Creating A Welcoming Reception Area
Your reception area needs to be a warm and welcoming place that represents your company and what you want people to think of you and your business.
These tips can help you set the tone and create a good first impression with a well-designed and thought-out reception space.
Consider Your Lighting
The lighting you use can make a big impact on people when they arrive in your reception area. You need the space to be clearly lit and allow people to see the space and find their way around. More modern designs, such as a sleek, minimalist aesthetic, might benefit from bright white lighting, while others with a more industrial décor scheme, like exposed brick and metal accents, could find warm lighting more beneficial. But the lighting you use will set the tone and pull your design together, so give it more than a passing thought.
Reception Furniture
Having reception furniture gives people a focal point to gravitate towards when they enter. This stops them from blindly looking around for someone to talk to or somewhere to get the information they need. Your office reception desk should be appropriate for the work being carried out on it, comfortable to use, and stylish. It should be low enough for people to see over and converse with your reception team.
To make a good impression, your reception area must be free from clutter and mess. This means your furniture needs to be geared toward placing an order here. Otherwise, if you kept things clean, clear, and tidy at all times, there would be chaos.
Location
Your reception desk needs to be placed where it does not interrupt traffic flow through the area but is easily identifiable as your reception and easy to find. People need to be able to make their way to it in a sensible manner; it needs to be evident from the second they enter the reception that they need to go to the desk, and it isn’t in a busy space that doesn’t make sense for how the area is used by people, i.e. in front of the main doors where it’s blocking the flow of people and a queue forming can cause a build-up at the entrance.
Use Plants
Plants are scientifically known to be mood boosters and stress busters. Plus, some varieties have air-purifying properties, which are perfect for welcoming people into any unfamiliar space and can easily create a welcoming and relaxing environment.
Choose low-maintenance plants that are easy to care for and won’t require high levels of upkeep to keep them thriving. If you wish, you can incorporate living walls and have dedicated teams tend to the wall or service provided to ensure it’s running as required and the plants are well maintained; doing this can help you add more life to your reception and create a talking point. For a really low-maintenance plant vibe, you can opt for artificial varieties, which are perfect for avoiding any allergies, especially seasonal ones, or to avoid ingestion, i.e. if you are a vet practice and don’t want your patients trying to eat your plants.
If you have a small reception area, consider using hanging plants or small potted plants on shelves. This can work well for you, but if you have high ceilings, then you want to look at adding taller potted plants that can stand in corners, for example, at the start of corridors or the end of the reception desk.
Inviting Seating
The type of seating you have and the amount all depend on how long people spend in your reception. A doctor’s office, for instance, may benefit from comfortable chairs or couches that can accommodate patients and their companions for longer periods. In contrast, a corporate office may opt for sleek, modern chairs for brief interactions. But regardless, you need to have some type of seating for visitors, and it needs to be seating that looks inviting to sit on, not just for decoration. Again the placement of the seating area needs to make sense as per the entranceway, the reception desk and the path into the rest of the building. Try to create a dedicated area that will welcome people to sit and relax while they wait, not just like you put them randomly anywhere because you think you should.
Creating a welcoming office space requires coordinating many details, from the paint you use on the walls to the furniture placement, seating areas, and the flow around the reception space. Try a few different arrangements until you find the right vibe for your reception to improve the welcome people get when they arrive at your business.
