06 Feb Living in a Box: How to Maximise Space in Your Small Office

Budgets these days are tight and selecting a home for your business is about priorities and choices. Our clients tell us the size of space isn’t the only priority. When weighing up the options on the market, smaller companies now tend to choose a well-serviced office environment with Reception cover and meeting rooms, air conditioning, or a convenient location over a larger office without those things. Space can also drop down the list these days because so many workers are part-time, working flexible hours or occasional days from home- why fork out for the extra square feet when half of your team is out of the office at any one time? Then there are home workers cramming their whole business into a spare room in the family home. As much as we would all love grandiose office quarters, that dream is moving ever further from the reality in the modern workplace. But don’t get fenced in- consider these ways to improve the feel of your working space.

Colour Revolution: 

Colour is one of the quickest and most dynamic ways to revolutionise a small space. Advice tends to be to pick lighter rather than brighter or darker shades. Black, navy, maroon, dark purples and forest greens really will close the walls in around you, so avoid. If you are really sold on livening up your office with darker colours or brights, you could consider painting one or two accent walls in your favoured shade and leaving the others a pale and neutral colour- you’ll get the colour pop without the oppressive feel. For minimalistic style, chose a light grey- it makes a modern change from magnolia or white. We have examples of our Wokingham serviced offices on our Instagram page for some great examples. www.instagram.com/mantleoffices

Update and Streamline your Equipment:

In a really small office, even a desktop computer can take up too much room! If some of your staff can work on laptops this will give you more space either under their desks or on top. If possible within the confines of your budget, consider investing in newer editions of printers, faxes etc. that are built to more compact design- this will free up a lot of extra space.

Say Goodbye to Paperwork:

Do you really need to keep all your old paperwork and files? Even accountants and financial advisors are cutting down on physical documentation these days. If you can move further into the digital world you’ll eliminate the need for all those bulky and cumbersome filing cabinets clogging up your space. Out of your office and into the cloud- that Feng Shui lady you met networking would approve.

Shelving and Storage:

As wonderful as modern technology is, we all need some essential documentation, handbooks, marketing materials, ledgers and notepads handy. With the filing cabinets gone, invest in some shelving. Shelves on the walls are the simplest, most economical way to give you storage without covering your entire floor. Another idea could be shelving cubes. These provide display areas and/or storage so are very adaptable, plus the ‘see-through’ backless versions do not fence off your office too much if used as a useful partition.

We rent small (and large) offices at our serviced offices in Wokingham. To view, call us on 0118 9778599and ask about current availability. You can also email us at news@mantleltd.com or for more tips, trials and tribulations of office living, follow us on Twitter @MantleLtd or see our Instagram @MantleOffices for a bit of office inspiration.

Image:  https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGR68cB2df/ 

Client:   Kims Beauty Room  https://www.facebook.com/kimberleysbeautyroom/