BrittanyIf your office is plain, filled with mismatched furniture, or feels like a cave, it’s costing you more than you realize. Poor aesthetics can create disengaged employees who drag their heels and waste time until they can clock out for the day. On the other hand, an intentionally designed, inviting office helps teams feel like they belong, that their work matters, and it’s worth showing up for work.
Here’s how to build a workplace people actually want to be in.
1. Replace old, worn signage
If your office signs are old, chipped, faded, or printed out on paper, they’re an eyesore actively telling your team that details don’t matter. If you want people to care about their jobs, start with what’s on your walls.
Start with your office door signs. Make sure they’re professionally made, branded, and easy to read. If you need to update your signage, use interchangeable nameplates or office signs with mounted frames.
Add a touch of creativity to your custom office signs by adding your brand’s voice to directional signs. For example, “Think tank this way” beats “Room B-12” any day.
2. Use color psychology
Your office walls shouldn’t match your printer paper. But they shouldn’t be bright green, either. Color impacts how people focus, function, and feel emotionally, and it’s crucial to use the right combinations. Color psychology can help you choose the best options.
If your brand colors support focus, use them to accent walls, furniture, and even art. This will send a subconscious signal of purpose to your teams.
Warm colors like orange, yellow, and red can boost mood and social interaction. These colors are ideal for collaborative areas and break rooms. However, be careful about using any one solid color for large sections of the wall. It might look good for a few days but become distracting by the end of the week.
Cool colors like blue and green promote focus and concentration, which works great for individual workstations.
3. Let people control their environment
Nobody wants to sit at a desk for eight hours a day looking at plain walls and a sanitized tabletop. People thrive when they have ownership over their space. Micromanaging the design of every person’s desk will only create resentment.
Offer some flexibility by allowing employees to choose between a sitting or standing desk, soft seating, and the layout of their space. It’s important to allow light personalization, like some framed photos or plants. When people can personalize their workspaces, it can boost morale significantly. In fact, when people can control their workspace aesthetics, companies see a 32% boost in productivity.
Happy, empowered team members produce better results. Giving them a say in their space is a small action with a big payoff.
4. Kill or rethink the cubicle
Those gray, padded cubicle walls are ugly and isolating. Good design doesn’t mean you have to remove privacy – you just have to do it differently. Instead of using physical walls to separate everyone on three sides from the rest of the office, use visual boundaries with fewer walls or partitions. Use plants and shelving to provide separation without cutting people off entirely.
If you can’t get around using cubicles, at least upgrade them with better lighting, softer materials, and allow personalization. Sitting in a bland cubicle all day can feel like a punishment.
5. Incorporate interactive elements
Static environments become stale fast. But offices that include interactive design elements encourage creativity and a sense of progress. For instance, writable surfaces like whiteboard walls, writable glass panels, or chalkboards invite people to write spontaneous notes, ideas, and even jokes.
Simple spaces for employees to post flyers, hobby groups, inspiration boards, or personal wins will also create a deeper sense of connection among teams.
A dynamic environment brings an office to live and makes employees feel like they are part of the team.
Don’t let your office design work against you
An uninspiring office can hurt your team’s morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. Bad design drains energy and makes people feel disconnected. If you want to build an office environment where people feel connected, secure, and pumped to do their job, it’s time to redesign your office from the ground up.
Start with simple things like replacing your office signs, add some live plants, and adjust the layout to support productivity. You don’t need a massive budget. You just need the willingness to rethink the details that shape how people work and feel every day.
