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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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Holiday Health Appointment Frenzy

As the holidays rapidly approach, people will be making visits back to their families and hometowns, and for your booked out health business, this means one thing. A lot of visitors. In addition to the holiday travel that will undoubtedly occur, there’s one other seasonal certainty you can expect, which will leave your waiting room full and your staff busy. Every year, as we round the corner into a new January 1st, people with employee health benefits realize they only have a few months left to use up their dental points or healthcare deductibles through their health insurance. With hundreds of last-minute bookings, your office will receive a ton of patients- meaning full waiting rooms and little in-between time to thoroughly sanitize and disinfect between clients.

As this time of year quickly nears, it’s time your health facility arms up with the necessary safety precautions and solutions to ensure a safe, sanitary visit for everyone, doctors and staff included. Here are a few of the best safety tips and physical barriers out there currently.

Getting Through the Door

Of course, as in any health facility, the current standard is to take the patient’s temperature upon arrival, require masks to be worn throughout the duration of the visit (unless unable) and to have the client fill out a questionnaire to understand their recent whereabouts and current health state. This all helps weed out any patients who may be sick or contaminated with a flu or any other virus before potentially infecting others.

By Appointment Only

Many health facilities (as well as clothing stores etc.) have decided to only open their doors to customers by appointment only. This helps to space appointments out from guest to guest in order to safeguard everyone visiting. Having less contact or pass-by time limits exposure and the potential for spreading COVID and other seasonal flus.

Limiting Visitors

Another way that dental offices, chiropractic practices, and any other medical facilities have managed to keep their doors open and ensure the safety of everyone is to strictly limit visitors to the facility. Some have a max capacity of less than 50% what they used to intake pre-COVID. Now, they only allow a certain number of patients in at one time, and ask people waiting not to stand closely together while waiting outside in line.

Physical barriers

Without question, if you run or manage a health or wellness facility or medical practice, by now you’ve understood the need for safety barriers between patients and staff, as well as from those waiting in common spaces. And many facilities have begun outfitting their practice with smart safety dividers to ensure everyone is relatively safe. Unfortunately, not all health centers have been able to find the right solutions that offer flexible installation and a wide variety of options to choose from. Luckily, Space Plus is here to help. As a division of The Sliding Door Company, Space Plus melds cutting edge designs and modern aesthetic when crafting their sliding doors, QubiGlass Wall Partitions and medical dividers. By using real glass, and providing an array of sizes, glass opacities, and accessories, they make their glass wall dividers uniquely customizable for every business to enjoy. With professional installation, your facilities will waste no time or business outfitting your interiors with protection everyone can feel good about!

By implementing these spatial solutions into your health facility, you can welcome in the hundreds of clients you’ll see in the next two months, safe and risk free. Keep your staff and your customers as safe as possible against the winter flu season and COVID-19. For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom Qubi Glass Partitions today!

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Wellness Facilities Enjoy Recent Success Amid COVID 19

This year has worked in mysterious ways, birthing and destroying entire industries almost overnight, and defining the new normal for each of us in our daily lives, and in business. It’s true that this year, entire businesses have crumbled while others effortlessly take flight. From the travel tourism industry to restaurants, car sales, and theme parks, these once heavy-hitting industries are experiencing a tremendous downturn while Covid restrictions and fears remain in place. Yet one industry that has positively thrived during this global crisis, is the modern wellness facility. It’s no coincidence that people have health on their mind more than usual this year, though admittedly, the current cultural zeitgeist has, without question, turned towards a more health-centered lifestyle. From vegan food to yoga obsessed

What exactly are wellness facilities?

These modern meccas are any and all health and wellness businesses that promise to improve your physical or mental well-being through a wide range of different therapies, or products that claim to aid your physical self. These businesses range from the now infamous CryoTherapy to Yoga Centers, Immunity Boosting tonic bars, to Stretch Labs (where you pay to be stretched by a professional).

What’s more, many of these health and wellness facilities have managed to stay afloat by assuring their clientele that their facility is safe and responsible during this global pandemic. So what kind of precautions and steps have these cutting edge businesses undergone in order to retain relevance during a panic-driven global pandemic?

Client Screening

One of the best ways that wellness facilities have safeguarded their establishments from spreading the virus has been by extensively screening their clientele. Oftentimes, appointments must be scheduled in advance and the facility will only allow a number of visitors at a time to protect everyone’s safety. And because most wellness facilities require person-to-person contact or at the very least, close proximity to the practitioner, extra steps have been taken to ensure safety for both parties. Pre-screening methods such as temperature checks, extensive questionnaires, recent travel information and symptom assessments have been made to protect against the virus.

Strict Sanitation

Secondly, thriving wellness facilities have made sure that their facility is expertly cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected between visitors to ensure a safe space for people to enjoy. Most facilities now have a full time cleaning staff on each day to keep a well-maintained environment for everyone. Wiping down surfaces often, such as Glass Wall Partitions and glass room dividers is an absolute must during all open hours of the day. Additionally, masks and gloves are worn by practitioners and in most cases, required by clients upon arrival into the facility.

Spatial Distancing

For facilities that allow multiple clients in at one time, they’ve had to implement strict spatial solutions throughout the floor plan in order to cut off potential contamination between patients and practitioners alike. Many facilities are choosing to use state-of-the-art glass wall partitions made by Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company, in order to achieve a perfect medium of “separate but together”. Celebrated for their durability, these free-standing glass partitions are made from real glass, and come in all sorts of flexible configurations and customizable options. With their new line of Qubi Glass wall partitions, Space Plus makes it easier than ever to outfit your wellness facility with the dividers your business needs to survive. These sliding wall partitions and Glass Room Dividers are offered in hundreds of varying configurations, shades of opacity, and unique locking and handle systems. And because they are so uniquely customizable, you can choose a system that integrates flawlessly into your facility and actually improves the overall aesthetic of your interiors with a modern upgrade! The best part? The company delivers and installs your personal systems in less than a day! That means no major construction, no disruption to the workday, and top-notch professionalism every step of the way.

By putting these spatial solutions into your wellness facility, you can ensure the safety of your dedicated staff, employees, and your customers against the winter flu season and COVID-19. For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom Qubi Glass Partitions today!

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Bring Your Beauty Businesses Back With These Safety Solutions

Are you a shop owner of a beauty salon that’s having a hard time convincing customers to visit your place of business? Well, you’re not alone. Almost every beauty salon has experienced difficulties gaining the trust of the client because of COVID-19. People are much less likely to go get their hair or their nails done, get a much-needed massage, or get cosmetic treatments during Coronavirus times. Admittedly, beauty treatments fall under the non-necessity category and are often seen as an “extra” indulgence. And while people are starting to attend restaurants again and go to other non-necessities, it seems like there’s still a fair amount of hesitation surrounding beauty industries. With so much online ordering available, it can be hard to keep your business above water while competing companies take to the digital marketplace.

So as a small business owner, what can you do to set your place of business apart from the rest and assure your clientele that your shop is safe and risk-free? We’ve got the top solutions for regaining their trust and business. After all, we could all benefit from some serious beauty maintenance during this worldwide pandemic. Here’s how you can make it out during these tough financial times.

Spatial Barriers

If you have a business like a boutique beauty salon whether it’s nails, hair, facials, or massages, you actually have an advantage over other businesses, physically speaking. And while a lot of these services require physical contact with your clients, it’s also very easy to create a spatial barrier from client to client through implementing partitioned stations. A great way to set up a station within a salon interior is to separate the floor space into individual zones- whether massage tables, pedicure chairs, or the hairdressing seats, you should distance them at least 6 feet apart and then install glass wall partitions to create safer individual environments for your customers to relax in while getting the service. Typically, beauty parlors have an open floor plan, which will come in handy when creating these separate zones. You can even implement a sliding glass wall partition to separate the waiting area from people receiving treatments and services.

Sanitization

In order to maintain the cleanest and safest facility possible for your employees and your clientele, you will need to implement some serious sanitation regulations. Consider having bottles of hand sanitizer available for walk-ins on the front counter and ask all of your employees to periodically wash their hands when switching from task to task or from patient to patient. A lot of wellness facilities are now hiring a full-time sanitation person to go around and continuously clean surfaces, wipe down equipment, clean door handles and windows, and generally, ensure that the indoor environment is kept impeccably clean.

Crucial Client Screening

Before taking new clients and walk-ins into your beauty salon, there are a few things that you could do to screen your customers to make sure that they are safe to enter and not risking others. One of the most effective methods is to take the client’s temperature right away when they walk in. Also have them fill out a form that details their travel background from the last two weeks leading up to the current day, as well as recent medical history, any noticeable symptoms that they might be experiencing, as well as their contact information should an outbreak occur. It’s very important to get all this information ahead of time before bringing them into a communal environment.

Masks

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to safeguard everyone, clients and employees, is to require everyone to wear a mask and keep a mask on for the entire duration of the visit. Your employees should be wearing a mask throughout the entire day and should be regularly switching out their masks for clean ones before each shift. Even though some clients will try to argue the mask rule, as a business owner it’s your responsibility to maintain this very simple rule in order to keep everyone safe as a mask is the best means of stopping the spread from person to person.

Remodel Your Interiors

If you have the time and resources, another way that you can convince your clients that you’re taking the pandemic seriously and providing a well-considered environment for them is to remodel your interiors to suit the current circumstances. By remodeling, you can create more spatial separation, install floor to ceiling glass doors or sliding glass room dividers to create physical space, and tailor your interiors to the client’s comfort level.

By putting these tips and considerations into practice, you can create a peaceful sanctuary for your customers to thoroughly enjoy. Everyone just wants a sense of normalcy amid the crisis, and you have the ability to offer an escape from the daily chaos of COVID. Don’t hesitate to transform your interiors today and check out  Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all of your special solutions! Schedule a free consultation with one of our representatives and get started on your new salon improvements!

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The Exciting Move Toward Co-Working Spaces

In the past two decades, there has been a great metamorphosis in the way that we as Americans understand and exist in shared spaces. The entire culture surrounding what a workday looks like has dramatically shifted. The architects and space designers of today have reared a significant undertaking in spatial optimization for the modern worker. They understand that there is a certain strategic benefit in crafting inspired and artful shared workspaces for the professional.

This is (thankfully) a grand step away from the lackluster and boxed-in days of the past. It’s a re-write of about a hundred years of depressive office buildings and the classic cubicle existence. This has been a welcomed shift- one that we have only arrived at thanks to the concerted effort of spatial pioneers, builders, and environment visionaries. Top companies such as Google, Facebook, Zappos, and Stance have all transitioned their offices to provide an inspiring setting that caters towards creation, invention and the encouragement of shared thought.

The why and how in scaling up with a shared workspace. There are now over 35,000 flexible workspaces in the world today. If you haven’t jumped on board already, it’s about time. This article will inform you of how to update your workplace and offer a fresh hub for social inclusion and accelerated growth by your employees and ultimately, your business.

First, the why.

workplace

 

Why are so many businesses turning to shared work environments? It’s simple- because their workers are happy. Employee retention rates and productivity have never been better. Craft an artistically thoughtful workspace, allow for shared thought and cohesion, and you have invested workers. People who enjoy shared workspaces experience feelings of self-motivation, individuality, inspiration, and pride. They feel proud to go into a beautiful working environment, meaning they are inherently happier going into the office. Not only do co-work offices promote individuality, but they also foster a sense of community. A lot of European co-work spaces offer open floor plans with couches, comfortable chairs amid low height desks. They pay attention to lighting and the fluidity of the space. Sometimes there are even ping pong and pool tables set up amongst the work zones to encourage healthy breaks- increasing stamina and freshness throughout the long workday and providing team building activities.

These novel office designs have a coffee shop appeal to them, which generates a lot of comfort and relatability for workers. Businesses are starting to see higher retention numbers of their employees who work in shared spaces, as well as growing productivity. Statistics have proven that these shared workplaces have become the standard, not the exception. These spaces have implemented a more humanistic approach to design, not the other way around. We no longer design working environments with sterile columns and rows, with tiny hallways and fluorescent lights detracting from our quality of life. The archaic way of laying out office spaces is now being rejected, with so many people noticing how unproductive it was for the everyday employee. This shift has garnered a lot of attention and support and will continue to show up in a myriad of ways.

Now, for the how. 

How are businesses crafting these shared spaces? There are many different ways in which to jump on board this growing coworking industry. Designing and building novel environments is one way. Updating and redesigning an existing space is another. Utilizing everyday spaces in public has also become a movement.

Designing entirely new buildings for shared workspaces is something that takes time, capital and vision. Many architects are now seeing the value in these flexible environments and are coming up with innovative approaches every day. If it’s the inspiration you crave, take a look at this list of The 50 Best Co-working Spots in Europe for some visual ingenuity.

On the other hand, a faster, more economical approach to spatial redesign, is to use what already exists and update it. For example, take your vast and uniform office space. By clearing everything out (all of the furniture, cubicles and excess materials) and creating a clean slate, you can begin the process of redesign and integration.

A few key factors to consider during the redesign are:

  • spatial barriers
  • doors, walls, and partitions
  • lighting and aesthetics
  • shared rooms
  • amenities

When crafting a shared office environment, something to carefully consider are the materials used to separate spaces and offices. The updated solution to the outdated cubicle is glass wall partitions. While still offering necessary privacy and healthy space amidst hundreds of other employees, the glass lends a separate but equal feel to the workplace. This allows for the individual to enjoy their own space while still being able to see into the open floor.

The design of doors and walls in the office is also a crucial tool in creating harmony and integration in the workplace. Sliding glass doors offer equal flexibility and privacy in any office. With available locking accessories, the choice for separation is readily available. Glass walls are also a must-have in any shared office environment, encouraging office synergy and inspiration amongst co-workers. In addition, the glass offers beautiful light to enter and spread throughout the space, which adds to the overall experience of the workplace and how the employee exists in his or her environment. Without ample light in a building, space can begin to feel exceptionally closed in and uninspired.

Lastly, offering needed amenities into co-working environments can be a deciding factor for a potential employee. If they have access to coffee, tea, a kitchen, filtered drinking water, complimentary snacks, etc. this will add to the overall experience for the professional and make coming into work that much more enjoyable and viable.

As we approach 2020, we will start to see more and more of these thoughtful workspaces and creative environments pop up all around the States. These shared spaces are quickly entering into the public territory as well- in train stations, coffee bars, subway stations, airports, and hotels. It’s time to jump onboard and rediscover what’s possible in the workplace.

Make the move towards crafting a desirable coworking space, 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.