Add a Delicate Pastel Touch
Every year, Pantone announces its colors of the year, which has a major influence on interior design for the entire year. In 2016, the chosen Pantone colors are Rose Quartz and Serenity, a pastel pink and blue. These colors have encouraged the design world to embrace pastels of all shades this year.
Pastel shades are soothing and unobtrusive, making them good colors to use in an office. While brighter tones might make employees uncomfortable and fidgety, pastels will add color without being distracting.
Pastel pinks and blues can make a space feel a little bit more like a nursery, which is not ideal for making your employees feel like they’re in a professional environment. A pastel green, however, is a nice gender-neutral tone that has a calming influence. Green is one of the easiest colors on the eye, making it a perfect choice for color that won’t distract in an office. A light shade of pastel green paint is a nice way to update those yellow-beige or off-white walls that plague so many office designs.
If you want to create a more sophisticated tone than pastels alone can provide, they pair well with blacks and dark tones of grey. If you decide to do pastel colors on your walls, painting the trim black or using black furnishings can instantly make your office feel very sophisticated and modern. If you’re not ready to repaint the office, pastel accents like wall art or upholstered chairs can add a breath of fresh air to an office design heavy on dark designs. Something small and thoughtful, like pastel colored ergonomic pillows for your employee’s black desk chairs, adds both an elevated design touch and a practical source of comfort to your dedicated workers.
Bring in Bold Prints
If pastel colors don’t quite match your bold company image, you might instead want to try the trend of bright and colorful nature prints. Modern leaf and flower-inspired fabric prints in bold colors are tantalizing designers this year, and they’re a great way to add some life and pizazz to a modern office. If you’re in the market for cushy chairs for guests (or for comfortable employee gathering places), finding some with bold prints in your company colors will keep your space fun and fresh.
You can also use these fabric prints to add some functional color to your office walls. Cork bulletin boards can be covered in the lively fabric to serve as both wall decoration and a handy place for employee communication.
Grow Some Greenery
Don’t stop at fabric prints when bringing some nature into your office design! Using real plants as decor is another 2016 design trend that is perfect for a professional setting. Plants can make your office air fresh and help employees feel focused and happy, so even if this wasn’t a current trend, we’d still encourage you to adopt it.
If you’re going to bring live plants into your office, you’ll want to choose hardy houseplants that clean the air. Spider plants, snake plants, and mums are just a few of the wonderful plants to grow in the common areas of your office, greeting employees and guests alike with pretty greenery and fresher air.
If you don’t want to be responsible for the care of live plants, you can still encourage employees to decorate their personal work area with living greenery. Consider having a plant sale for a fundraiser, or celebrate a special occasion by hosting a pot decorating contest. Employees can add their personal touch to a potted plant by painting and embellishing the pot. The winning employee could get a small prize, like a gift card or a candy bar.
Embrace Curves
For a long time, straight and clean lines have been synonymous with contemporary design. In 2016, this trend is shifting to embrace the softer, more organic curved lines in furniture. These curves feel more natural and welcoming than the stark squares and rectangles we’ve become used to seeing. If you’re in the market for new office furnishings, you might want to consider finding desks and cubicles that have at least some curvaceous elements to their design. These organic lines will go a long way toward adding movement and interest to your office design, breaking you and your employees free from the stagnant nature of rectangular desks and cube walls.
Restore Life to Old Furniture
As we continue to become more eco-conscious in 2016, more and more people are embracing reused and recycled design elements in their homes. Reclaimed wood is an increasingly popular building material, and many people are joining the DIY restoration movement for their home furnishings. By refurbishing old furniture, people are enjoying more customized pieces for their homes while saving both money and the environment from further manufacturing waste.
Most businesses don’t have the time to hunt through Pinterest for DIY instructions and then refurbish old pieces for each of their employees to use. This doesn’t mean your company can’t still be a part of this eco-friendly movement. Buying restored office furniture is a great way for any company to get the trendy office design they want at a fraction of the cost. In addition to saving money on your furniture, you also get to participate in the most environmentally-friendly design trend of 2016. That is something both you and your employees can feel good about.
Let us know in the comments which 2016 decorating trends you think would work best in your office!
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