With more people working from home than ever, the importance of great office furniture has been brought into sharp focus. It’s very easy to look into an office space and not actually notice the chairs and desks but when working at home, it can make a big difference.
Here we’ll take a look at why great office furniture is so important and what you should be looking out for. Not only that but we’ll also check out the best places to get it online. By the end, you’ll have all the info your need to create the perfect home office.
The pandemic and the shift to working from home in Ireland
For many, the home is sacrosanct and detached from what goes on in the business park. Many people follow this principle as it creates the desired buffer for a great work-life balance. That may well be something that is applicable in the good old pre-pandemic days but now, many more people are remote working.
It might not be too difficult for people who already have a dedicated workspace at home even before the pandemic started but for most individuals, it prevents challenges. This is especially true for those homes that just don’t have enough room, finding the ideal workspace is a huge dilemma.
Whether you have a single bedroom loft apartment or live in a family home, it makes getting the right home office even more important. You need to be able to have that dedicated area with the right office products where you can concentrate.
Negative effects of working from home
Not having the right home environment can negatively affect your health in a few ways. This is why it’s so crucial to create the right space to thrive. If you’re constantly being interrupted or are uncomfortable, then productivity is going to plummet. You need to replicate that business park environment.
With organizations realizing that people no longer need to clock in or clock out from the office like they used to, opening hours have changed too and you may feel like you’re always working. Having the right dedicated workspace can give you that mental barrier between work and home life.
Bad posture leading to backpain
When it came to remote working, many had to find a spare table, grab any chair they can and try and work for at least eight hours a day. There is no surprise that without the proper desks and chairs without lumbar support, back pain was inevitable.
Thankfully, it doesn’t need to be that way. Whether you look at a high-street shop or an online store, you’ll find plenty of great options that can negate that pain. Those long hours that you spend at your home office don’t need to be uncomfortable.
How to effectively choose furniture for your workspace
There are only two types of furnishings that are vitally important for a dedicated workspace at home, which are office chairs and desks. No other fixture is more important for the home workspace than those two.
Anything other than an office chair and an ergonomic desk are extras that would not really make a huge impact on your comfort. A piece of home office furnishing like a filing cabinet is not as important.
Your monitor, keyboard and other items play a crucial role in the comfort of your home office but they are the equipment you use and not office furniture. Hopefully, you work for a company that can help you out in that regard and give you the right support.
Ergonomic office chairs need to allow a person to be able to sit straight and sit comfortably whilst being able to maintain a good, seated posture, especially for a long duration of time. Chairs with a stable base and a reliable tilt mechanism are very important to ensure that it is adaptable to suit the person using them. This will help to prevent neck and back pain.
The backrest, seat height and armrests on chairs should also be adjustable. An added bonus would be an ergonomic chair that provides additional lumbar support to maintain the shape of the lower back curve of a person’s body. Also, ensure that there is reasonable cushioning and padding to maintain comfort when a person sits on the chair for a significantly longer duration of time.
Selecting proper desks is also vital. There are many different options out there such as sit-stand desks, in which you can continuously change the desk’s height when you feel some sort of physical tension on the neck or back.
An integral aspect of picking a desk is also the amount of space on the surface. The modern office normally requires space to place a laptop with a mouse pad as well as some additional space to lay down a file, notebook, or folder to write on. Having the wrong size desk can cause issues such as your monitor being too close to your eyes, not having enough room to type and staining your muscles.
While comfort is paramount, you’ll also care about style too. While you want your business environment to look good, your health is the priority. Make sure you put substance first then worry about style after.
Choosing Ergonomic Furniture
Ergonomics is the keyword when it comes to the selection of furniture, especially if it is used for work. Compared to the minimal time sitting on a comfortable living room sofa, a person would normally spend almost a third of the hours they have in a day seated at their office work chair.
This is why the comfort of a chair is so paramount but often undervalued. An ergonomic chair is a critical part of your office furniture and one that is well worth spending that extra bit of money on to get the ergonomic home office you need.
Due to the fact that people spend more time sitting on office chairs than they do on their living room sofa. It is only fitting that the ergonomics of an office chair should be high on the list of priority furniture for those who work from home.
Ergonomics is all about achieving work efficiency and comfort in the working environment. When ergonomics are done well, you’ll be able to focus on your tasks without needing to be uncomfortable or constantly try to adjust your setup.
Online furniture shops in Ireland
In Ireland, there are many options to get fantastic office furniture. If you want to pick up furniture from a shop or store then there are a range of great places in Co Dublin and other areas of Ireland but most can easily be picked up online with quick delivery.
Some of the well-known suppliers or dealers of great home workspace furniture that sell online are:
While these are specialist companies, there are also plenty of options from the huge department stores and online retailers such as Amazon. Whether you want to use a nice shop or a more popular store, you’re not going to be short on options for your home office.
