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5 Lunchroom Ideas for Offices with an Appetite for Creativity

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Nowadays, everyone – including employers – recognise the benefits of taking breaks at work. Even with that widely accepted notion though, many people still don’t take their breaks as often as they should. There are a lot of reasons why people choose to skip their breaks, but the two common reasons that come up time and time again are: 1) they’re afraid of looking like that slacker; and 2) there simply isn’t anywhere they feel comfortable enough to relax for a break. So rather than going through the stress of dealing with those issues, they just opt to stay at their desks instead and try to squeeze out a little more productivity out of their overworked brains.

 

As employers, you have the opportunity to break down those issues in one fell swoop: investing in a fun, tricked-out lunchroom. In doing so, you’re not just providing an attractive place for employees to hang out on their breaks – you’re also making a strong, silent statement to employees that it’s okay to take breaks and that breaks are actively supported by the employer.

 

To build a lunchroom that your employees will want to come to, here are five cool ideas:

 

Distinct space from rest of office

You want to create a relaxation zone that’s different from the rest of the office because it’d defeat the purpose if employees feel like they’re just in another conference room, except this one happens to have a fridge and a microwave. You can change up the look and feel of the lunchroom by using a different wall colour scheme and putting up casual or even quirky décor.

 

Bright colours

Apart from using a different colour scheme from the rest of the office, integrate bright colours that complement each other in the lunchroom design. Whether it’s through wall paint, artwork, or furniture, bright (non-garish!) colours will stimulate employees’ minds and help them recharge their energy.

 

Comfy, re-arrangeable furniture

It’s difficult to lounge in hard, lumpy chairs or couches and just as difficult to eat at uneven tables. Get good-quality furniture that fit the lunchroom colour scheme you’re going for. For long-term planning’s sake, make sure all the furniture – or at least the tables – are of a matching set so that they can be easily put together for office parties in the future.

 

Coffee and snacks, on the house

Although this does add to ongoing office supply expenses, it’s actually a smart move to make. People who go out to get their coffee fix often spend between 15 – 20 minutes away from the office with all the extra travel and line-up time; that can quickly add up to a lot of wasted time that could be eliminated by the less expensive option of keeping the lunchroom stocked with never-ending coffee and snacks. You’d save money in the long run and your employees would love you for it because, after all, who doesn’t like free coffee and snacks?

 

Fun and games encouraged

Besides a place to eat and have coffee, the lunchroom should also be somewhere employees can unwind and have a little fun. Set up a pool table, foosball table, or a ping pong table; hook up a television; put in board games and even video games. Other fun ideas include: a chalkboard for employees to doodle on, a bulletin board for personal announcements, and silly words fridge magnets.

 

When designing the lunchroom, you should make the size of it proportionate to the number of employees you have because you don’t want it to feel too cramped or empty all the time. Also – if you have the space and budget for it – the ideal scenario is to set aside space for an additional and separate quiet break room. This is for employees who prefer a more tranquil break time where they can read, catch a nap, do yoga, or just sit in peace.

 

The key to all these ideas is to give employees the chance to let loose and creatively interact with each other. They’ll then be much more energised and ready for a fresh round of productivity after their breaks. It may seem like a lot of money for “just a lunchroom”, but that’d be missing the point: because it’s not “just a lunchroom” – it’s an investment in employee well-being and the productivity returns you’ll reap in the end is priceless.

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How to Use Eco-Friendly Materials in Luxury Renovations

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For many luxury homes out there, green is the new black these days because more and more people recognise the need to lessen our environmental impact. We have to start somewhere and since it actually makes practical sense to try, why not start with our own homes?

 

Eco-friendly materials include anything that’s been reclaimed, recycled, or otherwise manufactured from renewable resources. Just like there are a lot of Rs in the previous sentence, there’s also no shortage of ways you can “greenify” your home. The key though to raising your green luxury home above the crowd with all those choices lies in how creatively you use eco-friendly materials in the renovations.

 

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

 

Reclaimed wood

Wood is still one of the most common construction materials so whenever an old house or building is about to be torn down, there’s bound to be wood that can be reused and refinished for your own home. Now this doesn’t mean scouring abandoned buildings by yourself for wood to be reclaimed, of course, because that’s dangerous (not to mention illegal). The best way to do this is through your local construction company designer, who would be in the know of potential construction/demolition projects around town to source reclaimed wood from. Talk with your designer first and describe how you want to use reclaimed wood in your home. For instance, reclaimed wood can be used for flooring, wall paneling, countertops, ceiling beams, or mantelpieces – anything the wood material can be reimagined as. By having that discussion with your designer first, they’ll have a better understanding of the look you’re trying to achieve and help you narrow down the ideal sources. Even if you don’t find the right pieces you were hoping for, your contractor can still show you other reclaimed wood alternatives you’ve haven’t dreamed of yet.

 

Salvaged metal

Again, this is another idea your designer can help you source materials for, either from construction/demolition projects or even scrapyards. Depending on what pieces are discovered, salvaged metal can be used for ceiling panels, wall paneling, or even as unique fixtures in the house. What’s great about both the salvaged metal and the reclaimed wood ideas is that they’re guaranteed to make your house one-of-a-kind; the final result of integrating them into your home is essentially the product of your imagination.

 

Recycled glass countertops

Glass is very durable when it’s made as thick as a countertop – it’s actually just as hard as granite. Plus, you’d definitely do your part for the environment by using recycled glass on top of that. Besides being comparable to granite in strength, glass countertops are non-porous, require no sealing, and can be made into wide range of shapes and colours.

 

Paper composite countertops

Another countertop alternative that can take on many shapes and colours, paper composite countertops are made of densely packed post-consumer recycled paper hardened in a non-toxic resin mix. It’s durable and non-porous like glass, but not as scratch-resistant so you do need to refinish the surface of paper composite countertops and seal it from time to time.

 

Cork flooring

Taken from cork oak tree bark while leaving the tree itself intact, the material is compressed into sheets to be baked in a kiln; once hardened, the cork sheets are then cut into flooring tiles. Cork flooring is well known for its resilience in absorbing impact due to the cellular structure of its makeup. It’s this very structure that also makes it a good insulator and sound cushion. What makes cork flooring eco-friendly is the renewable nature of the bark it’s taken from since it grows back completely within a few years.

 

Bamboo flooring

This is another highly renewable material because bamboo can be harvested without harming their roots and they grow back very quickly. What’s more, bamboo is in fact stronger than most hardwoods so they actually make better floors that can take a bigger beating than regular hardwood floors.

 

If you want to take all these ideas one step further into the green, try whenever possible to get your materials from nearby sources so that you can decrease the carbon footprint of transporting them.

 

It’s noteworthy that eco-friendly materials share in common the spirit of adding to your home without taking any more from the environment than what was already put into them. Come to think of it, that’s also a great life philosophy. Who knows, you may very well inspire an eco-conscious trend and a new philosophy among your family and friends just by building a greener luxury home.

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Latest Smart Home Technology Trends

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Wouldn’t you want a futuristic pad like Korben Dallas has in The Fifth Element? Or like Theodore Twombly’s house in Her? Better yet, how about Tony Stark’s mansion in Iron Man?

 

Whenever we watch sci-fi movies that depict automated home lives, we can’t help but wonder what it’d be like if the future were already here in our homes. With the smart tech that gets pushed out each passing year, this dream is becoming more and more real.

 

The smart home technology ideal is all about making our lives easier so we can focus on fully enjoying each day. The latest smart home technology trends can help us do just that by facilitating these aspects of our daily lives:

 

Sleep

There’s a smart bed that tracks your breathing, heart rate, and movements to provide suggestions on how to improve your sleeping habits via a connected app. One of the most innovative features is the ability for you to adjust the bed’s firmness on the app based on its suggested level; not only that, but the bed can also have different levels of firmness on both its sides so you and your partner would have your own customisations on the same bed.

Of course, even with this perfect set-up, you can’t really sleep well if your baby doesn’t either. That’s why there’s also a smart cradle on the market that can gently rock your baby to sleep with app-programmed movement patterns and soothing sounds.

 

Food

We’re not quite there yet where your kitchen can automatically prepare entire gourmet meals for you, but there are appliances now that can help you cut down food preparation time.

Wake up to already boiling water from your kettle that you’ve pre-scheduled from your app.

Put all the meal ingredients into your slow cooker before you leave for work; throughout your work day, you can get reminders from your slow cooker to control its heat level and cook time all on your phone app so that the meal is ready to serve as soon as you get home.

If you’re getting groceries and can’t for the life of you remember what you’re missing, you can simply check on your phone. There’s a smart refrigerator with cameras inside that will take a snapshot of its contents as soon as the refrigerator door is closed; that way, you’ll always know exactly what’s in the fridge in real-time by pulling up the refrigerator app and viewing the latest photo. As a bonus, the refrigerator also has a built-in touchscreen monitor on its door front so you can leave notes for your family, see each other’s schedules, and even stream music or TV channels! Now that’s a cool fridge (pun absolutely intended).

 

Environment/Ambience

When you come home from work, all you want to do is just go straight into kicking back for a while before you do anything else. In reality, it’s hard to do that until the conditions are perfect: changing into comfy clothes first, adjusting the temperature of each room, and maybe even setting up the necessary mood lighting. The point being is that you can save a lot of time if all of your environment/ambience settings come on at a tap of your phone screen – with the exception of helping you change into comfy clothes, of course.

You can get window shades that flip open and close by app or Siri voice command. These are especially useful if installed on high windows so that you can cover them up with ease.

There’s also a wide range of smart light bulbs that you can customise a room’s light ambience by changing its brightness level, colour, and even syncing them to flash in time with your phone notifications.

Last but not least, smart thermostats allow you to set different preferred temperatures for each room as well as scheduling temperature changes throughout the day via a connected app.

 

Security

Home security has always been a big one and you don’t need robot laser turrets for that.

With a smart doorbell, you’ll get a notification on your phone that someone is at your door and you can check out the doorbell camera video feed from wherever you are; then you can decide what to do next (as opposed to a laser turret automatically blazing).

If there are specific rooms you need to keep an eye on while you’re away, you can install a portable camera with options to record only on motion or sound detection. You can view video feeds on a connected app and there are some models where you can even talk live through the camera’s external speakers via your app.

And don’t worry about keeping spare keys under a rock for family members who forget their keys – just use smart locks that you can unlock from your phone!

 

As with any system, it’s most effective when all its components are integrated seamlessly together. So remember to include smart electricity switches – which allow remote on-off control over whatever is plugged into its socket – and smart hubs – which centralises control of all compatible smart gadgets into one app – in your home set-up as well. Some smart home technology systems may also require interior remodels to make them feel more discreet and built into your home – contact us if you ever need our help to do that! Here’s to bringing the future into our homes.

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Dental Office Renovations That Help Patients Feel More Comfortable

Let’s face it: most people don’t like going to the dentist. Seeing as you can’t turn around your patients’ feelings overnight, the next best thing you can do is to make them feel more comfortable each time they visit your office; they may even gradually like coming to your office for their appointments.

 

There are many changes you can make to your office like upgrading your clinic equipment to the latest technology or training your staff on patient communication skills. However, the first change you should make is refreshing your physical dental office space. People are easily affected by their surroundings and it’s often the feeling they get on their first glimpse of a place that determines whether they’ll make an effort to like it or not. For a dental office, the feeling you want to go for is a state-of-the-art modern look that’s balanced by a warm, friendly atmosphere. This balance reassures patients that they’ll be safe in the care of the latest technology, but with a personal touch in a non-clinical setting that values people first.

 

Here are some changes you can make to set your patients at ease right from the moment they enter your office:

 

Cozy, personable reception area

This is the first impression that patients get of your office so it’s especially important that you make it warm and inviting. First, have the reception desk designed to seamlessly merge with the seating area. You’d be amazed at how stressful it is for patients to step up to the desk even with a small but distinct gap from the seating area. You want your staff to be approachable so that means taking away as many obstacles as you can. Also, children often visit your office, add a separate playroom to keep them occupied while their parents can kick back on comfy couches in the seating area next door, watching TV or reading.

 

Open-concept clinical area

One of the causes for patient discomfort at the dental office is a small sense of claustrophobia, which is understandable because they’re stuck on the dentist chair for at least an hour at a time not being able to move. To help minimise that discomfort, knock down the walls in between and open up the clinical area. You can still put up dividers or privacy screens, but at least there’s space from the top of the dividers to the ceiling and that’ll make a big difference in removing that trapped feeling.

 

Relaxation waiting room

There are times when patients need to take a break in the middle of a long appointment. Rather than have them go back to the reception area – or worse, leave them in the dentist chair – give patients the luxury of waiting in a separate and quiet relaxation room. Set up reclining chairs or even self-massage chairs. You can then give patients a tablet and headphones to stream music or news without disturbing others. The importance of this room is for patients to have their own peace and quiet so that they can de-stress for the rest of their appointment.

 

Warm, indirect lighting

Get rid of the bright, fluorescent ceiling light panels and install warm, indirect lighting throughout the office. It’ll be less harsh on everyone’s eyes and would help patients relax; harsh, glaring lights have too much of a clinical feel and that’s what you want to get away from.

 

Patient-friendly décor and furniture

Think about who the majority of your patient market are: if they’re mostly children, include more vibrant colours and whimsical designs; if they’re mostly seniors, invest in comfortable chairs with lumbar support. For the patient demographics in between, you can even send out a quick patient survey to get their opinions on what décor they’d like to see more of.

 

At the end of the day, of course, it’s you and your staff who take the final step to lay out the welcome mat for your patients. By taking the time to renovate your dental office first though, you’re essentially extending that welcome mat into the rest of your office and making your patients feel comfortable throughout their entire visit.

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Creating an Inviting Office Space

The old-school corporate culture has dominated our society for so long that it’s often hard to imagine it as something different. Even now, when we hear “the office”, our minds immediately conjure up an image of rows upon rows of grey cubicles stuck in a stale-sometimes-Lemon-Pledge-smelling room garishly lit by white fluorescent lights.

 

This image is starting to be overturned though via a combination of younger generations entering the workforce as well as management everywhere recognising the importance of creating an inviting office space to stimulate creativity. Here are some ways you can change your own office and be ahead of the curve:

 

Colours

Splashes of colour go a long way in breaking up the office drab. You can either customise the palette of your office to match your company brand colours or select colours according to how you want to affect office productivity. Colours can be added either by using accents throughout the office or even putting in colourful furniture.

 

Large windows

Not only do large windows let in more natural light, but they also have an added effect of keeping your employees energised. Employees often get restless because they’ve been spending long hours at their desks without getting in touch with the outside world. Even a few minutes of window-gazing makes a big difference in helping them clear their heads.

 

Lighting

If your office location doesn’t allow for large windows to be installed, the next important design element is lighting. Get away from the standard overhead fluorescent lights and focus on softer ambient lighting in the common areas. Make sure each work area is adequately lit though with individual desk and/or hanging lamps. You can even add extra pizazz by replacing all the office light fixtures with decorative ones.

 

Interactive collaboration conference rooms

Nobody likes meetings where they’re talked at without getting any opportunity to express their ideas their own way. By redesigning your office conference rooms into more informal spaces without any seating hierarchies, it’ll foster a more open space to encourage discussion amongst employees. This can be achieved through re-arrangeable furniture, whiteboards on all four walls, and interactive touch-screen displays; all these designs remove the pressure of standing at the front of the room (since that illusion would be gone) while giving different options for employees to present their thoughts in the way they’re most comfortable with. The end result is a much more collaborative work environment.

 

Quiet zero-disturbance work zones

This is especially important in an open-concept office. Everyone has different work styles depending on their task at hand. Some employees may need space to focus without any disturbances from office chatter, phone calls, or e-mails. This can either be a separate room or simply a partitioned area with desks, chairs, and basic stationery. Having designated areas where they can settle in without interruptions would be a huge show of executive support and recognition of work diversity in the office.

 

Separate lunch room and break room

Break rooms are not new idea, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that’s organised and encourages relaxation. That’s what break rooms are supposed to be so that you can feel relaxed and revitalised enough for a fresh round of productivity. The reality though is that most break rooms end up being glorified coffee and microwave stations as guerilla warfare is constantly being waged to claim territory up and down the fridge shelves; next to all this, employees sit hunched over their lunches on sad, rickety tables with mismatched chairs. Well, you can reject this reality and substitute your own by separating the people preparing their lunches and coffees from those who just want quiet relaxation by themselves – either turn those areas into different rooms or at least put up a thick partition in between. After all, the relaxation area is the main space where people can truly recharge so you want to focus on making it worthwhile with plenty of comfy chairs, couches, cushions, yoga mats, and most of all, solitude.

 

The design choices you make for your office ultimately depend on your workplace culture; it’s always a good idea to find out first what your employees need to succeed in their work. Of course, if you’re just looking for a starting point to change it up in your office though, these office design trends are all the spark you need to get you there.

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What is Considered a Luxury Home?

Everyone has a different idea about what “luxury home” means. It’s such a subjective topic because it all comes down to what people’s personal tastes and values are. Having said that though, there are common elements that can be found in luxury homes across the board. Here are some to think about:

 

Exclusive location with stunning views

Much of the price tag for luxury homes can be attributed to their locations. Lands that offer spectacular views and buffers of privacy are hard to come by and homes fortunate enough to claim these locations instantly get a premium attached to their value.

 

Natural, eco-friendly or reclaimed materials

People are very green-conscious nowadays and want to do their part to minimise the carbon footprint in every aspect of their lives, including their homes. The fact that a house is built with natural, environmentally friendly materials or even materials that have been reclaimed and refinished is a significant status boost.

 

Energy-efficient features and smart technology

The need for energy-efficient features comes from the same environment-minded desire as building with eco-friendly materials. The luxury home owners would be proud of their ecologically progressive efforts in saving energy while they also enjoy the long-term savings on their energy bills. Smart technology is a hot luxury feature as well. With the advent of wireless devices and the Internet of Things, there’s a growing demand to integrate smart technology seamlessly into everyday life at home; this can include: locking/unlocking your door with your smart phone, having your preferred thermostat setting follow your wearable smart watch from room to room, and getting your favourite news feeds scrolling through your bathroom mirror each morning as you brush your teeth while the coffee starts brewing in the kitchen and bread is being toasted. The future is here.

 

Open-concept floor plan

This is a great aesthetic choice for homes with limited space because it creates a liberating, wide-open feel to the house while giving it a modern touch. For large luxury homes though, this idea is used most noticeably in the atrium of the front entrance, with high ceilings and sweeping stairs to the upper levels.

 

Restaurant-grade kitchen

Luxury homes can’t go without gourmet meals prepared with commercial-level appliances necessary in any high-end restaurants. The kitchen would of course need to be fully stocked in its walk-in pantry and custom-millwork cabinets to maximise storage space.

 

Spa-inspired bathroom

Perhaps the greatest embodiment of luxury is the ability to take the time to soak in the bathtub or lounge in a hot sauna. You can either do that in a spa outside your home or bring the spa home to you. The choice is pretty obvious. To turn your bathroom into a spa, some popular features to install are: wet room, body spray water jets, radiant floor heating, and a towel warmer.

 

Grand master bedroom

Who doesn’t want to sleep like royalty? Every design in the master bedroom would be made with total comfort in mind, but also with the intent to inspire style. After all, this is the room where you would put on the final touches to your outfit for an evening out. This would mean having an en-suite private bathroom and especially a grand walk-in-closet-dressing-room combination with multi-angled full-length mirrors.

 

Entertainment room(s)

A luxury home just wouldn’t be the same without one or more customised entertainment room(s). Each room would cater to your favourite activity so it could range anywhere from a home theatre to a games room or a pool hall bar to a wine cellar lounge.

 

Indoor gym

Everyone has a busy schedule and sometimes the only free block of time available for a workout are during random hours when the local fitness gym’s not open (like at 2 o’clock in the morning). It’s moments like these when an indoor gym comes in real handy. Plus, you don’t have to deal with traffic while going to and from the gym.

 

Outdoor pool and grill patio

One of the perks of having a luxury home is that you have the ability and venue to host talk-of-the-town parties; for some reason, these epic parties always seem to involve an outdoor pool. What takes that outdoor pool up a notch on the luxury scale though is when you also install a patio that has a full-on gas grill kitchen with a sink, counter, and mini-fridge for drinks to go along with it.

 

Whatever features you want in your future luxury home, keep in mind that you don’t need to buy a new mansion in an exotic location first. If you already consider the place you’re in right now your dream home, there’s no need to buy and move somewhere new; you can simply build an addition to your existing house to turn it into your luxury dream home.