Your dental office may already have a great layout that allows for ease of movement, efficient organization in work rooms and storage rooms, and lots of natural light – and still look a little tired and dated, or cold and unfriendly. If all you need is to boost your dental office decor, here are five pro tips to achieving big visual impact on a small budget.
Clean Lines
The easiest dental office decor fix is free: Just de-clutter. Remove everything from every surface, including stacks of old magazines, grungy toys, pictures, files, calendars, business cards and even lamps and plants. Don’t ignore the floor either – clear out the seats in your waiting area until you have a clean slate. Once everything is cleaned out, you’ll have an easier time re-envisioning the space. Then you can replace necessary items, and get rid of the rest.
Fabric
If the new waiting room and office chairs you want are too expensive, you might consider reupholstering the ones you already have (if they’re still sturdy). What’s nice about hiring an upholsterer is that you can choose from a wide range of durable fabrics, far more than most office supply stores offer. You might pick a creative print, or find just the right color to accent your walls. Pro tip: Find your fabric first, then choose your paint colors to go with it. This will give your dental office decor a sense of cohesion.
Paint
A fresh coat of color on the walls can make any office look almost new – but if you’re on a tight budget, you might want to paint a few other things as well. Wood cabinets and tables can both benefit from a coat of paint, which can be cheaper than replacing them. For colors, we love white and dove-gray walls, with a vibrant accent color like aqua; or warm earth tones.
Flooring
While new floors aren’t the cheapest decorative item, they have enormous visual impact (especially when replacing worn office carpet). Choose materials rated for use in commercial applications, since offices have much more foot traffic than homes. We love a good commercial vinyl, like the one we chose for this Chicago dental office decor project.
Lighting
Lighting can make or break a design. There are three types of lighting we use in interior design: Ambient, Task, and Accent. Ambient lighting provides general light for the space; task lighting highlights work spaces (think of a reading lamp for example); and accent light adds drama to the room. When you use all three effectively, you’ll have an efficient and visually appealing space. Most offices, however, only use ambient lighting provided by fluorescent ceiling lights, which is hard on the eyes (in more ways than one!).
With just a little ingenuity, you can significantly upgrade your dental office decor. For more inspiration, call us for a free consultation on how to refresh the look of your office!