You spend a great deal of your time in your office – at least 8 hours a day and often more. It doesn’t’ matter if you work in a pod, at a desk, or from a cubicle, it is essential to have a comfortable and space that fosters the human need of certainty, variety, significance, love and connection, growth, and contribution. In a study conducted by the British Psychological Society even in an office environment, these six basic needs must be fulfilled.
One basic need is certainty. Employees need office interiors to be developed to enhance their work. They need a space that is their own. Coming in for work in the morning almost demands certainty that you have an area that is your own.
Employees need certainty, but they also need variety. In a study conducted by the British Psychological Society, participants agreed variety in surfaces and design created comfort and collaboration. It is suggested that central office solutions should include open space arrangements and investigate the use of seating groups and couches where visitors and staff and work and collaborate. Open spaces and rounded edges provide variety, a human need to foster productivity.
Employees need space, color and light to give them a feeling of significance. Space and design office magazines discuss how different colors influence moods and highlight feelings of importance. What colors and lighting you use needs to be done as part of a smart office interior design. Consider color, light, and space even if you use cubicles, offices or an open plan. Your office interiors need visual design and creativity to enhance feelings of significance to an employee.
Walk into most office spaces. The colors you see are usually grey, white or beige. These are non-controversial colors and easy to plan around, but they can make employees feel sad, insignificant and depressed. In a study from the University of Texas, a grey or beige office quickly becomes dirty or run down if not adequately accented by the appropriate OFS interiors. Dingy interiors defeat the human need of being significant.
Greens and blues improve efficiency and tend to lead to a happier sense of love and connection. Love and connection fulfill the central need for communication. Colors that match plants, sea, and forest seem to offset the negative effect of fluorescent lighting and the light from computers. The use of color brings a sense of connection to your office. If you must use low key colors, OFS interiors can include warm wood tones and forest greens that foster feelings of love and connection.
Employees need to have growth. Office interiors inspire growth if there are windows plants and sunlight in the office. Opening windows is almost impossible in today’s high rise office buildings. You need something more to bring in the outdoors and contribute to, and employees need for career growth. High ceilings are great and give a sense of space and freedom according to studies from the Journal of Consumer Research. Research also shows that office plants help increase productivity. growth and ease stress.
Color, ambiance, and well-designed office interiors promote contribution. The human need to contribute is enhanced by the office colors, lighting, plants and ambiance you choose for your office.
What if I have no Windows in My Office? How Do I Fulfill my Needs?
Use mirrors and lots of them. Mirrors reflect light even artificial light and give the illusion of a larger space. Make complete wall arrangements in mirrors. If your co-workers think this is a weird choice for your office interior, let them spend time in a windowless room!
Working in a windowless room might bring on seasonal affective disorder during dark, winter months. Use a lightbox with the right light bulb. Studies have shown that the right light bulbs treat this disorder since the light generated is comparable to the outdoors. Being exposed to natural light or a lightbox generates the right kind of light and lifts an employee’s mood and enhances love and connection.
Use plants and give them a plant light to keep them growing. Plants can create an outdoor feeling and feeling which makes you feel significant.
Paint is a great way to improve a windowless room. Paint the room a light color to increase feelings of size and light. Add colorful elements to give the room variety.
Add floor lamps to your office. Lamps provide the extra lighting you may need and gives the room personality. Floor lamps with up-lighting make a room appear taller.
OFS interiors mean glass-topped desks. Open desks and glass create the feeling of more room. Avoid heavy and dark furniture. Even if you have an antique desk you love, if it is dark and massive, it will make your windowless room seem small and cramped.
Think outside the box when furnishing your windowless office. Use an art technique called Trompe-l’oeil to form an image that deceives the eye into thinking that the scenery is real. Give your room a sense of significance that translates to your work and emotions.
Research proves that working in an area without windows can cause a lack of motivation and growth. Job satisfaction plummets, and productivity goes down. If no window is an option, it is possible to compensate for the lack of a window and the natural light it provides.
A friend once worked in a windowless office – it was a large closet, and the office interior was a metal chair and a gray metal desk. It was the most depressing situation. It fulfilled no human needs. Using OFS interiors and color ideas might have made the office more habitable. As it was, she quit the job.
OFS interiors knows the six human needs, and they incorporate these needs into office interior design. Keep in mind, always, your employees’ needs. Contact OFS interiors for the perfect mix of color, comfort, and style for your office.
