You don’t have to restructure rooms to create a noticeable transformation of your office. By focusing on your walls, floors and lighting you can brighten and renew the look of your company environment without a major renovation.

Think About Changing Your Office Wall Color 

Color can create magic. Whether you choose to paint or paper your walls, your color or design choice can produce an image that is polished, professional, warm, creative or relaxed.  If your walls are painted a dark color, brighten up the place with light shades of gray, blue or yellow. Bring the outdoors inside by choosing shades of brown or green that complement nature. Painting rooms neutral colors are good for “break-out” spaces where you want people to communicate in a relaxed environment. If your thinking of using wallpaper, choose a vibrant pattern which will create a fun, relaxed atmosphere. For a more polished, sophisticated look use a gray pattern with flashes of gold. Let  your choice reflect the mood or culture of your company.

When it comes to adding an element of surprise to your walls, look to art. You can find abstract designs and bold blocks of color printed on canvas-looking  material at most home-decorating stores. You can create interest and connect your business with the surrounding community by displaying large paintings or photos created by local artists of the area’s sights and structures. Have an artist paint your brand image or statements that reflect your company’s values on the walls of your reception area or employee lunch space. These artistic elements can help your clients understand and your staff remember your company’s goals.

A creative idea is to paint a few walls with blackboard or whiteboard paint, which can encourage your staff to have impromptu discussions with quick access to writing surfaces. There are also white board decals or stickers which adhere to most surfaces and can be removed, rolled up and taken to any room. As a bonus, you can even carry you rolled up white board to a business meeting at a client’s office.

Give Your Floors a New Look

If deep cleaning your carpet is never going to make it  look fantastic again, cushion your floors with new carpeting and padding. Carpeting adds texture and warmth to your office and comes in a wide selection of colors and patterns. If you decide to stick with a  neutral color on your walls and flooring, you can add bold, bright colors via artwork or furniture.

Should you find wonderful hardwood flooring under the old carpeting, it might be worth it to have the floor restored to its original richness and luster. Here and there add colorful rugs where you want a little softness and pattern. If you find plywood under the old stuff or the hardwood isn’t salvageable, you can also consider laminate or luxury vinyl flooring. Both products come in a number of light to dark shades, several wood designs, can handle some heavy traffic and are easy to keep clean.

Another option is carpet tile, which also comes in a variety of colors. A wonderful aspect of these interlocking squares is you replace only individual pieces that sustain any damage. A cheaper consideration compared to removing all or a large section of a  floor covering. You could use just one color throughout the office or, depending on your company culture, you could have fun and designate a second color as a path guiding your clients to their destinations. Want to take it up a notch? Create your own floor art using a mixed palette of colors.

Let There be Light

It is a fact that the more natural light we are exposed to the happier we are. Sunlight gives us the full spectrum of the rainbow and as the day wears on the intensity of the sun’s light changes nature’s colors. When looking through our office windows, our eyes view the ever changing shadows and illuminations.

More than likely your office has fluorescent lighting or LED lights, which emit the blue/green from the color spectrum. This bright, white light is very much the same light we stare at when using our computers and phones. Great for illumination, but tires our eyes and then our minds after staring into the glare of our screens for long periods of time. An office lit only by this intense white isn’t nearly as inviting as light on the yellow/red portion of the spectrum and which is found in incandescent light.

By scattering warm incandescent light throughout your office, you can create a noticeable change to your interior space.

Use these lights to illuminate your wall art and place interesting table lamps or tall floor lamps on or near your employees’ desks, on counters or tables where your staff congregates. When placing a lamp with a warm light at the entrance to your office your clients will be greeted with an inviting glow. Hang a mirror across from the lamp or behind it to scatter the light. You can get a similar effect when you place mirrors beside or across from windows. To brighten dark corners of your office and to add a little interest, place tall plants in those commonly empty spaces and use lights at the base and behind the pots.

You don’t have to deal with a complete renovation to achieve the look and feel of a new office design. Updated flooring, clean and fresh looking walls, as well as a combination of bright and warming lights will give your old office a new look.