Guest Post - Office Kitchen Design Tips

Designing an office space involves many aspects. While you have to ensure desks are set to promote productivity, you also want to include a space for relaxing and collaboration. That’s where the kitchen comes in. The ultimate office kitchen is functional and stylish, creating a friendly space for employees to eat together and rest. If you’re planning to develop an office kitchen space soon, follow these design tips to get started. 

Avoid The Open Plan Kitchen Design

While most homes have an open-plan kitchen, the office could be different. Smells, dirty dishes, and disorganized counters have no place in an office setting. Not only will this affect productivity, but it also sets the wrong image to visitors and clients. Ideally, you want the kitchen to be a separate area that only employees can access. 

Prioritize Functionality 

Having a counter that is easy to clean and stain-resistant might be expensive at first sight, but it should not be taken lightly in the long run. If you don’t have a dishwasher, is your kitchen large enough for a couple of people to wash their dishes? Also, storage is a must. For you and your employees too. Having enough space to store cutlery and containers can make any kitchen upgrade more. More than anything, your office kitchen needs to be functional and practical. 

Think About How The Space Will Be Used

Your employees don’t enjoy eating at their desks unless they are doing something; they need an area to go and rest. Having a kitchen created with enough space for your employees will be the best way to thank them for their work when they are at the office. Mix up different seating areas and tables to make sure everyone fits. Use the counter if you have to pull some high stools for to-go people that want to grab a quick bite.

Add a Coffee Station

A coffee maker is everyone’s best friend in an office. Investing in a good coffee machine is always accepted by everyone, including yourself probably. Having decaf and regular coffee to keep employees happy will make their work lives more manageable. Even if your kitchen space is small, a coffee station will add visual interest to the room that’s also functional. 

All these tips help you with our budget but help maintain a good work environment as happy employees make equally happy customers. These tips can help you transform any room into a great office kitchen you and your employees will enjoy.

Geraldine Orentas is a writer from Happy Writers, Co.

How to Organize Your Desk

The personal or office desks may reflect the habits and personality of the owner. Some people like to keep their desks highly personalized and colorful. An organized desk may mean more comfort, higher productivity, and the best time management. It can also accommodate your inclinations and preferences.

When you want to avoid being overwhelmed by the clutter, disorderly files, and paperwork stacks, you must give some time to organizing your desk. There are also certain items and resources available that are affordable but are highly effective in keeping your workstation and desk efficient at all times.

The desk organizer activities may not be complicated. Below are some important tips and steps which you can use to organize your workspace and desk and be more efficient and productive.

Cleaning your Desk

For organizing your desk, you need to first clean it thoroughly. Organizing and cleaning are easy when there is nothing on the desk. Remove all the items from the desk and keep them on the floor or some other table. Once the desk is blank, dust, wipe, and clean the desk to remove all kinds of stains. You can also apply a polish so that the scratches are not visible. Also, clean your computer if you have one on your desk, at this time.

Now that you have cleaned your desk, you need to classify and organize the items that you removed from the desk. You need to put the items you want to throw away into one group, and the item that you intend to keep in another. Get rid of all the unimportant items and keep only the bare necessities. All the trash obtained during cleaning the desk should be disposed of as well. Do not forget to update your space by removing outdated calendars and other old items. However, you can always keep things with a sentimental value (like your old photos).

Reordering your Desk

When you reorder the desk, do not stress about putting the things in the same way. Imagine and think of new and more creative ways to stack up against your computer and other belongings of the desk.

Your desk may require certain new supplies like ink pens, paper, or staples among others. Apart from putting up a new and fresh calendar, you can also reload your desk with these essentials. Rearranging and reordering your desk this way ensures that you can preserve and improve productivity and eliminate clutter. The documents and the tools should be kept within reach, while the computer should be kept at the center of the disc.

You can also add some decorative touches to the desk to personalize it and to make it more attractive. The decorative items can be humorous coffee mugs, statues, framed pictures, and others. Also, place some inspirational messages and images that will keep you motivated at work.

Promoting Efficiency

You need to think wisely when you want to be more efficient. For instance, the essential items that you use often should be kept close enough, at arm's reach. These items can be typing papers, writing utensils, communication devices, notebooks, and other kinds of accessories including digital accessories. Likewise, pens and pencils should be kept in separate cups or pen holders. The stapler and the paper clips should be located near the printer. These are the creative ideas that will help you be more efficient.

Non-essential items that are not used frequently can be stacked in the drawers. If you are using several smaller items, you can also purchase the drawer organizer trays. These trays can easily fit the drawers of the desk and the compartments and can help you keep your items in a classified way. Paper trays can be used to keep the documents in a more sorted wave.

Organizing Desk Cables

There can be many tangled wires on the desk if you own and use many tech devices and gadgets. These wires may come from the printer, computer, phone, internet modem, and other kinds of devices that are plugged into some extension cable lead. Before you plug anything, make sure that the extension lead is fixed at the back of the table. All the lengthy wires should be shortened, which will help you prevent and reduce the mess. The wrap straps can be used for shortening the wires. You can also label the cables (at both of their ends) to know at any point which cable is for serving what purpose.

Conclusion

The tips given above can help you have a clean, organized, and productive workspace and desk that also looks motivating and inviting at all times. Having an efficient and organized desk is also easier nowadays with many resources (for instance the cable management box) available at a low and affordable cost.

Guest Post - 10 Design Tips For Creating Your Dream Home Office

Remote working is here to say. By 2025, it's estimated that more than 36 million Americans will be working from home permanently. If you're serious about nailing the 9-5 without ever having to leave your front door, you'll need a dedicated home office space to work from. Need some inspiration? Below are 10 design tips to help you transform an unloved corner into a first-rate home office.

1. Start By Picking A Suitable Space

Before you start ordering furniture or putting together mood boards, you'll need to pick out a designated space to transform into your home office. If your household is a busy one, you'll need to think about keeping the distractions of daily life at bay. You'll need a space set apart from the most active parts of your home, preferably with a door that you can keep firmly shut until clocking off for the day. A spare bedroom is ideal, although an unloved alcove can easily be transformed into a serviceable home office.

2. Short On Space?

Just because your home is short on space, doesn't mean you have to cancel your home office plans. If you own your own home, you can think about installing a partition wall to transform a second bedroom into two distinct spaces. Do you rent? Paneled room dividers and open shelving units provide a flexible partitioning alternative.

3. What Does Your Work Entail?

It's easy to get carried away when designing a home office, but you should rein in the urge to overfill your space with surplus furnishings and office equipment. Many of us can get by with little more than a compact desk and a laptop, so start small and go from there. You'll want to introduce some organization straight off the bat, so think about what kind of storage solutions you can integrate into your office. Once the bare bones of your office are in place, you can start thinking about aesthetic upgrades and finishing touches.

4. Breathe Life Into Your Home Office With Plants

Plants are an essential part of any stimulating work environment. In addition to improving air quality and inducing a sense of well-being, plants can also provide you with some much-needed indoor scenery if your home office is lacking a window with a decent view. You can keep things simple with low-maintenance potted plants and succulents, or get creative with an eye-catching terrarium.

5. Illuminate Your Home Office Interiors

If you want to promote creativity and ensure a productive day, you'll want a well-lit interior. Exposure to natural light is incredibly important, especially if you plan on working long hours. If your windows are on the small side, consider moving your desk closer to them to increase your UV exposure. You'll also need adequate interior lighting to brighten up your work environment. A desk lamp is a must, although overhead ceiling fixtures and free-standing floor lamps are also worth considering.

6. Get Creative With Color

If you plan on redecorating your new home office, you need to think very carefully about color. If you want to keep things neutral, go for off-white shades or balanced green hues. Looking for something more stimulating? A vibrant red might be the way to go. Whatever color you go for, make sure you avoid darker shades as these can absorb light, leaving your interiors feeling gloomy and drab.

7. Essential Office Furniture

If you need to purchase new furniture for your office, reserve the bulk of your budget for a quality desk and chair. If you're dealing with a smaller room, pick a desk with drawers and integrated storage to save you having to make space for vertical shelving and cabinets. If you have a bigger room, you might want to think about investing in a standing desk. This will keep you more active during the day and help alleviate things like lumbar pain. When it comes to seating, it's worth spending a premium on an ergonomic chair. 

8. Don't Forget The Tech

If you're designing a home office from scratch, it can be tempting to go all-in and splurge on new technology. If your current laptop has seen better days, it's certainly wise to consider an upgrade. However, you don't necessarily need to go for a brand new model. Refurbished laptops and refurbished desktops are incredibly affordable, with many pre-loved devices performing just as well as brand new ones. Choosing refurbished devices not only makes sense financially but also makes for a far eco-friendlier investment.

9. Add Some Personal Touches

Now your office is taking shape, you can start personalizing your space with personal touches. Add some character to underutilized wall space with framed prints and hanging artwork. Break up busy shelving with trailing plants and punches of color. If you've opted for a fairly neutral color scheme, this is your chance to break up the monotony with hits of pattern, color, and texture.

10. Outdoor Offices And Garden Buildings

Robust sheds and garden buildings can be transformed into first-rate offices with relatively little investment. Cladding interiors and installing insulation will help lock in heat during the colder months, while a connection to your mains power supply is a must. If budget is no option, you'll find many ready-made garden offices available from specialist suppliers. Provided you restrict the use of your garden buildings to work, you usually won't need to secure any planning permission to install one.

Author Bio: This article was written by Eloise Tobler of Wisetek Store. Wisetek Store was created to give our customers access to high quality, reliable and affordable refurbished laptops. 

How Garden Office Pods Can Be Beneficial For Your Work

When you decide to work from home, the idea seems great, but it is sometimes not practical. Because at home one doesn’t have a separate area to conduct their work, using any other place such as living room to work is also a bad idea as it is full of disturbance. At the same time, taking office on rent is also not worth it because of the increasing rent of properties. So, are you looking for a quiet and private space that is free from the hustle and bustle of the house noise, where you can work peacefully? What is the solution? Well, you can go for back garden office pods, having many benefits.

Let’s take a quick look at these advantages

Provides dedicated space:

One of the main reasons you want to build back garden office pods is that you may require a separate area to do your work. So, this is the main purpose it will fill, it will be quiet, peaceful and the best part is you can design it the way you want. Moreover, you don’t have to be worried about keeping your paperwork safe from kids and pets. No one will touch your laptop in your absence if you have a dedicated space.

Enhanced productivity:

When you are working in a place where there is no distraction, your productivity will also increase ten times. You can focus on your work, plan your time, and keep your place organised. Hence, you will succeed in developing skills and keeping a positive attitude during work.

Provides you with privacy:

If you are working on some project that requires confidentiality and it is of sensitive nature. In such a case, leaving your project files and papers at home is not safe. Moreover, it is difficult to manage calls or video calls for meetings as there will always be some disturbances. But you can have full-fledged privacy in your back garden office pods. If you want, you can also make your pod soundproof so that you don’t get disturbed by any kind of noise.

Provides with freedom:

Well, you can’t sit whole at your computer desk and keep working despite the nature of the job. You need some change and freedom to move around. When you have your office workspace, you get the freedom to get up and take a walk whenever you want, and you can even change the position of sitting. Another benefit is the freedom to stylise your office the way you want, you can have a side coffee table and sofa, long convertible sofas, or a small place to do some yoga and exercise. It is all up to you and your needs.

Your own working hours:

Your back garden office pods will be at your service 24*7 a day. They are quiet and peaceful, and you can go there to complete your work at any time of the day. In your home, you could be disturbed by kids, pets, guests, and neighbours. The noise of people talking, coming, and going is as distractive. Someone else may also occupy the room you are using. All these are not at all a problem when you have back garden office pods.

These are some of the main benefits of having back garden office pods. These pods will provide you with a place that is dedicated to you and your work. When you have a dedicated workplace, your productivity is higher, and you can spend more time in your work from home opportunity without spending any penny on rent and travelling.