Contemporary Office Furniture
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Steelcase office furniture might be some of the most durable office furniture made on the planet. This furniture is the Sherman Tank of office furnishings and is so long-lasting that specific stores have provided livings for their owners just by selling at times, used Steelcase workplace furnishings. In the past, a Steelcase comparison with more glitzy workplace gear was perhaps like the redheaded stepchild in a clan of Swedish blondes. The red hair is nice, sturdy, dependable, but it doesn't get the attention like the blond hair and blue eyes of Stockholm. It was furniture that might possibly have been bought by the National Treasury, because the department would know that both the Treasury and the Steelcase office furniture would still be there seventy five years from now. And in the event this brand of furniture was ever accidentally dropped from the third story roof by careless movers, the movers would not be fired because no harm, no foul.
In the past, if one did not wish to consider the Sherman Tank for workspace furnishings, the choice might be the Maserati, better known as contemporary office furniture. Sleek, low slung, slicing through the workplace atmosphere like a superhero. This genre of workplace furnishings, around since the sixties but always evolving, just says, "Look at me, I am the reason you are here, and if I am suddenly taken from this office, just close up shop because time will stop." It is very beautiful stuff, and can make quite a statement for its owners, whether they are just starting out in business and want to make a definite first impression, or for a remodel when owners may be changing and a new atmosphere is desired. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart.'" (I Samuel 16:7)
Ok reader, give some first impressions when the following issue is brought to the fore: Steelcase office furniture vs. contemporary office furniture. For the Steelcase furnishings, words such as very heavy, massive, thick, longevity, quality, gray, cold, resale value, utilitarian, aloof, expensive, investment, good warranty and other similar words might have come to mind at one time. For the contemporary furniture, words such as beauty, stand alone, chrome, wood, weird, spindly, metropolitan, edgy, lean, breakable and sheik might come to the surface. The two types of workplace furnishings appeared to be at polar opposites of the spectrum when it came to office style and decorating philosophies. But things radically changed when Steelcase began continued producing not only the classic lines that made the brand so successful but began making contemporary office furniture part of the brand's stable of products. So if an owner or a decorator is making a decision between Steelcase office furniture and all other brands of contemporary office furniture, what should be some of the criteria for the decision making process? What are the questions that should be asked?
Samples of the questions that should be included are the following inquiries: "How often will redecorating take place in the workplace? How high a volume of traffic will be moving through the area hosting the furnishings? What is the demographic of the staff and the clients being served in the office? What is the budget for purchasing either the Steelcase products or the often more delicately made contemporary furnishings manufactured by many reputable companies?
The bottom line in all of this is money. If the redecorating will take place every six to ten years, less substantially made furnishings may be an option. Constant use day after day and year after year by employees who do not have a personal connection with the workplace equipment they use will cause the inevitable chipping, marring and breakage. It would go without saying that those using furnishings in a personal home would be much more cautious in how desks and chairs and filing cabinets were treated because of the personal investment in the items. Often, contemporary office furniture, or any workplace furnishings that can be purchased from a large business workplace warehouse chain, or from a company which has a "looks over durability" philosophy, may not hold up over long periods of extended and intense use. If there is a high volume of human traffic moving through the space occupied by the equipment in question, would there be a tendency for the people involved to sit upon furnishings not meant to be sat? If the workplace is a highly formal atmosphere, there would appear to be less informal sitting, but if the atmosphere is one of a more collaborative nature, incidents of two or three people sitting on a third worker's desktop while in conversation may spell early breakdown of the furnishings.
Warranties of all brands of workplace gear should be carefully examined. Studies of the ergonomic comfort of chairs and other sitting devices should be demanded and given careful consideration. In many cases, deciding what furnishings to choose may not be because of design, because most companies' design teams are marginally equal, but rather the length of time the furniture will be used until redecorating occurs. In most cases, but not all, the Steelcase office furnishings will be moderately to heavily more expensive. It is not an apples to apples decision.
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