Eight ways to make a corporate office more cosy

It is important to keep things professional in a corporate office, but it is possible to achieve this while making sure employees feel comfortable, which is especially important as many Australians return to the office in 2021. 

It wasn’t always the case but it is becoming more acceptable for corporate offices to be a bit more casual and cosy than they used to be.

There are few things more motivating for workers than showing up to work every day in a great office.

Here are eight ways to spruce up a corporate office to make it a little more cosy and inviting.

1. Introduce some greenery

Plants are essential for creating a cosy office environment. Big plants will help make a larger office space less overwhelming, and smaller plants will brighten up desks and other smaller work areas.

Plant-free offices can feel sterile and cold so don’t be afraid to create a prolific indoor forest in the office.

2. Decorate with house furniture

Avoid buying furniture that is intended for office use. Not only is it often over-priced, it is usually designed to have as little personality as possible, so it will fit within a variety of working environments.

There’s no law that says that offices need to have matching furniture so get creative. Shop in second hand stores, scour your suburb on hard rubbish days and keep an eye out for sales in boutique furniture stores.

Allow your employees to bring in a desk or chair of their choice and have a play with creating a relaxed and unplanned interior decor.

There’s no law that says offices need to have matching furniture.

3. Choose soft furnishings

Rather than purchasing hard acrylic or leather chairs for the foyer choose a big soft couch with lots of cushions. Replace coffee tables with large ottomans and have padded chairs in the lunch room rather than stark and uninviting plastic.

Soft furnishings will make employees and clients feel right at home and will dissipate that formal ambience that comes with traditional office furniture.

4. Get the lighting right

Avoid fluorescent light and naked bulbs in the workplace as they’ll create a harsh lighting scheme that will make the space feel cold. Try and use halogen or CFL bulbs that are in a dome shape as they diffuse light beautifully.

Choose a warm colour temperature for the bulb and if you’re using glass casings, make them frosted for an even distribution of light.

5. Put meaningful art on the walls

Cookie cutter, corporate-style office artwork should be banned from the walls and replaced with more personal artwork. Consider getting employees to hang a framed piece of their child’s art on the walls or perhaps go to local artisan markets and choose some inexpensive pieces from local artists.

Posters, plates or other interesting artefacts also look good on office walls. A good rule of thumb is to only display things that are truly loved and it will make for a beautiful feature wall full of art that brings joy.

6. Keep things fresh

Fresh flowers will keep your corporate office from feeling stale and empty. You don’t need to do this every day but bringing a bunch of beautiful homegrown roses will give your office that personal touch.

7. Pay attention to the floor

Many corporate offices have hard wearing and uninviting flooring, designed to last for years with thousands of feet trampling all over them. Inexpensive rugs will make a huge difference to the cosy feel of the space and will also help you to designate different ‘areas’ in a large space.

8. Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise

If there is a desire to install a giant cardboard cutout of a favourite cartoon character, get one and mount it on a wall. The same goes with Eames chairs, indoor basketball hoops or an office coffee bar.

It is all about adding a bit of personality to the space so be creative.