If you’re trying your hand at designing the interiors of your new studio or refurbishing your offices, then you’ll find the advice I provide in this article particularly useful.
At first glance, it could seem like a waste of time to think about the choice of waiting room chairs, because it’s the rooms that actually make money for your business that are the important ones. But read on, and you’ll discover the real importance of this furniture.
I’ll try to give you some pointers that can help you purchase the perfect chairs for your type of business and that can meet your clients’ expectations as well.
Carefully evaluate the quality of waiting room chairs
By looking for chairs on the web or in brick-and-mortar stores, you’ll find a wide range of prices, and the temptation is to spend as little as possible by mistakenly thinking: “They’re just for the waiting room, not for my office”.
Here, selecting furniture with this thought in mind is a recipe for disaster that you’ll end up regretting just a few months down the line.
Waiting room chairs must be of high quality precisely because they’ll be used and critiqued by people waiting. In other words, in those moments (which could be short or long) when they’re seated without much to occupy their minds, and so they can spend time evaluating the comfort of the seat, whether it creaks or not, and how secure it feels.
Cheap chairs are often unstable and don’t last very long. By contrast, chairs that have beencarefully designed and manufactured by renowned companies are almost always reliable and durable.
In my opinion, the right way of thinking about it is: “The waiting room is like my company’s ‘shop window’, and it will give my clients an idea of me even before they enter my office“.
True, good quality costs. But invest in quality and you save in the long run.
Think about the style of office waiting room chairs
Buying solid and well-finished chairs is not enough to communicate with your client as soon as they enter the door.
Think of your waiting room as a sort of ‘aperitif’ which prepares your client for the office style they’re about to encounter.
No furniture, and in particular no chairs, should be placed randomly in an environment. It’s essential to consider the idea a person will form when they see and use them. An attractive row of coloured chairs immediately conveys cheerfulness, while armchairs in pastel shades make you look forward to the feeling of relaxation you’ll enjoy once you sit down.
To avoid making a mistake when furnishing your waiting room, you should consider:
- The business you’re in and the impression you want to make
- The type of people you welcome every day
- The furniture for the rest of your offices
- The combinations with other furniture (example: tables, lamps, etc …)
Even if you’re business just involves numbers and pen pushing, don’t think that the style of your furniture is irrelevant.
The ergonomics of studio waiting room chairs
Last but not least: there’s the importance of chair ergonomics for waiting rooms.
The comfort of a seat comes not only from how robust or stable it is; it’s mainly due to the study of ergonomics that the designers carried out and that were then incorporated during its production.
Even when you find the words “ergonomic chair” in product descriptions, you should dig deeper and check if the manufacturer has really thought carefully about its design, proportions and structure to ensure you maintain correct posture.
It’s worth also bearing in mind that you don’t always know the people coming to your studio and sitting in your waiting room before they speak to you. Consequently, whether they are young and fit or perhaps an elderly, less mobile person, you need to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible.
To make it crystal clear, I’ll repeat the point: don’t forget ergonomics.
You can learn more about this theme by visiting the Albaplus website and viewing the waiting room chairs crafted by this Italian company.
