Choosing The Best Work Surface for Your Office

It’s more than just a choice of how many desks you can fit into a space; keeping productivity high means answering the needs of many different kinds of employees or, if you’re shopping for yourself, answering your most intimate professional needs.

For your work surface, you should be looking to balance functionality with atmosphere. You should feel comfortable at your desk as well as motivated and inspired.

Consider the following when looking for a working surface.

Material

Be discerning when examining the materials that will make up your work surfaces. They should not be harsh on the eyes nor should they be prone to staining. You want your materials to be durable and affordable. 

Wood

Wood offers an atmospheric and calming aesthetic, as does laminate surfacing with a wood grain pattern. Natural wood is harder to come by and costs more, but it’s also much more durable and remains more beautiful over time.

Laminate

Laminate surfaces are highly affordable and come in a variety of finishes and colors. With the popularity of sleek office furniture designs, laminate offers the clean white, smooth black or colorful surfaces that many contemporary offices use.

Metal

Metal is also a good desk surface material for offices that are more labor-intensive. Metal desks are better suited to hands-on creative crafts or professions that require large-scale drawing such as architecture or drafting for engineering.

Consider also the accessories you may want to add to your desk as well as possible future modifications. You may want your desk to function in a certain way, and natural materials are easier to modify to allow them to do so.

Color

Color may seem secondary, but the color of a work surface affects the mood and productivity of every single employee in an office. To maintain high productivity and even higher happiness, ensure that the working surface in your office has a color that is not distracting but is able to lift and relax your spirit.

Space

A desk surface should also be able to comfortably accommodate all of your working tools. For modern creative professionals, that means having a surface with room for two or more monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, a notepad, some writing utensils, and a drawing tablet.

Technical professionals will likely need large amounts of space for the creation of highly detailed designs and drawings. Conference areas will also need tables around which employees can gather with their notes as well as operate communications equipment for large-scale meetings.

Function

Modern work surfaces also often come with built-in function and accessories. Power outlets built into desks as well as grommets for organizing wiring are common, and other cable management accessories such as runners come standard with some desks. Think ahead about how you may accessorize to meet the requirements of a growing business when selecting your working surfaces.

Choosing the best desktop surface is a matter of keeping function, form, and atmosphere in mind. Before purchasing, consider each area of selection twice or even three times carefully. It’s worth the extra pennies to invest in a work surface that will serve your needs now and well into the future. Browse our selection at Modern Office Furniture.