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where to buy office furniture for a small office and your best design options
You have a small office space at home and you are ready to set it up. You could be beginning that telecommuting job or just want to be able to surf the Net in comfort—either way styling your office with the right modern office furniture and décor is critical to creating an environment that is conducive to creative outlets.
For some families, or even companies, the office space is a limited area and you have to know where to buy furniture for a small office space. Traditional office furniture stores might not have the furniture to accommodate your needs – maybe you need a smaller desk with less storage space to fit a smaller space and to perhaps even do double duty as a dining table if the space is really small. Thus choosing where to shop for your modern office furniture is critical. You probably won’t be trying to squeeze sectional sofas into the space, but make sure to take a measurement of the area you will set your desk before shopping for office furniture.
The first thing to take into consideration when choosing where to buy office furniture is your budget. For many, this will dictate the purchases and you will need to find an affordable furniture store that meets your budget.
Something you will definitely want to consider using is shelves or a small bookcase to store books you will want at the ready as well as other supplies. Set your knickknacks and other design accessories on the high shelves, removing clutter from the desk area which will help when designing for a small office space. Clutter is the number one enemy of small spaces (large too, but especially small since there’s nowhere else to go) and by moving some of the design elements of your office furniture out of reach you add more room and space in the design area for the necessities.
HGTV gives a great example in this collection of images of home offices. The first image is of what might normally be a closet.
“This home office measures only 3' x 3', but it is 10 feet high,” wrote HGTV.com. “Everything needed is kept neatly organized. Custom built-ins and walls are the same color to create a sense of continuation. All the surfaces can be stowed away or rolled out as needed.”
While this is an extreme example of a small office, it shows that a little creativity can go a long way if you really need the office space. Again, the right furniture store that has an interior designer that understands small spaces can go a long way towards meeting the goals for your office furniture, even if you can only squeeze in a small side table to hold your laptop amid storage for your office supplies.
Now if your home or small business office is preparing to see clients, than the design of your modern office furniture is critical, and it might be especially critical to speak with a designer to make sure you are getting the right message across.
While you will want to put your personality into the design, some interior designers recommend not going overboard with the personal.
"You will still want to appear professional," says Sandra Slade, Academic Director of Interior Design at The Art Institute of California - Sunnyvale, in a recent Norfolk Daily News article about small office design. "And that can be accomplished by avoiding lots of distracting 'toys' on the desk and keeping the space orderly. Since your office may also be your conference space, allow for a comfortable upholstered guest office chair. You might also want to add a small side table with a sculptural piece for sophistication."
