A lot goes into designing an office space. There’s choosing the right fixtures and fittings, working to often tight budgets and of course making sure that all your employees are reasonably happy. The latter is possibly one of the bigger challenges.

Designing the perfect office doesn’t have to hurt. It is easy to design a space for you and your employees that not only looks good but also promotes productivity and happiness.

Designing a happy office is as much about art as it is science. The science comes in with things like measuring the space you have accurately and finding places to install equipment. The rest is largely down to art.

In the 1980s it was all about Feng Shui but now it’s more about the natural arrangement of your office. Many business owners actually fail with their office design because they focus too much on the artistic or practical side and don’t allow for the natural day to day elements that go into creating the ideal office environment.

Open space is vital and allowing natural light in will create a much happier workplace than one that feels more like a prison. Colour choice is also important.

If for example you want to impress clients with contemporary youthful energy then bright coloured furniture against a neutral white background can work well. It may also stimulate staff and give a boost to energy levels which is unlikely to be achieved in a dull grey office with vertical blinds hiding any light.

The thing to remember is that we spend the majority of our time sitting behind computers in the office and this can bring its own stresses. Investing in happy office design has the potential to pay off with happy more productive staff.