When you are working with limited space in an office, people might feel claustrophobic or demotivated. This is something that can be extremely harmful to your business and you need to take steps to make sure that this changes. You might not be able to afford to move to a bigger office space, so you need to make sure that you maximise the space.
There are several different things that you can do to ensure that every inch of the office space is used correctly. Then you will not feel like the office is too small, and there will be no need to consider a move. What are some simple ways to make the office seem much bigger?
You Can Paint The Walls Bright Colours
One of the simplest things you can do to make an office space appear much bigger is to paint the walls with bright colours. This makes the office seem much larger and you can get an office refurbishment company like Saracen Interiors to do the job in next to no time at all. This will mean that the office can be transformed into a dingy and dark space into rooms that are extremely vibrant and welcoming.
You can choose a wide range of different colours to help you achieve this psychological effect. Light blue is probably the best colour that you can paint the walls of the office if you are trying to make it look a lot bigger. Then your employees will feel that they are working in a very relaxing environment rather than somewhere which is uninviting.
You Can Install Some Small Cubicles
Small cubicles can help to maximise the amount of space that you have in a small office. You can then allow your employees to have some privacy rather than being next to their colleagues. Desks can clutter up a small building, so you should think about moving away from an open plan setup. The cubicles provided by Saracen Interiors can be moved around the office until you find the configuration that gives people the maximum amount of space.
These cubicles can be dismantled when they need to be moved, which is helpful if you have narrow doorways inside the building.
You Can Get Rid Of Doors To Meeting Rooms
Meeting rooms need to be private, but you do not need to have doors that swing outwards and block the space inside the corridors. Instead, you can remove the doors and have sliding glass panels instead. This will create a lot of space and you will not be worrying that you are blocking people when you are going out of the meeting room.
The glass panels will also bring accountability to the meetings because your employees will be able to see what is going on all of the time when a meeting is underway. This means that no one will be able to slack off or not pay attention when they are in the meeting room.
You could do this for other parts of the building as well, and then people will have lots of room when they are moving around the building.
You Can Make The Windows Bigger To Let In Natural Light
Natural light is important when you are trying to make the office look bigger than it actually is. The windows in your office might be extremely small, which can make the rooms inside appear tiny. This can be easily rectified if you choose to remove the small windows and have some larger ones fitted. Natural light will come pouring into the office and you will ensure that the space looks very bright and larger than it actually is. You can research different types of windows so that you choose the ones that will let in the most amount of light.
You Can Get Rid Of Filing Cabinets
Filing cabinets used to be essential when people were working in an office. This is because there were no computers and everything had to be written out by hand. Nowadays everything can be stored online or in computer folders. You can remove the filing cabinets after you have shredded all of the documents.
Then you will notice the difference inside the office once all the filing cabinets have been completely removed. There will be much more space for you to put desks and computers. This extra space can also be used as a small break area with a water cooler and a coffee machine.
You Can Install Bigger Desks
It might seem strange to you that small furniture can actually make a room feel small. This is because small furniture creates a sense of clutter and it can be hard for people to move around the office properly.
Instead, you should install large desks that numerous people can sit around without getting in the way of each other. Filling out space with big furniture is something that will make the whole office appear larger than it really is.
You Can Get Rid Of Old Equipment
Many offices have stock rooms that turn into a dumping ground for old equipment. You should have regular clear outs of old computers, desks and cabinets. These can be donated to a charity or you might want to take them to the local rubbish tip.
You Can Move Some People To Another Part Of The Building
Even if you have a small office, you might be able to move some of your employees to a different part of the building. Having fewer people in each room will give the illusion that there is actually a lot more space in the building than people think there is.
You Can Install Some More Powerful Lighting
Dingy electric lights need to be replaced in a small office space and be replaced with powerful strip lighting that will make the office seem bigger through illumination.
There are dozens of ways that you can make a small office seem much larger.