There’s more to interior office design than desks and meeting rooms. Let’s talk throne rooms, baby.
One of the biggest design investments in your home is your bathroom. If yours is less-than-awesome, you’d get on the phone to a bathroom company for a chat about getting a kick-ass remodel.
When it comes to work bathrooms though….. oh my. These little spaces are often ignored, receive the least amount of design effort, and people seem to think that meeting the bare basics is enough. No, no, no! What a loss! Done properly, your work bathrooms can be fun, interesting and attractive spaces that showcase your playfulness and design smarts.
Here are some tips for showing your li’l guys a li’l love.
Tip #1: Do you need an upgrade or full-on renovation?
If the basic layout is decent, you may get away with a few aesthetic changes if you don’t like look or design of a certain element. It’s pretty cost-effective to upgrade the taps and install new toilets and sinks. But what if the problems go beyond “I don’t like the doors?”
Then, you’re looking at bashing it down and starting again.
When it comes to functional issues, here are some things that should trigger you to gut, renovate, and start from scratch:
- You need to build separate M/F bathrooms or your current ones are not Disability Discrimination Act compliant
- The current bathroom needs more cubicles to accommodate your growing business
- The location is bad, for example, your clients have to walk through your (messy) back office to powder their noses or the loo is situated right next to where you want to eat
- There are no windows or not enough light coming in
- There’s something else function-wise that’s really restricting your use of the bathroom.
If you tick any of these boxes, you should be working with an office refurbishment services company to turn your layout into super-functional real estate.
Tip #2: Bathrooms are weird and wonderful places for branding
You know we’re obsessed with branding. We think it’s so darn cool to paste your mission and values over the walls so the fact that we’re talking about branding is nothing new. What IS new, is that we’re talking about it in the context of a toilet! And really, the loo is one of our favourite weird and wonderful places to showcase your organisation to the world.
We love the graphic punch of these movie posters, for example, especially against the dramatic black-and-white checkered floor tiles. Something this gutsy won’t be right for every interior office design but there’s always something special an office refurbishment services company can do to reflect unique aspects of your culture. Check out these ideas for getting some positive attention:
- Dramatic paint colours and art on the walls
- Weird artwork made from stuff that’s relevant to your business
- Collaborative artwork such as sticky-note walls that invite visitors, colleagues and guests to post their opinions or haikus
- Whimsical indoor plant displays
- Digital media on the walls, for example, with a series of projections making the movement of water.
Tip #3: Get to grips with white
White is still the number-one choice for bathrooms and it’s easy to see why – it’s clean, it’s cool, and it generally works better in locations with smaller windows as it reflects the light around.
But seriously.
There are SO MANY whites to choose from! With SO MANY undertones!
Some whites look yellow, blue or even pink in certain lighting, and it’s easy to make a mistake. When your clients are staring at a yellowish-beige wall around the toilet bowl, they’re not going to be thinking that you accidentally chose the wrong paint colour. Ugh.
If you’re opting for a mostly white scheme, choose the crispest white you can and stick to it. White shades really don’t layer well and trying to mix and match a bunch of white items will just look wrong.
Plus, white loos next to white sinks against white tiles and a white floor looks institutional. You’re going to need a contrast so your clients don’t think they’ve entered an asylum – like these black bikes that really pop out of an all-white shower room and vary the sheen level for visual interest.
Tip #4: Freshen your paint colours
So, we’ve persuaded you from an all-white scheme – what’s the alternative? Well, paint colour is an underrated way to make a big change. If you had a clinical-looking bathroom that’s been white for 10 years and suddenly you paint it a beautiful soft sea green – BOOM. Instant sophistication. It’s going to completely transform how you look at the space, how you feel in the space, and you may get away with pare-back sanitary fittings and accessories to complement your new style.
Just don’t forget the gorgeous mirrors so you can clean the spinach from your teeth….
Who knew the smallest room could be the most gorgeous? For more interior office design inspiration, visit our collection of great office design on Pinterest here, or browse through our portfolio.