The Complete Guide to Boho Style

Outfitting a waiting room is easier said than done. Whether it’s a small reception area or a huge lobby, you’ll need to cater to your guests’ needs as well as the needs of your front desk staff. Here’s what you should consider before selecting your new waiting room furniture.

Reception Desks

The receptionist desk is the centerpiece of the waiting room. As such, selecting a desk that will make a positive first impression on your guests and employees is important. The right reception desk should be beautiful, functional, and durable enough to last you several years. Not only do you want to make a positive impression on guests, but you also want to make sure your receptionists have the space and tools they’ll need to work effectively, including a large enough work surface space and plenty of storage. For a full look into how to select the right centerpiece for your waiting room, read our complete guide to reception desks.

Reception Seating

Keep the seating in your waiting room comfortable and mix it up. Offer guests chairs that they won’t mind sitting in for several minutes at a time or longer, depending on your typical waiting room flow. 

In addition to the support of the chair seats and backs, you’ll want to offer a mix of different seating types for added comfort. You should provide guest chairs with and without arms, some bariatric seating, and potentially sofas, benches, and hip chairs if your typical guest requires it. Learn everything you need to know about adding seating to your reception area by reading our complete guide to waiting room seating. 

Décor

Though it may not be as obviously functional as desks and chairs, décor plays a huge role in the overall look and feel of your waiting area, and it can impact how your guests perceive your business overall. By incorporating the right wall décor, area rugs, plants, and light fixtures into your space, you can make your waiting area feel more like home, which guests will certainly appreciate. Get a glimpse into how to decorate your reception area by reading our complete guide to office décor.

Accessories

What is a bariatric chair? In short, bariatric chairs are specialized seating designed to support more than 300 pounds of evenly distributed weight. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Every office needs some big and tall seating, but this type of furniture is especially important for medical facilities that need to put guest safety at the forefront of every choice. Here’s what you should consider when it comes to the bariatric chairs you put in your healthcare facility.

Number of Chairs

How many bariatric chairs you’ll need in your building will depend on the nature of your medical facility. We recommend a minimum of 15–20% of the seating in your waiting room be bariatric, though places such as orthopedic clinics should have more due to the types of patients they assist. When selecting how many bariatric chairs to add to the space, the key is to know your patient population and plan for it accordingly.

Keep in mind that you should add bariatric seating not only to the reception area but also to the patient rooms. Provide at least 1 high-weight capacity guest chair to each patient room. You may also want to equip each room with a bariatric doctor stool with an extra-large seat and reinforced base. Healthcare providers might need them, but sometimes patients also sit on these stools.

Weight Capacity

There is no official standard for the load limit on bariatric chairs, but a 750-pound weight capacity or greater is typically preferred in healthcare settings. Many medical offices even look for bariatric chairs that can hold 1000 pounds or more. 

When shopping for your bariatric seating, note the difference between whether the weight capacity listed refers to a static load or an active load. A static load weight capacity is the amount of weight a chair can hold when something is sitting still on top of it. In contrast, an active load weight capacity is the amount of weight a chair can hold when something is dropped on top of it. For active load capacity, chairs are put through a drop test meant to simulate the action of a person plopping down into the seat, making this a sometimes more reliable measurement of load limit, depending on your needs.

Seat and Arm Design 

The seats on bariatric chairs vary quite a bit, but if you’re looking for the best of the best, select an option with a shallow seat design. A shallower seat will prevent guests from sinking into the chair, making it easier for them to stand. Most bariatric chairs have a seat width of around 24–30” to accommodate guests appropriately.

When it comes to the arms of the chairs, be sure to select an option that will not get in the guests’ way as they try to get up. Although the seat width often accounts for this, you may also want to select chairs without enclosed arms—or potentially an option with no arms at all. If you choose bariatric chairs with arms, be sure that the arms have been tested to support the weight of somebody leaning on them to get up from the chair.

Dignity 

The key to good healthcare design, particularly when it comes to bariatrics, is to ensure that your patients and other guests will maintain a sense of personal dignity during their visit. In other words, they shouldn’t have to struggle to get into and out of a chair, and they shouldn’t feel like they’re being singled out by being forced to sit in a seat that looks very different from the other chairs in the room. 

Make bariatric patients feel just as comfortable both physically and emotionally as you want all of your patients to feel by providing attractive, easy-to-use seating options that support more weight than standard chairs. Safety and design are just about equally important when it comes to bariatric seating, the same as the seating at your healthcare facility as a whole.

Shopping for a new area rug for your office can be daunting. With so many options to choose from, how do you decide? When it comes to the workplace, there’s more to consider than aesthetics. Depending on which room it’s for, you may also need a rug that’s durable, easy to clean, and of a specific size. To help you make the right choice, we’ve compiled this comprehensive guide to area rugs.

Size

Size is the first factor to consider for most spaces. In some rooms, the size of an area rug depends on style preference; in others, it is essential for the functionality of the space. Standard rug shapes and sizes include:

Rectangle:

• 2’x3’

• 4’x6’

• 5’x8’

• 6’x9’

• 8’x10’

• 9’x12’

• 12’x14’

Square:

• 4’x4’

• 6’x6’

• 8’x8’

Circle:

• 4’ diameter

• 6’ diameter

• 8’ diameter

So which size should you choose for your space? That depends on the room and what you hope to achieve. Let’s break it down by room.

For a private office in a home or corporate space, the general rule of thumb is that your area rug should be 1–2 feet shorter than the shortest wall in the room. Most importantly, you want to ensure that the area rug is large enough to contain your entire desk and task chair. 

Not only will this give your workspace a unified appearance, but it also has practical applications—you don’t want your chair to snag on the edge of the rug when rolling about the space. Regardless, you may want to order carpet casters for your office chair if you are currently using hard floor casters. 

If you’re adding a rug to the main seating area of your waiting room, be careful about the size you choose. The rug should extend beyond the coffee table and under all of the legs or at least the first set of legs of your sofas and chairs, just like in a home living room. If you select a rug that is too small or too large, it will not appear proportionate to the rest of the room. Allow around 5” to 20” of bare floor between your rug and the wall.

Entryway rugs and mats are excellent tools for directing traffic and greeting guests with a touch of style. For a small entryway, try a square or round rug in the middle of the walk-in area. For a long entryway, try a runner mat or rug in the middle of the space. In both instances, the rug should fill up most of the space but not all of it, leaving equal amounts of space on either side of the rug.

Shape

As mentioned above, rugs come in a variety of shapes, including the following:

• Rectangular rugs are the most common shape and can work in almost any setting. These rugs also come in the widest range of sizes.

• Round rugs are most commonly found in entryways but can work well in other rooms when grouping furniture.

• Square rugs are less common than rectangular ones but can effectively accent end tables and other pieces of furniture.

• Runner rugs are ideal for long entryways and can help visitors find their way to your office.

Materials

The material your area rug is made of greatly impacts how long it lasts, which can make a big difference depending on the rug’s location. Common materials include:

• Polypropylene

• Wool

• Natural Fiber

• Bamboo

Polypropylene rugs are affordable, comfortable, and durable. This material is highly resistant to staining and fading. Woolite or a compatible carpet cleaner are recommended for cleaning. Apply the cleaning solution with a soft bristle brush, rinse with water, and extract with a wet vac. The rug should then be air-dried or dried with a hair dryer at a low temperature.

Wool rugs are great at repelling water and stains, and they are soft to the touch. These are great options for high-traffic areas due to their resistance to stains, but be aware that they tend to shed. Wool rugs can be cleaned in the same manner as polypropylene rugs.

Natural fiber rugs such as jute, sisal, and seagrass are eco-friendly and very strong. They don’t have the plush feel of polypropylene rugs, but you can rest assured they’ll last a long time. You can easily clean these rugs with a vacuum cleaner—no beating required!

Bamboo mats have a sleek surface that’s easy to roll an office chair over. These durable options give the look of natural wood flooring without the high cost but can be tricky to clean. Contact the manufacturer for the best cleaning techniques for your specific bamboo mat.

Textures

The way a rug is woven is what makes it soft or hard to the touch. There are a few standard rug textures, including:

• Hand-knotted

• Hand-tufted

• Flat-weave

• Machine-made

Hand-knotted rugs are made of yarn knotted around columns of thread. The end of these knots creates the pile, and the fringes on the edges of a knotted rug are crucial to its construction. These durable rugs can last more than 20 years and generally do not shed, but you'll pay a higher cost for that level of handcrafted durability.

Hand-tufted rugs are hooked and tufted by hand. During the weaving process, an artisan wraps yarn through a canvas backing that is then protected by a layer of latex and a second backing that anchors the stitches. This type of rug can shed quite a bit and typically lasts about 3 to 10 years.

Flat-weave rugs are made of yarn woven directly on a loom. This produces an extremely tight, long-lasting weave that sheds very little and can last more than 20 years when properly cared for. Flat-weave rugs do not have a backing, so we recommend using a rug pad underneath to prevent slipping and sliding.

Machine-made rugs are woven by computer-controlled machines. Yarn is inserted into a thin mesh backing, and latex is then applied to secure and protect the fibers. This type of rug comes at the lowest cost, produces a low to medium amount of shedding, and typically lasts about 3 to 10 years.

Rug Pads

Rug pads are essential to extending the life of your rug and flooring, no matter where the rug is used. Rubber rug pads will also prevent the rug from slipping, which is essential to the safety of employees and guests alike.