Modern Office Space Design
"We moved our studio to a new building last spring. The old place had fluorescent lights that buzzed. Everyone complained about headaches by 3 PM. I said fine, let's do this right this time."
The new space is 2,400 square feet. Not huge. We have eleven people. The landlord left us with white walls and grey carpet. Standard stuff.
HERE'S WHAT WE DID
I spent three weeks looking at desks. Ended up with the Fully Jarvis standing desks — the 60x30 inch ones with the programmable height settings. My business partner thought I was crazy spending $600 per desk. Six months in, nobody wants to go back.
Ergonomics
I sit at mine at 28.5 inches, stand at 44 inches. These numbers matter more than you'd think.
The chairs are Herman Miller Aeron. Yes, expensive. We bought them refurbished from a liquidation company in New Jersey. Paid $380 each instead of $1,400. They came with twelve-year warranties still valid. I can give you the company name if you want it.
Quality furniture was the foundation of our renovation.
LIGHTING
We ripped out all the fluorescent panels. Put in Philips Hue fixtures with adjustable color temperature. 6500K in the morning, down to 3000K after 4 PM. The electrician thought we were being fussy. My team stopped getting headaches.
The big windows face east. Good morning light. Bad glare on screens around 9 AM. We installed roller shades from Lutron with the wireless controls. Cost more than regular blinds. Worth it.
MEETING ROOMS
We have two. One holds eight people. One holds four. The small one gets used five times more than the big one. I wish I'd known that before we allocated the square footage.
Both rooms have glass walls. We put frosted film on the bottom three feet for privacy when people are sitting. You can still see heads moving around. It keeps the space feeling open without everyone watching your presentation.
NOISE
NOISE
Open floor plan means noise. We tried those acoustic panels from Amazon — the cheap hexagonal foam ones. They looked terrible and did almost nothing.
Acoustics Consultant
Ended up hiring an acoustics consultant. She charged $800 for a two-hour assessment. We installed fabric-wrapped fiberglass panels on 30% of the wall surface. Total cost around $4,000 for materials. The difference was immediate.
White Noise
We also have a white noise system. Cambridge Sound Management. Runs through the ceiling tiles. Set at 45 decibels. Conversations from fifteen feet away become background murmur.
WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY Lessons Learned
The Break Room
The break room is too small. We gave it 180 square feet. Should have been 250. People eat at their desks because three's a crowd in there.
Printer Location
We put the printer in a closet to reduce noise. Now everyone has to walk forty feet to get their printouts. Should have put it central with an acoustic enclosure instead.
Greenery
The plants are fake. I know, I know. We tried real ones. Nobody watered them. They died in two months. The fake ones are from Nearly Natural — the fiddle leaf fig and the snake plants. Most visitors don't notice.
My Desk Position
My desk faces the door. I see everyone coming and going. Some days this is useful. Some days I get interrupted every ten minutes. I'm thinking about moving to the corner spot next quarter.
NUMBERS
Financial Breakdown
We finished the project in nine weeks. Could have been seven if the desk shipment hadn't been delayed.
"If you're planning something similar, start with the chairs and the lighting."
Those two things affect everyone every single day. The fancy coffee machine can wait.
Postscript
P.S. We did eventually get a fancy coffee machine. The Breville Barista Express. It lives on a cart near the window. Best $700 we spent on this whole project, honestly.