The Top 5 Plants for Your Office

Everyone who has ever worked in an office knows that plants and flowers add to the atmosphere of a workplace. The buzz of background noise can not only be distracting, but can also increase levels of stress – particularly in open-plan offices where space is at a premium. You can reduce noise problems with plants because they absorb sound, making your office quieter and calmer.

Positioning plants in strategic locations around your office will create natural sound barriers. Even if you’re not buying plants for their sound reduction benefits, their potential to improve staff productivity and well-being means that even the smallest tree could work wonders for your office. This was discovered by a research experiment at Texas A&M University, which explored the link between flowers, plants and workplace productivity during an eight-month study.

Those taking part in the study performed creative problem solving tasks in a workplace with plants and flowers, a setting with sculptures, and an environment with no additional planting or decoration at all.

Participants were found to demonstrate more innovative thinking and generate more ideas and original solutions to problems in the office that included plants and flowers. Men who participated in the study generated 15% more ideas, whilst women generated more creative, flexible solutions to problems when plants and flowers were present.

With this in mind, we thought we’d share with you the top 5 office plants requested by our clients.

1.       Sansevieria Fernwood or Sansevieria Mikado

Sansevieria is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants, native to Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. Common names include snake plant, mother-in-law’s tongue, devil’s tongue, jinn’s tongue, bow string hemp and snake tongue. These are great air purifiers, making them perfect for offices.

2.       Succulents

These plants have thick and fleshy leaves which are used to retain water in the arid climates where they are native. The word “succulent” comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning juice, or sap. They come in a variety of sizes, colours and shades, which can allow for many beautiful combinations.

3.       Phalaenopsis Orchid

Also known as moth orchids, phalaenopsis is one of the most popular indoor orchids and is native to southern China, Taiwan, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland. These elegant plants make a real impact on an office environment, and are fairly hard to kill – great for a busy office!

4.       Ficus Ginseng (bonsai)

Ginseng bonsai are also known as ficus retusa, Banyan fig or ficus ginseng. Bonsai art appeared over a millennium ago in the Chinese Empire and was then known as Penzai. It was later adapted by the Japanese and its popularity spread all across South-East Asia. These are probably the most famous and easily recognised bonsai trees and are easy to care for.

5.       Dracaena Lemon & Lime (branched)

Native throughout Africa and also known as ‘Dragon Tree Lemon and Lime’, their brightly coloured leaves are a sight for sore eyes in a dreary office on a Monday morning. These plants can get quite tall; we recommend placing one or two around the corners of your office so that they are visible without taking up too much room. 

Think of your interior designs as investments in your staff – you’ll start to see some returns when their productivity increases. Improving the atmosphere of your office has never been easier, there are so many varieties and styles of planting available.  So if you like the look of these ever popular favourites, you’re looking for something different, or you have haven’t a clue where to start, contact us to find out more about our office plants for hire and our selection of flowers for offices, we’ll help you pick out the perfect plants for you.

Top Tips for an Office Make-Over

 

FUNCTIONAL FITTINGS

Interior design trends for 2020 are all about functional fittings. In the home, this translates to tidy rooms with pull-out furniture like sofa-beds, futons and extending tables. In the office, this translates to adjustable desks, so you can work sitting or standing, laptops for work away from headquarters and partitions for privacy between teams.

When brainstorming ideas for your office make-over, a good place to start is by improving what you already have.  For example, if you make use of basic office partitions between desks, why not use desk plants instead? Office plants have been proven to boost productivity and creativity, so doing something as simple as swapping out your partitions for greenery could see an increase in your returns down the line.

Adding office plants to your workspace is a magnificent way to transform it into a desirable place to work. Eco-themes are the future; they are an easy and affordable way to instantly upgrade an area and with a huge variety of plants to choose from they will have a unique feel.

 

It might seem obvious to some, but making sure that office supplies and useful items are in a designated and central location can save employees a lot of time, especially when inducting new employees, to whom the office is a strange new place. When rearranging your office, it’s a good idea to try to avoid moving these key supplies so that your workers can stay orientated.

STAFF PERKS

Think about why you are engaging in an office make-over; if you are doing it to impress clients, then you want something stunning, but if you are hoping to increase work quality and output amongst your staff, then you might be more interested in adding some facilities that they will surely appreciate.

Perhaps you can improve on the simple staff kettle that most (if not all) businesses have somewhere on their premises. The point of tea breaks – from an employer’s perspective – is to encourage organic team building opportunities.  You can further improve the relationships between your staff by providing them with access to gym facilities or making use of outdoor spaces to create a roof terrace, or courtyard with cafe style seating. We all recognise the benefits of encouraging a cohesive team that supports itself.  If you already provide these facilities to your staff, it’s always good to rethink how your staff are using the facilities. An influx of new employees might mean that the facilities you provide aren’t as relevant as they were before.

 

ADD A DASH OF COLOUR

Is your office exciting enough?  Take an objective look about.

Is it a generic space with white walls and a grey carpet? Being bold and adding some striking colour to a few feature walls, or areas of the office space will give your office a fresh new feel.  You could strengthen your brand identity by using a palette in your brand colours. Accent colours used in planters, soft furnishings and artwork will give the new scheme a pulled-together cohesive look.

Colour is a visual experience and actually has a subconscious effect on the brain.  Colour in the workplace has an effect on productivity, mood and emotion.  Warm colours like reds and oranges are known to raise energy levels and improve dynamism. Cool colours like blues and greens are shown to create a calming effect and improve critical thinking.Repainting your office and changing up the colours from time to time will ensure the office always looks fresh and clean and your colleagues will appreciate the effort that you put into providing them with a beautiful place to work in.

 

GREAT LIGHTING

Above all else, if you are going to be making improvements to your office, you should always consider the effects of your lighting.

We doubt that you’re submitting your staff to dodgy fluorescent lights that blinks on and off, but any inadequate lighting is unhelpful and could be costing your employees in new glasses prescriptions. We recommend offices with lots of natural light, but if you can’t remedy being in a dim office with very few windows, you can always supplement the existing natural light by adding mirrors to carry the light further by reflecting it. As well as prioritising sources of natural light, you should use lamps and high-quality light bulbs to make sure that your office shines.

 

The perfect office is possible; all you need are plants, perks, a touch of colour and some great lighting. We are more than happy to provide you with the plants, planters in every hue, and take care of them for you too.  To give your office a boost that outstrips your competitors, get in touch.