Month: October 2021

3 Things You Should Know about Custom Millwork for Your Office

Post author By Key Interiors
Post date October 30, 2021
No Comments on 3 Things You Should Know about Custom Millwork for Your Office

Whether we like it or not, appearances matter. First impressions go a long way, and for companies, especially, if you’re not making a good one, you’re losing the interest of potential customers, clients and employees and costing yourself valuable business. One of the easiest ways to positively influence an initial meeting with prospective clients or employees is to create a comfortable, beautiful office. Research shows that the first seven seconds of an encounter influences a person’s eventual perception of it. Apparently, the brain makes snap judgements before a person even becomes aware of his or her thoughts. Thus, consider this: it’s highly likely that any time you meet someone in your office, it will take them at least seven seconds to cross your office threshold, providing ample time for you to influence their impression of your company before they even catch sight of you, your product(s) or your brand. The color of your walls, your decor, your furniture — your office — is frequently the first thing people notice. Make it as unique and special as possible — with custom millwork, for example — and you’re on your way to a great first impression!

Custom Millwork Sets Your Office Apart from the Competition

Custom millwork includes any type of building product that is produced in a mill. Items such as doors, molding, trim and paneling, as well as specially-designed shelving, cabinets and storage units are all examples of millwork, bespoke items that add to the functionality and/or the beauty of an individual space. Choosing to add custom millwork options to your office design immediately signals that you are different from everyone else.

Custom Millwork Maximizes Your Office Layout

Tailor-made details enable you to utilize every square inch of a space, increasing the functionality of your office’s layout and design. Furthermore, custom millwork can be used to custom fit everything from desks and chairs to windows, doors and cabinetry so that the end product(s) match your exact needs, as well as your own personal aesthetics.

Custom Millwork Adds Value

Store-bought furniture and generic design elements can’t match the quality and craftsmanship of custom millwork. Adding made-to-order milled pieces to your office increases the value of your space since they will last longer and work better than those that are mass-produced. In addition, custom millwork impresses people, often adding intangible value to your overall brand, as well!

Want to Learn More?

For more information about using custom millwork in your office, please contact our team of designers at Key Interiors. As a full-service design, construction, and furnishing firm, Key Interiors can provide custom millwork, cabinetry, and finishes to fir your next project!

Custom millwork can be added to a new construction design, but it can also be used to enhance a space, negating the need for a full-scale remodel. The possibilities are endless, and a great first impression can be just around the corner! Take a look at our Project Portfolio to get some ideas and see our latest work.

You might also wish to download our free eBook, “Modern Office Design,” for additional office design tips, as well.

Tags breakroom design, design, Design Trends, interior design, office design

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3 HVAC Tips for Climate Controlling Your Office

Post author By Key Interiors
Post date October 15, 2021
No Comments on 3 HVAC Tips for Climate Controlling Your Office

The quality of the air inside commercial buildings, schools and other places of business directly impacts the comfort and health of the people who visit and work within them. That’s why an HVAC system is such an important part of an office’s design. HVAC systems don’t just regulate temperature, they also work to control humidity and remove contaminants, thereby contributing to the overall quality of the air that millions of workers (and patrons) are exposed to everyday. While the government doesn’t actually mandate any specific HVAC tips detailing a range for temperature or humidity control, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) recommends keeping office temperatures between 68°-76° F and humidity in the range of 20%-60%.

In addition, OHSA suggests a variety of other measures to help companies recognize and control safe levels of indoor air contaminants, as well as maximize their ventilation systems. Especially during this current time of COVID, temperate, clean air not only safeguards workers against discomfort, headaches, allergies and other troublesome issues, helping them improve their energy levels and productivity, the right HVAC system can also minimize exposure to dangerous pathogens, preventing disease. Therefore, one of the best ways to stay ahead of problems with indoor air quality is designing an office space that amplifies an HVAC system’s functionality and efficiency from the onset of a building’s occupancy. Here are three HVAC tips for better climate control:

Maximize Ventilation

One of the most important factors affecting climate control, particularly within a large space (such as an office building), is ventilation. Proper ventilation allows outside air to move inside, diluting the concentration of pollutants that might be trapped within a space and circulating air so that the indoor temperature is neither too warm nor too cool. Depending on the specific needs of a building and available resources during construction/remodeling, ventilation can be facilitated via mechanical (supply and exhaust fans), natural (windows, doors and other openings) or mixed-mode processes. Choosing the right ventilation system for the space at hand encourages the movement of clean air into a space, making it easier for building managers to keep the ambient temperature within an office regulated and less polluted with contaminants.

Consider An Energy-Efficient Office Design

The function of any HVAC system can be improved with thoughtful design choices. When laying out an office’s floor plan, think about how you can mitigate the load of its HVAC system. Adding options like automatic light sensors; lower ceilings; extra natural ventilation openings (and adequate treatments to cover them when necessary); landscaping and architectural features that naturally render shade and/or reflect sunlight both inside and around the building can all work to ensure your HVAC is not overworked and, thus, unable to maintain proper functioning.

Maintain Filters and Keep Areas Clean

Another good HVAC tip is to always keep a routine HVAC maintenance schedule that includes the periodic replacement of its air filters. Exchanging old filters for new ones ensures that your HVAC system is never compromised or overloaded and, as a result, remains fully capable of cooling, heating and cleaning the air as needed.

The Key Interior Advantage

A good office design maximizes an HVAC’s ability to function effectively and efficiently. Even small changes — such as rearranging furniture, adding window blinds or changing the color of paint — can significantly ease the burden on your HVAC system, allowing it to work at full capacity.

At Key Interiors, our in-house, certified design team can help you redesign your office to get the most out of your HVAC system, and our skilled trade partners can handle any necessary mechanical upgrades.

To learn more HVAC tips for optimal control of the climate in your own office space, please contact our team of experts at Key Interiors.

You might also wish to take a look at our Project Portfolio to get some ideas and see our latest design work.

Tags breakroom design, COVID-19, design, hvac, office design, office planning, office space design

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Benefits of Using Bench Seating in Your Office

Post author By Key Interiors
Post date October 1, 2021
No Comments on Benefits of Using Bench Seating in Your Office

Furniture plays an important part in office design. Aesthetically, it can draw people to a space with its beauty. But it can also promote increased productivity and connectivity when carefully chosen for functionality and arranged for comfort. There are hundreds of furniture options, but in this blog we’re going to explore bench seating. Take a look at three important benefits of using bench seating in your office space:

What is Bench Seating?

Bench seating doesn’t actually refer to a bench seat but rather a bench surface. Much like a dining room table, bench seating provides a long expanse of workspace to which employees can pull up individual chairs and complete their work. Over the past few years it has become increasingly popular, although post-Covid that might change as companies search for ways to keep members of their teams further apart and less involved in communal spaces. Nevertheless, the benefits of one long work surface over many individual ones can’t be overlooked.

Bench Seating is Affordable

One of the biggest benefits of using bench seating in your office is its affordability. Not only does bench seating take up less space than individual desks or cubicles — saving you from having to pay for valuable square footage — it accommodates more people, allowing you to have more workers in your space at one time. After all, the cost of doing business is less per employee when you add more people to a smaller space. Furthermore, the streamlined silhouette of bench seating keeps manufacturing and, thus, retail, costs down since there are no extra walls or barriers to make or build.

Bench Seating Inspires Interaction

When utilized appropriately, bench seating allows employees to easily collaborate. With no dividers separating individuals, people are free to interact quickly, sharing ideas in real time rather than having to get up and walk around to collect the information they need. Indeed, the efficiency of this organic sharing of data is compounded in value by the fact that it frequently results in more meaningful insights, as well. The quicker people can communicate, the quicker they can make profitable decisions.

Bench Seating is Versatile

Unlike many other types of workspace solutions, bench seating is highly versatile, capable of being easily rearranged to accommodate new employees and/or new office objectives within just a few minutes and with just a few (if any!) tools. It’s a lot harder to move walls and cubicles than it is to reposition a table or set out tabletop privacy dividers between employees. And in this crazy time of social distancing, being able to quickly reconfigure an office’s work areas according to changing mandates and safety needs with little effort or expense means companies can keep working and keep producing with the littlest amount of interruption.

Want to Learn More?

To further discuss the pros and cons of using bench seating in your office, please contact our team of design experts at Key Interiors. We work closely with all of our clients to plan a strategy for their office space design that best addresses their own unique needs. Our team can complete the look of your space with functional furniture and exclusive interior finishes that promote connectivity and productivity.

You might also wish to take a look at our Project Portfolio to get some ideas and see our latest design work.

Tags bench, furniture, office design, office seating

Custom Millwork Sets Your Office Apart from the Competition

Custom Millwork Maximizes Your Office Layout

Custom Millwork Adds Value

Want to Learn More?

Maximize Ventilation

Consider An Energy-Efficient Office Design

Maintain Filters and Keep Areas Clean

The Key Interior Advantage

What is Bench Seating?

Bench Seating is Affordable

Bench Seating Inspires Interaction

Bench Seating is Versatile

Want to Learn More?

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