Home Office Furniture

The Perfect Ergonomic Office

Imagine you’re sitting in a perfect office: somewhere where you have to go but you’re also pleased to be. Everyone’s idea will be slightly different, though all will contain the essentials.

A perfect ergonomic office will be light and inviting. If there’s a window close to you, the natural light will make the office feel fresh and alive. If this isn’t happening for you, then you need to invite light into the room. A standard lamp may add a touch of homeliness and you can also use angle poise lamps, to direct the light to your office desk, making reading easy, particularly on those long winter days when everything seems to be overcast. Don’t forget that view from the window. Maybe it’s beautiful, maybe it’s not, so why not hang a scenic picture on the wall in front of you, or frame a smaller version for your desk: it might not be a desk toy but it will still make you feel good.

If your office is small, make it feel bigger. This can be done by using glass office furniture, as the light passing through that beautiful crystal gives an illusion of space. However, if you’re one of those people that hoards a lot of stuff under your office desk, you’re now going to have to tidy up your act. This in itself is a good thing, as we are always being told to de-clutter our lives and getting rid of unnecessary paper will again create space. It will also make work more pleasurable, as you have now become more organised.

So, the place looks bigger, brighter and inviting. The next step is to get that office chair right. Right for you, as you’re the one who is going to be sitting in it. It’s not only the seat pad that is important, although sitting on something soft is better than something that has no flexibility. You want that best office chair to be supporting you in all the right places. The lower back of the chair matches your lower back: it’s giving support and taking some of the weight of your upper body off your own frame. Its adjustable arm rests, its swivel action and its seat pad height mechanism make sitting a more natural action, rather than an expected pose. While all of this happening, your body is relaxing and encouraging your thoughts to be in the same frame of mind. So what type of office chair? Well considering all of the above it has to be an ergonomic office chair.

For many of us, even the journey to work can be stressful, so the last thing you want is to carry this edginess through the day. Getting that ergonomic office right for you will reflect itself in the quality of your work and the quantity and that can’t be a bad thing, can it?

Ergonomic Office Chairs
 
Ergonomic Office Chairs

Office Chairs

The Importance of Colours in the Office

In branding and marketing colours are carefully chosen according to the psychological effects they may have on people. There is no doubt that the colours surrounding our daily life have a direct influence on our mood and behaviour.  Some years ago when I was at University I was renting a room in a superb Victorian flat along Battersea Park. The room was very spacious but the owner had painted the walls in a dark deep red, which was unusual but did not put me off from moving in.  However this year I became depressed and I am ashamed to say, lethargic, I think the colour had a negative influence on me.  On the contrary my flatmate who had the yellow room was always happy and energised, the girl renting the blue room was relaxed and cool headed and the guy renting the dark green room was never there!

Equally, influence by colour can be used in the workplace. Companies with old and tired furnishing tend to look quite dull, compared to some of the new modern office designs, boasting bright ergonomic chairs, modern desks and colourful office partitions.  The positive use of colour is well-known in young internet companies as well as design and PR agencies – this goes beyond benefiting the company’s image, it truly promotes a creative environment.  Google’s offices are well known for their coloured gym balls and funky office furniture, and even one of the first on site crèche. The psychology of colour is perhaps best measured in call centres where a buzzing/fast-paced environment is best stimulated with energizing colours rather than calming ones – expert advice from an experienced office fit-out consultant will do the trick to revamp a site. As for me, as soon as I have finished the plastering, I am off to the paint shop to buy some bright yellow paint for my home office!
Watch this space!
Get your Ergonomic Chair

Mirus Office Chairs
 
 
Mirus Office Chairs
Ergonomic Office Chairs

Ergonomic Chair

Choosing an ergonomic office chair can be difficult due to the complexities associated with the functions and features available. Sitting in the correct posture while you are working is paramount and will help in the short-term and more importantly in the long-term. Once you have accepted that posture is important for a healthy back, the right chair should go further than simple ergonomic by training your body to sit correctly. Some ergonomic chairs provide ergonomic features but if you keep sitting with the wrong posture you will have the same problems prior to using an ergonomic chair.

There are 2 examples of bad practices that instantly come to mind: having a pad between you and your keyboard will force you to lean forward and you will lose the back support of the chair. Some people will even sit with one leg folded on the seat pan. Nowadays ergonomic engineering and technology is pushing new boundaries and some of the most recommended ergonomic chairs will promote a good posture simply by not letting you sit incorrectly. How do they do that? Basically, you will feel very comfortable and supported if you are sitting correctly. However if you are sitting in the position which gives you no back support, for instance on the edge of the seat, within seconds you will feel like correcting your posture because of the lack of comfort.

Once you get used to the chair, you will soon feel the benefits. After a few weeks you may also feel that the chair helps to strengthen your body. This would come from the back-rest of the chair pushing gently against your back giving you support. As a natural response your body will push back against the back-rest of the chair using your back muscles – in essence working out the muscles in your back and strengthening them.

If you suffer from back pain a good ergonomic chair combined with regular gentle/slow stretching exercises to loosen your back will go a long way. If you had back pain treatment from a physiotherapist you would have been given treatment for the problem and probably a sheet of recommended exercises to strengthen your back. For some people, when the weather gets cold and damp, aches and pains start to appear like clockwork – as if they were by direct debit. If such is the case, you should make sure you do the stretching exercises especially during that time of the year.

Then it’s back to being conscious of your posture again, key to this is the ergonomic chair. So which is the best chair for you? What else do you need to complete you ergonomic office configuration to create the perfect ergonomic working environment whether at work or at home?

Once you have the right ergonomic office chair, and the right ergonomic desk, the items you use on your desk need to come to you rather than you reaching out repeatedly all day long. Try and pause for a moment and plan how to rearrange your desk so that what you use the most is easily reachable. Do you have to reach out in an odd position to grab a pen? Do you have to twist yourself downwards to target the bin? Is your phone close enough and on the right side of the desk? Is your monitor at the right height or do you find yourself looking down and tensing your neck muscles over time? All these are considerations that will need to be addressed to create the perfect ergonomic set-up. There are also a range of ergonomic accessories which will perform these necessary adjustments to get everything just right!

Ergonomic Office Chairs
 
 
Ergonomic Office Chairs