If your office space is beginning to feel cramped, you may be thinking about relocating; but before you look into potentially increasing your costs, why not reassess your current space?

There are plenty of simple ways that you can redesign your small office space to work for you, but the best results require some planning beforehand.

Think about your business’ requirements and priorities – for example, do you need your team to work collaboratively or do you need silence and solitude for staff?

Consider holding a few meetings or think of a number of ways that you can include your staff in the new design. After all, the space you are designing is supposed to enhance productivity and morale for these people.

After you have collected ideas and thoughts and have an idea of how an office should be designed to work for your business you can begin to look for solutions that fit your team.

Experiment with desk layout ideas

The way you decide to organise your desks will depend on the way your team works best, but also it needs to work to maximise your available space. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

• Paired Islands – place two desks face to face for small team collaboration and space saving; ideal for narrower offices
• Blocked Seating – as above but in groups of four; great for when you require larger teams to work together but still need to save space
• The Bullpen – organise desks into an inner-facing circle, square or rectangle, allowing the whole team to easily collaborate

Choose the right type of desks

There are two main desk designs that are ideal for smaller office spaces:

• Mobile Desks – If you regularly need to rearrange the layout of your desks or if some staff will need time away from main working groups, mobile desks are a great way to temporarily change the set up of your office space
• Modular Desks – Easily rearrange desk layout whilst still saving space with desks that tessellate in a number of different ways to create the plan you need

Think about your break-out areas

• Quickly rearrange your soft seating in rest areas to fit your purpose – Modular soft seating allows you to remove and add seating blocks, so you can easily create more space without having to look into changing your whole seating range.

Re-think storage

• Storage walls – Vertical storage that you can tailor to your needs with a range of different modules, capable of high or low volume storage
• Pedestals – Need a small storage space for each of your staff? Pedestals are great for keeping important documents or personal items close by. Bite pedestals are ideal mobile pedestals to match with a more agile working environment. Some desk-high pedestals can also replace desk legs for additional practicality when space is of a premium.

Re-Model meeting spaces:

• Whiteboard or presentation monitor – place a monitor or large whiteboard in a place where everyone can easily see. This is a simple solution for small offices to put an end to staff crowding around one desk for meetings where a presentation is required. Wall mounting these objects where possible will save further on floor space.
• Collapsible meeting tables – Create meeting space when you need it, store it when you don’t
• Need a little more privacy or quiet? – Consider a mobile or modular acoustic wall that you can re-style or store away at the end of your meeting
• Change your routine – If you don’t have space for an effective meeting in your office, why not utilise your local coffee shop or have walking meetings in a nearby park?
• Reconsider schedules – Do all your staff have to be in the office on the same day? More staff than space? Consider a rotating remote working schedule, allowing all staff to split their working time between the office and home. If you need to have a meeting, set up a video chat on your presentation monitor!

Finally, make the most of your decor options:

• Use light colours on the walls to make a space seem larger – you can always add pops of colour through your furniture fabrics
• Make sure you’re not blocking natural light – keep window areas clear to allow as much light in as possible and help to create a more open feel to your space.

We offer a free space planning and design service to help you to make the most of your space. If you would like to know more, please contact us and we’ll be more than happy to help

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