Perhaps one of the most important types of office furniture in your building, your reception area sets the tone for every interaction a customer has with your company. The first impression your clients have of you and your company is based on what they encounter when they walk through the door for the first time.
Your reception area should reflect your company’s values, vision, personality, and professionalism. Your company branding should be clear. A well designed space, with the perfect pieces, will invoke different emotions in visitors. Colours, finishes, and accents all contribute to creating a feeling of wellbeing in your guests. Since guests often spend anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour in a reception area, mostly alone, it’s important for it to be comfortable and interesting.
Put Colour Psychology to Work
Colours have a significant, but often unacknowledged, impact on our emotional state. Colours like red and orange invoke a sense of passion, excitement, and creative energy. Blue, even the brightest shades, makes us feel peaceful, calm, and serene. Yellow is optimistic and joyful. Green is often associated with a sense of vitality and growth and is most frequently connected with thoughts of nature.
Your colour choices in your lobby should reflect your branding, but it can help set the tone to use pops of colours that balance out your brand colours. If your branding focuses on a bright, vibrant colour, balance it out with some calmer, neutral tones.
The Influence of Furniture Finishes
Finishes are another way you can encourage a certain feeling in your office space. Wood look finishes can promote feelings of calm and a connection to the environment. Stone finishes represent strength. Smooth finishes in light colours suggest cleanliness and simplicity.
Embrace Office Decor Accents
The decor you choose to accent your reception space will influence your guests as well. Plants, real or fake, and interesting art or views, give your guests something to enjoy while they wait.
The Most Important Piece: The Reception Desk
The type of reception desk you choose will influence the rest of your reception area design. It’s important to choose a desk that is functional and ergonomic for your reception staff, as well as aesthetically pleasing. Envirotech offers a range of reception desks from some of the top brands like Lacasse and National. With remanufactured and new options available there’s guaranteed to be something to suit your budget and the personality of your company.
The Lacasse Morpheo Rounded L-Shaped reception desk features clean smooth lines, and with maximum storage and working space. This piece creates a positive and bright ambience for visitors and staff.
The new National WaveWorks U-Shaped reception desk offers several different work surfaces and storage options for your staff. The dynamic design is wheelchair accessible, and allows your staff to interact with guests in a variety of ways. The dark mocha finish is strong and grounded, while still welcoming.