Modern Office Furniture: 5 Features to Look For

Building comfortable, productive workspaces

Furnishing an office takes more than buying the first few desks or chairs you see and calling it a day. Modern office furniture can support workers in so many ways that choosing the best options for your business merits careful consideration.

Whether you’re opening your first office or expanding to your fifth city, Walmart Business wants to make your furnishing process easier. These criteria can help you evaluate your many options and arrive at a collection of furniture that fits your needs.

Features to look for in modern office furniture

1. Ergonomic design

Ergonomic design is more than just a buzzword. When it comes to furnishing an office, the study of workers’ efficiency in the workplace couldn’t be more important.

When you maximize ergonomics in the workplace, you can achieve several benefits. Not only are employees more comfortable, but they’re also more productive, less prone to injuries and happier to come to work.

Chairs

For chairs, ergonomics experts recommend that workers be able to sit with their knees bent at a roughly 90-degree angle and their feet resting flat on the floor. Their backs should be straight and flush with the back of the chair, which should offer padding and support to keep that posture comfortable.

Desks

When sitting at their desks, workers should be able to rest their elbows at a 90-degree angle and keep their wrists straight when typing on a keyboard. If their desk is too high to do that, they can safely use a taller chair so long as they have a footrest that preserves their leg posture. If you opt for desks that can rise to a standing height, be sure to pair them with anti-fatigue mats to protect employees’ joints.

Screens

In general, an employee’s eyes should line up with the top of their monitor, which should sit about an arm’s length away from them. That helps keep their neck straight and reduces stress on their eyes.

Adjustability

Because everyone’s body is different, adjustability is your best bet for making sure all your employees are comfortable and supported at work. If employees can raise or lower their seats, armrests and desks at will, they can find the perfect setup for them.

2. Built-in storage

As much as modern office furniture can support employees physically, it can also improve their mental well-being. Research shows that clutter can impair focus and lower brain processing power. 

You can head that off early and keep your employees working at maximum efficiency by incorporating built-in storage wherever possible. The best modern office furniture for business use will have storage opportunities built in. Drawers under desks are an easy solution for keeping clutter to a minimum.

To make the most of those drawers, consider equipping them with modular organizers to prevent items from sliding around and making a mess.

3. Flexibility

If you want your business to grow, you’ll need to stay ready for it to change. That’s just as true for your office, where your needs from the space could shift even over the course of a day.

Modern office furniture becomes much more versatile when it can be repositioned easily. Casters on desks, whiteboards and file cabinets give you the freedom to rearrange workstations and storage or create new areas for focus or collaboration on an ad hoc basis.

Modular cubicle solutions let employees move panels up or down as their needs change over the day. If they need to focus, they can raise their cubicle panels and block out distractions. If they’re collaborating with teammates, they can lower the panels to facilitate face-to-face conversation.

4. Sustainability

Producing furniture uses huge amounts of natural resources, releases harmful chemicals into our air and water and often winds up as landfill waste. As a business, there are several ways you can reduce the impact your modern office furniture has on the environment.

• Sustainable materials: Seek out renewable, nontoxic materials, such as reclaimed wood or bamboo. Avoid highly manufactured materials, such as plastic and particleboard.

• Responsible manufacturing: Look for companies with transparent manufacturing processes and certifications from environment-focused third parties. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Climate Neutral and bluesign are among the most significant certification bodies for sustainability.

• Durable construction: Longer-lasting furniture means less of it in landfills. High-performing materials can also be repaired to extend their life cycle.
  

In addition to being more environmentally friendly, sustainability also offers clear economic incentives. Although it may carry a higher price tag upfront, its long-lasting construction can keep repairs and replacements to a minimum. That can make it into some of the most affordable modern office furniture in the long run.

5. Smart technology integration

As smart technology grows more common, so does the range of its applications.

For example, smart screens are a great way to communicate conference room availability. They can pull data from your room booking software and display it outside of the relevant room. Passersby can see whether a room is booked, who’s booked it, why and for how long, which can discourage accidental interruptions.

Smart whiteboards and digital pens can elevate collaboration in those conference rooms and save on supplies.

Smart desks with integrated power and data outlets ensure every employee’s tech works as intended. Those with adjustable heights can remember presets, making it easy for workers to manage their posture. They can even store analytics to help improve ergonomic habits over time.

For workplaces using a combination of in-office and remote work, smart desks can be managed and booked much as conference rooms are. Workers can tell at a glance which desks are available and skim a directory to find out where a particular coworker is sitting on a given day.

Spend smart with Walmart Business

Ready to start shopping? Head on over to Walmart Business, where you can find scores of desks, office chairs, file cabinets and more at prices to suit your budget. With a Walmart Business+ membership, you can find great deals on a huge variety of office must-haves, delivered free of charge from a nearby store.¹

In addition to savings that can exceed $500 a year,² you’ll get access to exclusive rewards for your organization. Click here to start your membership today.

¹Restrictions apply. Additional fee applies for Express delivery. 

²Savings based on 1 free $35+ delivery order vs. $9.95 fee and 1 free shipping order under $35 vs. $6.99 fee biweekly, free shipping with no minimum, plus 2% Walmart Business rewards on monthly order >$250 (average value of $400).