get right. Bad lighting is associated with a range of ill-health effects from eye strain to stress and is bad for morale and productivity. Natural light is always best, and if possible, you should face a window so that the light is not on your screen. If this is not available, then cool, gentle lighting is beneficial. A task light such as our Nova light allows you to seamlessly adjust the luminosity of the light to your personal preference. Conclusion With the current situation, we are likely to be working from home for several months yet, and it is likely to remain part of our lives (at least some of the time) in the future. An ergonomic working setup, even if you do not have a dedicated workspace, can go a long way to boosting your wellbeing, performance and productivity throughout these challenging times. Need more help? Contact us for unbiased advice! Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash