Choosing Furniture For Your Business

We've all bought furniture for our homes, but what about when it comes to our businesses? Furniture for a business, be it an office or a public space, must serve a very different purpose to our ordinary chairs and sofas. Here are some points to keep in mind:

The furniture will be used a lot, by people of all different shapes and sizes. This means that it needs to be strong enough to withstand heavy use, being moved around and stacked or any other day to day activities. It might need to be adjustable depending on the height of the person using it and the activity they're performing, and if so it must be easy to use by anyone. You might have to cater for children, disabled people or the elderly so having a furniture option to suit them makes good business sense.

Any materials you choose should be durable and also stain-resistant (or at least easy to clean). The image you present in your space is very important and a dirty room gives a bad impression. If you can, choose furniture that is upholstered in a stain-resistant fabric or with removable covers. Also bear in mind that smooth surfaces are easier to clean than ones with lots of nooks and crannies. The sight of dust building up in hard-to-reach places is really off-putting! The same goes for all your furnishings - they have to keep a fresh appearance so make sure they're easy to take down and wash.

If your business is subject to heavy traffic you may need to think about protecting the surfaces - for exa

ple the corners of any cabinets and the sides of any doors. These areas can get a surprising amount of wear, with people bumping into them or kicking them, and re-painting or even replacement can be very costly. Protective uPVC plates are the perfect solution to prevent wear before it even happens. They fit over the bottoms of doors or the corners of walls and stop surfaces from being scratched and chipped. If your office needs a revamp rather than a complete refit using this sort of plate could be a good solution - by covering up unsightly marks and dents you give a space a facelift for a fraction of the price.

Buying in bulk is a great way to save money on furniture, so plan what you need carefully and buy from a wholesaler or a specialist supplier to keep costs down. Try to find a supplier who offers a wide range of colours and finishes so that you can match your design scheme - it's important that your furniture adds to the ambience instead of looking out of place! Always ask for colour swatches of any fabrics so that you can make sure they look right; that way you have no excuse for ordering the wrong thing!

Keep in mind the function you need your furniture to perform and you can't go wrong, and remember that specialist furniture suppliers will be only too happy to help you make a decision.

Sylvia Kittens lives in Harrogate, England