Style: Formal or Avant-Garde? When shopping for cubicle furniture, you want to make sure you have the right look. Office furniture comes in a wide assortment of colors and styles, so it’s easy to buy cubicle furniture that, upon further examination, is revealed to clash with the existing environment: walls, floors, ceiling work, lighting, etc. So when selecting your cubicle furniture, think of the overall look of your office. Is the dominant style traditional, or modern? This will influence your choice of cubicle furniture, whether it’s stylish and high tech, or traditional and earthy.

Give some thought to the impression your office furniture makes on clients. A firm of accountants needs different styles of cubicle furniture from an ad agency; a call center shouldn’t have the same kind of cubicle furniture as a law firm! The impression you make depends largely on what your clients need from you. A design firm wants its cubicle furniture to look adventurous and creative; an accounting firm needs cubicle furniture that helps it look solid and dependable.

You should also be mindful if the style of cubicle furniture you’re selecting is timeless, or is bound to go out of style in the next few years. Sure, your cubicle furniture looks great now – but in five years, will the new employees be as squeamish in their office furniture as they would be wearing 1970s-era leisure suits?    (read more)

Ergonomics: Form or Comfort? Ergonomic cubicle furniture and cubicle accessories – chairs, keyboards drawers, monitor stands and mounts – help increase productivity and employee morale. Ergonomic chairs allow employees to adjust their armrests and other chair parts;  the height of their keyboards and work surfaces should be adjustable as well.

Ergonomics can be less of a priority if your employees spend most of their working day out in the field; but if they spend most of their day seated at the same cubicle, then do invest in ergonomic cubicle furniture, it’s an investment that pays off in spades over time.

Future-proofing – static or expandable? Ask yourself how easy it would be to expand the office layout with the cubicle furniture you have in mind. If your enterprise is the kind that would experience workforce fluctuations or constant technology upgrades, then you’ll need cubicle furniture that can accommodate constant change.

Will your employees be able to move their desks and other cubicle furniture around themselves? Or will you need professional help to dismantle and rebuild cubicle furniture to any future specifications?

Toughness: Disposable or Durable? You want cubicle furniture that’s worth the money you pay for it, and the best way to ensure the best bang for your buck is to check if the cubicle furniture under consideration meets ANSI-BIFMA performance standards.

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association releases ANSI/BIFMA Safety and Performance Standards every five years, using guidelines set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). These standards can tell you how well your cubicle furniture performs where safety, durability, and structural adequacy are concerned.

You can also ensure great value on your cubicle furniture by only sourcing office furniture that comes with a warranty or promise of after-sales service. Even used cubicle furniture these days (from select furniture dealers) come with these guarantees!