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Why Glass Partitions Are Necessary Coming Out of COVID-19

Businesses, schools, and other establishments have reopened to the public. The way in which our American establishments chose to guard themselves against the future potential of spreading Coronavirus and its variants will depend on what systems, spatial solutions and safety equipment are available. As a business owner or superintendent of a school or college, it is imperative to ensure the safety of your customers and students within your facilities. One effective social distancing solution in public places is to implement glass walls and glass wall partitions to create safe spaces and physical distancing in otherwise communal areas. While other available spatial partitions remain on the market, it is important to understand the benefits of glass as compared with other alternative materials. Below are a few examples of where glass wall partitions can be used, the benefits these partitions, room dividers and wellness “pods” provide, and helpful inspiration for your establishment moving forward.

Partitions can and should be introduced to create:

  • safe classrooms
  • healthy locker rooms/ school gyms
  • more productive workspaces
  • dynamic common areas
  • healthier clinics / partitioned nurses offices
  • quiet zones (study areas)

Where Wellness Walls and Glass Wall Partitions Can Be Implemented

Nurses Office:

Protecting student and healthcare staff, Wellness Walls are easy to be installed into any nurse’s office or health center on campus. Wellness pods are even smaller, single-person waiting rooms with clear glass doors for visibility so healthcare workers can easily monitor patients/students inside. Separating the sick from those who are well will help stop the spread of invisible viruses and illnesses.

In The Classroom:

By creating enhanced spatial separation throughout the classroom, students can remain safer during instruction with less physical integration. Quiet corners/study zones are helpful for students that need extra time to complete tasks or make-up tests.

Locker Rooms:

Protect students from potential peer-to-peer exposure to COVID-19 and other illnesses by installing glass wall partitions and room dividers throughout locker rooms and exercise facilities. Our glass walls come in a variety of customizable options, that range in glass opacity, size, configuration, and accessories. For private spaces such as locker rooms, our opaque glass options would work great, providing enhanced privacy for students.

School & Public Libraries:

Education should and can be a productive, safe, and well-enjoyed experience for all. While many are fearful of returning to public learning facilities such as libraries, you can ensure the safety of any and all visitors by implementing the necessary devices to provide a risk-free public environment. Custom-made glass room dividers and office partitions create a wonderful spatial barrier for study corners, checking out/purchasing lines, and perusing zones. These environments dampen airborne disease transmission and empower educators and workers to perform at their best because risk-free means stress-free.

Enhanced Cleanliness

Our glass walls are super easy to clean, are resistant to damage and water, and are conveniently offered in a wide range of glass opacities, from completely opaque, to see-through transparent. They require no construction and take less than 24 hours to be installed by our team of professional installers.

Our glass room dividers and Wellness Walls are much longer-lasting than alternative materials like acrylic or wood and can be easily cleaned and disinfected within seconds. While acrylic materials are porous and allow for bacteria to set in, glass is antimicrobial, which is why most wellness facilities and hospitals choose glass over any other material for walls and partitions. Due to the tempered design, our glass walls can be sterilized very easily while holding up in highly trafficked enhanced usage environments.

To achieve an enhanced safety standard, and to create a well-functioning environment for your students, employees and instructors, consider installing wellness walls and glass wall partitions into your establishment. Spatial separation is the most crucial element in this process to safeguard everyone against this deadly virus. Make your facility as safe as possible to effectively stop the spread of COVID 19 by integrating glass wall partitions and increased person-to-person separation. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online to view our online catalog, and Get a quote from one of our professionals today.

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Bringing Remote Workers Back to the Office

Our life since the pandemic began has evolved dramatically. For some employees, making space on a cluttered kitchen counter for kids to participate in their remote learning (while pets are running around and barking) was a less than ideal solution. If you sent your staff home to quarantine during the peak of COVID, but are now ready to get them back into the office, there are some best practices emerging on how to get workers excited to return to work.

fixed panel office partitions

Overhaul the Office 

Yes, really. Your office may be long overdue for an overhaul. Better furniture, lighting, and a space that offers true comfort and productivity can beat a cubicle in the corner of a dark room (or a cluttered kitchen) any day. While you might have gotten away with less in the past, now is the time to rethink the setup of the space you offer to your workers. If you can add plants, windows, break down barriers and let people thrive, they will enjoy coming back in. Offering new and creative solutions to offices, like QUBIGLASS®, can lighten the mood, and bring the spirit of collaboration back into your space. 

Perk Up

Gyms are back! Snack bars! All the things we might have taken for granted in the past are real treasures now. Are you offering unlimited coffee, the occasional social event or maybe happy hour? The little things are big again and will be appreciated by those who enjoy spending time with their peers and coworkers. On a tight budget, you might just improve parking or childcare, popcorn breaks and anything that can beat the ‘covid-fatigue’ for those tired of being at home. 

Think Hybrid

Chances are not everyone will be thrilled if you make the office 100% mandatory 100% of the time. Think flexibly and ease everyone in. Maybe every other day is a work-from-home day, or maybe you can let certain departments stagger time to skip rush hour. Rotate staff members’ schedules so there is still a safe environment as opposed to max capacity. We’ve seen many businesses let remote work become an incentive or earnable reward for great work. 

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

Not just pop song lyrics, but smart business advice. Asking your employees how they envision their future with your business could surprise you. Try anonymous surveys to ease the pressure and hear more honest feedback. If you’re open and receptive, your employees will tell you what they truly want. We are seeing many offices add large meeting rooms. You may want to add bigger and safely spaced conference spaces, places where teams that missed collaborating can work on the big picture and have group meetings.

Many major companies feel they have delayed their return to work long enough, and more and more businesses are eager to get the gang back together again. By thinking through the logistics and maybe making some key improvements, you will get your team excited about seeing each other again with vaccinated high fives all over the office.

If you need to reimagine, refresh and make key upgrades to improve your space, reach out to Space Plus now.

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Office Environments, Layouts, Standards and Guidelines

As a contractor or architect, it’s up to you to design a space for your clients that is well suited to the client’s needs and improves the quality of their experience existing in the space. Getting contracted to design office spaces is not always easy, especially today with a rapidly evolving definition of what an office environment could be. Nowadays, most new offices are multidimensional and act as a home away from home- with kitchens, games, and lounge areas that simulate the essence of a living room.

These workspaces are meant to cater to the worker’s needs, boost morale, enhance production, and increase continuity and communication amongst coworkers or “team members”. By designing a thoughtful and considered layout, and installing the right framework, you’ll be able to craft an innovative working environment that your client and their employees will love. Below, we’ve outlined some things to keep in mind during the design process. Much needed rooms, spatial separation, and exciting elements to employ may help inspire your blueprints.

Office Open Floor Plans

Today, open floor plans have become the new staple or standard in office design. More and more companies are recognizing that allowing their employees to freely communicate, work together and experience closeness actually increases productivity and team morale. Open floor plans also increase visibility, natural light, and breathability throughout the office environment. By starting off your design with an open plan, you make room for a lot of inventive spatial solutions and targeted rooms that will add intrigue and excitement to the space.

bright workplace with many glass divided rooms

Office Phone Booths/Call Rooms

A good way to allow for some spatial separation and privacy is to introduce phone booths or “tiny rooms” into the open swath of expansive office space. While these glass barriers are not specifically soundproof, they do provide a spatial barrier that lessens noise and provides increased privacy. This way, when a team member has a long call (or a loud voice) they can quickly step into these quiet spaces and not feel guilty about distracting nearby workers. A new poll by Udemy and Toluna showed that 80% of workers admit to being sonically distracted while at work.

 “Office noise is the second most cited workplace disturbance, with seven out of ten respondents citing noise as a top bother in their day-to-day workflow” (statista.com).

Outside influences on employees’ working environment take a toll on productivity and cause employees a cumbersome mental reset every few minutes. A great solution to introduce with these call booths is to install sliding door room dividers for the call booth so as to save space in an already tiny enclosure, while creating a stylish design that increases the office aesthetic. Our solutions divide the space, curtail foot traffic and provide visual privacy.

 

Bonus Yoga / Stretching / Meditation Room

A new trend amongst trendy office spaces is offering a yoga or meditation room. People become seriously fatigued while sitting for too long a time in uncomfortable office chairs day in and day out. Not only is a desk job physically grueling on a person’s body, but it also takes a mental toll. By designing workers space for some healthy breaks to stretch, breathe, recenter and improve their physical health, you effectively boost productivity, increase mental capacity and increase contentment amongst a workforce. Consider installing sliding glass barn doors for this room – it will enhance the overall look of the room and offer an artistic flourish your client will love. What’s more, you can choose from six different glass opacities to best suit your client’s needs. For the yoga room, perhaps a more opaque glass finish would be the ideal choice, so workers can stretch and meditate while enjoying a bit of privacy. 

conference room with sliding glass door wall, some panels opaque

Think Tank / Conference Room

While open floor plans are a great way to achieve integration, cohesion, and an overall team mentality, any office environment should come equipped with a full-size conference room for important/private meetings and presentations. Some like to think of these rooms as productive think tanks. Not providing one would be a big detriment to any business. People need to be able to gather around a table, bounce ideas off each other, check-in on progress, etc. To engineer a stylistic balance of privacy with visibility, use glass sliding door room dividers to integrate a conference room amongst the rest of the open floor plan. This way, you’ll provide a “separate yet together” feel that your clients will thoroughly enjoy.

Private Offices

Of course, you’ll want to design your office space with at least one to three private offices to provide distinction for the company CEO, manager or owner from the general workforce. By using floor-to-ceiling glass wall partitions and interior sliding doors, you’ll provide enough spatial separation and privacy while assimilating the rooms into the vast open space. An office with four solid walls on each side doesn’t exactly say “teamwork” the way it should. Rather, it segregates the people below and can make employees feel detached from their bosses or those higher up than them. As the designer, take it upon yourself to create a positive, integrative working environment that will improve the working conditions of employees and drive the business in the right direction.

Our glass and aluminum partitions are recyclable and perfect for green construction projects. They also assist architects with earning LEED points which is another selling point when contracting clients. Taking into consideration general layout, office partitions, the use of glass, and introducing inventive spaces, you’ll successfully craft a product that your clients will celebrate each day they come into work. An office should be a productive home away from home. Consult the experts in space optimization and check out Space Plus, a division of the Sliding Door Company.

Have a look at our products gallery for inspiration and product images. Schedule a call with one of our knowledgeable professionals to get a free quote and other information on our many available solutions. Simply find a location near you and ensure your office design a success!

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Office Interior Design Tips to Make a Great First Impression

Imagine walking into a deserted business lobby, and wandering aimlessly in search of help. This would immediately leave anyone frustrated as well as skeptical of the company’s professionalism.

You certainly want to avoid this situation in your own commercial space. Ensuring someone is prepared to greet clients is the first element in a long list of steps you can take to create a great first impression.

Keep reading for more suggestions to make your office unforgettable!

Create a visually stimulating atmosphere

An aesthetically pleasing entrance will set the tone and improve a guest’s mood instantly. Plants and creative art draw attention and help put clients and visitors at ease. For a modern office, try abstract art or a geometric display along with manicured plants or even a living wall. If the space is more traditional or transitional, consider big, lush plants and more traditional or photographic art.

Greet guests with a lobby sign

Everyone loves a unique introduction (and a hint of flattery). Use a wall-mounted or rolling chalkboard to create a simple message for your guests—something like, “Welcome, Jane Smith from The Company. We’re thrilled to have you here.” It’s a simple, inexpensive gesture that lets clients know you’re excited about their visit. These little impressions can go a long way—and maybe even steer a prospective client away from your competitor.

Show off your mission statement

Posting your mission statement and core values shows your clients that you care. Positioning it where it’s highly visible will also serve as a reminder to your employees of why they come to work every day. Just make sure employees live up your mission statement and that you inspire them by modeling the behavior you want to see!

Offer refreshments in waiting areas

Show you care about making visitors comfortable. With the large variety of single-serve coffee and tea makers available today, it’s easy to whip together a beverage cart for visitors to help themselves while they wait. Individually packaged snacks are a nice touch, too.

Elevate your office space with sleek sliding glass doors and partitions

The drywall is coming down in offices everywhere, and that’s a good thing. Sleek and modern glass office dividers, partitions and sliding doors are taking their place. These versatile glass panels can be used in any number of configurations for conference rooms, reception areas, office cubicles, “huddle rooms” and more. They’re especially useful for adding privacy and creating distinct spaces in offices with open floor plans. Plus, they instantly elevate the look of office space.

Brighten your space

Poor lighting systems can dampen the mood and drain productivity. Along with a good temperature control system, quality lighting and fixtures are a must. Pay attention to areas where natural lighting could potentially grace the space, but something is blocking its path. Clear glass walls may be the right solution to open and brighten the space. If your office isn’t blessed with plenty of natural light, it’s relatively inexpensive to retrofit the space with quality lighting. And, it doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all. Today, customized lighting systems allow you to personalize lighting and color temperature in individual work areas.

Create an impressive office with Space Plus

The modern workplace needs state-of-the-art solutions. Enter Space Plus, a division of The Sliding Door Company. Our glass office wall dividers and sliding doors can help you create dynamic spaces for every need—from workstations and conference rooms to lobbies, phone booths, common areas and more. These sleek and modern products are constructed of the highest quality tempered or laminated glass, customized to your taste with a variety of designs, glass types and frame finishes to choose form. The best part? Installation rarely requires a permit or major construction, so the process can stay efficient and within budget.

View our gallery for inspiration and reach out to our expert staff today to get started on the office interior of your dreams.

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Solutions for Social Distancing During early Stages of Re-openings

Restaurant Industry Greatly Affected by COVID 19.

While expected, it appears as though most Americans are still grappling with digesting the new normal, being that many public establishments, restaurants included, are beginning to open their doors at alarming rates. Beaches, parks and other recreational, or “non-essential” businesses are also slowly reopening to the public. Though most are uncertain whether this is a wise gamble, others are overjoyed with the recent developments. Over the course of the last two and a half months, the food and beverage industry (including restaurants) has seen an unprecedented rollercoaster of highs and lows, of prejudices and judgments, of swift evolutions and unfortunate pitfalls and foreclosures. Of course, there is really no telling at this point, how successfully the industry will be able to regain its footing and return to “business as usual”. Likely, things won’t look or feel the same for months, perhaps even years. Though,  if there is one certainty, it is that during the coming weeks and months, health, safety, and comfort will be taken more seriously than ever before. As a restaurant owner, it will become imperative to not only provide a safe and sanitized setting for your valued patrons, but your future success will hinge on your ability to convince the public that your establishment has taken serious measures to safeguard your visitors. There are a number of ways that you can ensure a clean, healthy restaurant coming out of this pandemic, so perhaps the ideal restaurant is one which utilizes all of the solutions simultaneously. Below are the top health and safety solutions to implement coming out of COVID 19.

 

Limit Your Available Capacity

Many restaurants are choosing to reopen as safely as possible, to guard both their working staff, as well as their customers. One sure way to reduce the risk of person-to-person spreading, is to significantly reduce the number of available seats in the restaurant. Additionally, outside seating is encouraged, as fresh air is said to help reduce the risk of air transmission from those in close proximity to one another. By halving your normal capacity, you can effectively create distance and space between your patrons, allowing them the peace of mind of a non-crowded atmosphere, while ensuring a no-contact dining experience.

Indoor Social Distancing

Similar to limiting the establishment’s overall capacity, the main idea is to encourage indoor social distancing within public spaces that are normally overflowing with people. In regards to reopened businesses and restaurants alike, it will be very important to discern which tables should be seated depending on how much space they allow from the next occupied table. People want to know that they can remain a safe six feet apart, so it is the restaurant’s responsibility to grant that. The host or hostess must be aware of the current circumstances, the social distancing recommendations, and be able to plan accordingly when seating guests. 

Wall Partitions and Room Dividers

Another solution that businesses, educational institutions, and restaurants are starting to utilize, are wall partitions and room dividers. Easy to install partitions can effectively create additional spatial separation and enhanced safety within indoor environments. No restaurant wants to see their customers feeling uncomfortable or worried about their health while out for their much anticipated, long awaited dining experience. As the owner of a food establishment, make use of the available spatial solutions and integrate easy to clean glass room dividers or breezy sliding room partitions throughout your business to create enhanced separation from table to table, or to limit the restaurants available seating. Some restaurants are now even using glass wall dividers to create see-through waiting zones where customers can wait to be seated in a safe, risk-free enclosure, apart from foot traffic and potential contact. Glass walls are not only antimicrobial, but they are also exceptionally easy to clean and disinfect within seconds. Additionally, glass walls are resistant to damage and water, and conveniently offered in a wide range of glass opacities, from completely opaque, to see-through transparent. They require no construction, and take less than 24 hours to be installed by our team of professional installers.

Continue Encouraging Customers to Take Out

Without a doubt, the surest way to continue providing a safe dining experience for your patrons, is to continue encouraging take-away food, deliveries, and made-to-order items that passersby can easily walk home with. By reducing the number of people dining inside the restaurant, you can maintain maximum health and safety for everyone involved.

Spatial separation will be the most crucial element through this reintegration process to safeguard patrons, restaurant staff, and delivery workers against this deadly virus. Ensure your establishment is as safe as possible for everyone involved! Stop the spread of COVID 19 by integrating glass wall partitions and increased patient separation. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online to view our online catalog, and Get a quote from one of our professionals today.

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Why Glass Partitions Will Become Necessary Coming Out of COVID 19

Within the coming months, we will start to see businesses, schools and other establishments opening back up to the public. The way in which our American establishments chose to guard themselves against the potential of spreading Coronavirus will depend on what systems, spatial solutions and safety equipment is available. As a business owner or superintendent of a school or college, it is imperative to ensure the safety of your customers and students within your facilities. One effective social distancing solution in public places, is to implement glass walls and glass wall partitions to create safe spaces and physical distancing in otherwise communal areas. While other available spatial partitions remain on the market, it is important to understand the benefits of glass as compared with other alternative materials. Below are a few examples of where glass wall partitions can be used, the benefits these partitions, room dividers and wellness “pods” provide, and helpful inspiration for your establishment moving forward.

Partitions can and should be introduced to create:

  • safe classrooms
  • healthy locker rooms/ school gyms
  • more productive workspaces
  • dynamic common areas
  • healthier clinics / partitioned nurses offices
  • quiet zones (study areas)

Where Wellness Walls and Glass Wall Partitions Can Be Implemented

Nurses Office: Protecting student and healthcare staff, Wellness Walls are easy to be installed into any nurse’s office or health center on campus. Wellness pods are even smaller, single-person waiting rooms with clear glass doors for visibility so healthcare workers can easily monitor patients/students inside. Separating the sick from those who are well will help stop the spread of invisible viruses and illnesses.

In The Classroom: By creating enhanced spatial separation throughout the classroom, students can remain safer during instruction with less physical integration. Quiet corners/study zones are helpful for students that need extra time to complete tasks, or make up tests.

Locker Rooms: Protect students from potential peer-to-peer exposure to COVID-19 and other illnesses by installing glass wall partitions and room dividers throughout locker rooms and exercise facilities. Our glass walls come in a variety of customizable options, that range in glass opacity, size, configuration and accessories. For private spaces such as locker rooms, our opaque glass options would work great, providing enhanced privacy for students.

School & Public Libraries: Education should and can be a productive, safe, and well-enjoyed experience for all. While many are fearful of returning to public learning facilities such as libraries, you can ensure the safety of any and all visitors by implementing the necessary devices to provide a risk-free public environment. Custom-made glass room dividers and office partitions create a wonderful spatial barrier for study corners, checking out/purchasing lines, and perusing zones. These environments dampen airborne disease transmission and empower educators and workers to perform at their best, because risk-free means stress-free.

Enhanced Cleanliness

Our glass walls are super easy to clean, are resistant to damage and water, and conveniently offered in a wide range of glass opacities, from completely opaque, to see-through transparent. They require no construction, and take less than 24 hours to be installed by our team of professional installers.

Our glass room dividers and Wellness Walls are much longer-lasting than alternative materials like acrylic or wood, and can be easily cleaned and disinfected within seconds. While acrylic materials are porous and allow for bacteria to set in, glass is antimicrobial, which is why most wellness facilities and hospitals choose glass over any other material for walls and partitions. Due to the tempered design, our glass walls can be sterilized very easily while holding up in highly trafficked enhanced usage environments.

To achieve an enhanced safety standard, and to create a well-functioning environment for your students, employees and instructors, consider installing wellness walls and glass wall partitions into your establishment. Spatial separation is the most crucial element in this process to safeguard everyone against this deadly virus. Make your facility as safe as possible to effectively stop the spread of COVID 19 by integrating glass wall partitions and increased person-to-person separation. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online to view our online catalog, and Get a quote from one of our professionals today.

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Tips on How to Flourish During The Workday

We’ve all been there; tired, stressed, overworked and mentally exhausted during your workday. You glance over at the clock and your fears were correct, it’s not even close to 5 o’clock and you are far from finishing your daily tasks. Why is it you find yourself so spent day after day at the office? Perhaps it’s easily attributed to poor quality of sleep. Or maybe it’s because you aren’t living your work life as authentically and ambitiously as you could. Well, fear not, for we come bearing positive news. There are a number of healthy lifestyle choices, mental exercises and flourishes you can employ into your 9-5 to keep you jazzed, increase your quality of life, and make some serious headway on those all-consuming deadlines you’ve been running from. Read on for the secrets to flourishing during your (once dreaded) workday.

  1. Practice intentional breathing

While this may sound all too new-age for you, just consider how completely important the act of breathing is. The effect that breath has on our all-around mental and physical health is unparalleled. Though, despite the voluminous amount of findings that prove how impactful conscious breathing is on our lives, many of us tend to cast this very simple practice to the side. While at work, try to integrate mindful breathing into each hour. Start with twenty deep breaths every top of the hour. This will only take you the better half of a minute, yet the effects will generate so much lastly positivity on your whole being. Then, once you master that, increase the amount of deep breathing to 30 breaths, then forty, and so on until you reach five full minutes of deep, intentional breathing per hour. Not convinced? Try it at least twice before deciding it’s not for you.

   2. Build awesome relationships with your coworkers- and your boss!

Many employees report that a big cause for unhappiness during the workday is caused by a feeling of separateness amongst their coworkers or floormates. See if you can change this lack of closeness and human connection by asking one of your team members to have lunch with you a few days a week. Just having thirty minutes to talk with and learn about someone else’s life will significantly reduce feelings of separation. You may come to find you’re not alone in these feelings of solitude.

  3. Get outta that chair!

This one is super important. As humans, we were not physically (or mentally) designed to sit in a chair for eight-plus hours a day. Make a concerted effort to get up, walk around, stretch, and move your body a few minutes every hour or so. This act will get your blood pumping and flowing properly again, which will also flow to your brain and as a byproduct, increase your mental capabilities exponentially.

  4. Bring the gym to you

If you don’t have a gym that you frequent after your workday, and you can’t find the time during your lunch break to get up and be active, considering bringing the gym t you. Bring weights, a yoga mat, and even an exercise ball to the office if space allows. Especially if you enjoy your own office space, why wouldn’t you want to get up and enjoy some light exercise every few hours to maintain physical health and mental wellbeing? Yoga can be the answer to stagnant blood flow, stress, work-induced anxiety, and being overwhelmed. Yoga also forces you to breathe deeply, which will check #1 off your list.

  5. What’s fueling you?

It’s so important to carefully consider what you are consuming throughout your workday. While there are so many opportunities for us to make unhealthy dietary choices at work, this is where mental strength comes into play. Physicians strongly recommend packing lunch in the morning to bring to work with you. Not only with a homemade meal be a lot healthier, but it’s typically a lot cheaper and environmentally sound than ordering takeout or Grubhub every day. Try to avoid too much boredom snacking and sugary coffee drinks, as these will simply turn into stored fat as your body sits for hours and hours without being able to burn it.

  6. Create an office oasis

Crafting a serene surrounding office environment will seriously brighten your daily work experience. Consider bringing in low light houseplants, art for the walls, personal photographs and knick-knacks to personalize your space. Ask management about installing a glass office door so that you don’t feel so boxed in and closed off from the outside world. Often times, office partitions aren’t very well-considered, and therefore they can tend to detract from employees’ happiness and ensuring productivity.

  7. The power of thought

Though at times it can be understandably difficult, try to maintain a positive mental outlook and attitude, both internally and externally. The power of positive thought is growing more and more curiosity and testing because science is finding a direct correlation between people living longer and healthier who practice positive thought, and who surround themselves with positive people. Be that person in your office that spreads and inspires infectious positivity.

  8. Stop procrastinating!

Of course, this one is easier said than done. However, procrastination can have a seriously unhealthy impact on your mental health, which then effects (you guessed it!) your physical wellbeing, too. We procrastinate for a number of reasons, ranging from fear to inability, and from insecurities right down to pure laziness. Does it ever result in a positive outcome? Nope. Cut it from your life. Procrastinating only adds drama and stress to your life- both things we’re aiming to reduce.

  9. Become a sun worshipper

If at all possible, talk to your boss or management about the possibility of introducing glass walls and translucent office partitions into the open floorplan of your workspace. This will allow for so much beautiful (and necessary) natural light to free flow through the interiors and lift everyone’s spirits, boost morale and create a healthier inside environment for everyone to enjoy.

  10. Crank the tunes!

This one may seem silly, but trust, this is one of the best possible ways to increase happiness, stimulate your senses and add some serious ambiance to an otherwise dull workday. Latin jazz and Cuban dance music are known to add some vibrance and flavor to the atmosphere- don’t be surprised if you feel the urge to get out of your chair and dance a few steps of salsa (before your coworkers spot you, of course).

With all of these creative solutions to enhance your mood, your physical health, and your overall working experience, you have all the wonderful ingredients to create the idyllic workday and lifestyle centered around balance week after week! Make the move towards crafting a desirable workspace, and visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company for ideas and inspiration. Get a quote from one of our professionals to begin the transformation today.

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Salon Partition Ideas

Boutique hair and beauty salons are popping up everywhere across the country and surprising us with their stylish lounges, evocative interior design, and amenities. This attention to the fine details has raised the bar for these businesses and drawn many new customers in, as enjoying a top-notch salon can be an unparalleled experience. Beauty gurus across the map are realizing just how in-demand luxurious salons have become. The customer will happily pay the extra cost of an aesthetically pleasing salon over an outdated, underwhelming one any day. Going to a salon is a self-indulgent gift, and as customers, they want to feel that they were carefully considered during the designing process.

Now, to the How.

If you are ready and able to begin your salon transformation (or design an entirely novel one) set aside some healthy time to visualize, design, plan and lastly, take action. Below are some of the most crucial considerations to think about during your design process.

Plenty of light

Above all else, your salon should proudly boast tons of natural light. This will not only help aid the hairstylist in color decisions and acute visibility during cuts but also create a warm and vibrant indoor environment for everyone to enjoy. A dark salon can appear smaller, more boxed in and uninviting. To achieve the most natural lighting, install floor to ceiling windows, especially on the street side of the parlor. This will also attract curious passers-by and give clients the opportunity to people-watch while waiting.

salon with office dividers

Consider using transparent office partitions to achieve spatial separation throughout the salon rather than minimizing the open space with light-blocking partitions. The space will breathe better and light will flow freely with this space optimizing solution.

Consistent design theme

A crucial aspect of great interior design is maintaining a consistent design theme throughout the hair salon. There are so many exciting themes to choose from- the trick is not mixing and matching them. If too many themes are employed, the design can appear muddied and confused. Some classic interior design schemes are:

  • Modern (contemporary),
  • Luxury
  • Vintage
  • Chic
  • Rustic
  • Earthy
  • Industrial

Once you pick your theme, aim to stay within the borders of that look to successfully evoke the emotional response and vibe you’re after.

Mirrors

Mirrors effectively expand space and reflect crucial light. By integrating mirrors throughout your salon, you’ll enlarge the interior space and provide more visibility for your customers. Everyone loves a good full-length mirror. Try installing full length sliding closet mirror doors to hide your unkempt closets and backrooms. This solution is an all-around win- these sliding mirror doors will conceal mess, reflect natural light, expand the space, and provide your clients with better visibility!

salon with sliding door entries

Lounge Area/ Comfortability

One of the areas many salon owners and designers fail to acknowledge is the lounge or waiting area. This is a crucial facet of any salon business, as you will inevitably experience an influx of clients in and out with overlapping appointments and customers waiting to be seen. Those who are awaiting their appointment may very likely be in a hurry, anxious with anticipation and overall, inpatient. It’s necessary that you provide them with a comfortable and inviting lounge area that will smooth their nerves, provide some healthy distraction and cause them to feel excited about their big makeover, not nervous. Your lounge should have all the essentials- comfy couches and chairs, a coffee table, magazines, perhaps a tea/coffee bar and a place to hang their coats and personal items. This first impression will make or break the client’s overall experience and perception of the business. Set yourself up for success and return clients by catering to their every need.

Amenities

Anytime a customer sets out to spend a healthy amount of money on beauty, they expect to be taken care of from the minute they walk through the door, to the second they exit the building. A comprehensive approach should be employed, and you as the owner need to ensure your salon exceeds their expectations. Your customers should be greeted with a warm welcome and a beverage- be it tea, coffee, sparkling, wine or water. Bonus points for offering snacks and up-to-date magazines for them to pore over. Your receptionist should check in with your clients regularly and ensure them that their wait time is limited. A sparkling clean bathroom is also a must. Some hair appointments can take up to 5 or 6 hours and your clients will need that convenience! For an extra artistic touch, install opaque glass barn doors as the bathroom door. Interior sliding doors will save your salon space and offer a design flourish they weren’t expecting.

Again, it’s all about the fine details. These little facets to your overall design will be subliminal yet effecting and will leave your clients impressed and eager to return month after month. Word of mouth is a huge marketing platform for any salon- make it easy for your clients to refer you to their friends and family by carefully considering these tips and tricks.

To get started on your salon transformation, check out our products gallery for inspiration and product images. Schedule a call with one of our knowledgeable professionals to get a quote and other information on our many available solutions. Simply find a location near you and get that much closer to optimizing your beauty business for success!

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Your Startup Needs This to Thrive

The competitive nature of startups has generated an entirely novel approach to how we design and exist in office spaces. Most startups today value symbiotic relationships in the workplace, free-flowing exchange of ideas and ample communication amongst its workforce. The design and layout of startup office spaces are largely determined by these factors and have become the inspiration for many an architect, contractor and interior designer across the country. Setting your company apart from the sea of startups is not only crucial- it’s life or death. Great team members are now, dare we say, entitled to have idyllic workspaces in order to maintain productivity, inspiration, and cohesion during the workweek. Providing the best office environment for your workers will ensure a high retention rate and a flourishing output that everyone can enjoy.

Chic exposed brick walls, leather couches, ping pong tables and corn hole games, full kitchens complete with healthy snacks, wet bars, and beer fridges are quickly becoming the new norm across the country’s leading startups. Office spaces are no longer the begrudging labyrinth of narrow hallways and cubicles that they once were. They are essentially a *productive* home away from home- a place where employees plug away on laptops and strive to change the world alongside equally ambitious “teammates”. Often upgraded from warehouses, old clothing factories, or machine shops, trendy startups are utilizing all the rustic aesthetic they can to craft unique and enthusiasm-evoking spaces.

Partitions for Offices

What You’ll Need:

  • A Great OFP- Open Floor Plan
  • Amazing Lighting (natural and artificial)
  • Space-optimizing Designs and Solutions
  • Artistic Flourishes (and greenery)

Let’s Break it Down: 

A Great OFP

To optimize your startup and craft a working oasis for your enthusiastic team, you’ll need an open, lofty and intelligently laid out space. If you want total cohesion and integration amongst your employees you’ll want an effective balance of fewer walls, cubes, and individual offices. Samantha Bernstein, communications manager at Tasting Table touches on this, saying that, “Open plans make it easier for everyone to know what’s happening across departments, and it keeps the team energy level high.”

Of course, and without question, you will need a touch of spatial separation and closed quarters somewhere within your vast swath of office land. Providing a closed conference room or executive office will come in handy when special meetings or presentations are to take place, and not distract nearby workers. Use glass partitions for offices to construct totally enclosed office rooms without any major construction or hassle. Choose from a plethora of varying glass opacities- from transparent to opaque, and everything in between, the customizable options are endless. Sliding door room dividers are another fantastic way to craft a conference room within a larger open floorplan. Want to impress your team with the ultimate artistic flourish? Install the stunning modern take on a rustic design- sliding glass barn doors. This space optimizing solution for a closed office/conference room entryway looks amazing and offers an exceptionally smooth (and quiet!) glide that the entire office will love.

Amazing Lighting

It goes without saying that lighting is everything. This goes far beyond “well-lit” offices and the switch to energy-efficient bulbs. This statement refers to large floor-to-ceiling windows, open floor plans and glass office partitions to make use of ample natural light in peak daytime hours. We are all humans of the earth, and though we have become accustomed to living indoors 80% of our lives, we still need to feel like we’re somehow connected to the outside world. Great big windows do this. Glass office partitions do this. Skylights, mirrors and Edison lightbulbs do this by providing luxurious mood lighting to effectively raise the vibration and increase productivity. Instead of making your employees daydream about the great outdoors, provide your workforce with ample views to the outside world so they feel as though they’re already living and working in an ideal environment.

Space-optimizing Designs and Solutions

Well designed spaces work within the given floorplan and make use of smart space optimizing solutions to achieve a comfortable and fluid environment. Bringing an interior designer on board for your space optimizing needs wouldn’t be a bad idea, although with the unexplained intrigue and lure of a hearty DIY interior design project, why not tackle it yourself? If you’re amongst the many that enjoy the process of doing-it-yourself, here are some tips to keep in mind:

  • Don’t over-clutter the open floor plan
  • Keep the decorations to a minimum
  • Arrange the desks thoughtfully to encourage and integrate discussion while maintaining individual spatial separation
  • Leave room for a lounge area for your workers to collaborate
  • Use interior sliding doors so as to save space (as opposed to forward swinging doors)

Glass Barn Doors

Artistic Flourishes and Greenery

Again, going back to the whole ‘bring the outside in’ theory, try to integrate as many plants and vegetation inside your working interiors as possible. Plants have been tested in working environments extensively, and have been proven to increase employee concentration, production, and happiness. As previously stated, we are creatures of the earth. We need to be surrounded by natural elements in order to feel safe and healthy.

In addition to integrating essential greenery, aim to decorate your startup space with thought-provoking art, and compliment it with an exciting paint pallet for the walls. Consider drawing it all together with accent pieces such as pillows and rugs, lamps and simple sculptural elements to foster creativity and inspiration amongst your talented team.

Keeping in mind these innovative design elements, feng shui techniques, and space-saving solutions, you’ll be ready to craft the ideal startup atmosphere. You’ll impress your team and promote a healthy life/work balance for everyone to enjoy.

To get started on exciting office improvements, check out our products gallery for inspiration and product images. Schedule a call with one of our knowledgeable professionals to get a free quote and other information on our many available solutions. Simply find a location near you and get that much closer to optimizing your offices for success!