Tag: café tables

  • Home Office Ideas

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    Home Office Ideas

    What Type of Work are you doing?

    Furniture is for supporting your body, equipment, and storage. Let’s start with the easy stuff 1st and what things you need to have “at hand” for your work. In the olden days, I had 18′ for furniture binders and 2 bins for finish/fabric samples. Now some companies do this online. My Resource Library is a professional resource for designers, facility managers, and contract dealerships. It has loads of commercial furniture layouts and images. This is what replaced my wall-mounted A02- 18′ shelves and 2 bins of color samples. I still have 1 small bag of color samples. Also, for residential home ideas, Houzz is a very good website.

    Work From Home

    Many working at home are doing creative, data-driven work and your storage needs are very small. Maybe a mobile set of drawers or a decorative bookcase. Others need printer supplies, paper, or old-school binders. Unless you have a dedicated office with a door, I suggest mobile storage that can be moved out of the way and an adjustable table sized to fit your needs. There are nice moving pads that will slide over low pile carpet and many lightweight storage units with wheels. Zuma Office Supplies started in 2009 and has your everyday products to help your work. https://www.zumaoffice.com/charities They have done lots of work to help those in need.

    Pads, Phones, and P.C.’s

    Data input computers for real work may need a table and monitor support. Stand Steady in Fairfax Virginia, does a great job at helping people be comfortable at work. In 2012, Day Martin was having some back pain, and sitting all day at work was very uncomfortable. She built her 1st standing desk out of some cardboard boxes and later that year Stand Steady was born. They have a complete offering of products to support your body, equipment, and focus.

    Chairs? See post #11 What is THE BEST chair for work

    Home Office Ideas

    You want to be able to focus, with no sound or visual distractions. Window Coverings are very helpful and Budget Blinds in Santa Cruz has automated solutions, so you don’t have to break your attention. Headphones are great for sound. Foldable 5’H screens help too, they usually fold into 3 sections with a wood frame covered in imaged fabric and feel like painting canvas. Adjustable blinds to control sunlight are very important for screen glare. Power and Date feed your machines, plan for power charging, and maybe a WiFi booster. An adjustable monitor supports will make your work time more comfortable, surface mount or wall mount. There are some floor mount stands available that work great with small scooter tables.

    Video Meeting?

    Video team meetings have become a workplace tool that I do not use. Some important things in media production (that is what you are doing now) are lighting, sound, and background staging. Most upgraded phones on a stand can get you by and may be fine. I know YouTube has some very professional media producers that will share their tips, tricks, and product reviews. Happy Zooming.

    SHUT-R-DOWN

    It is still important to be able to close the office for the day, mobile, foldable items, and 5’H screens can get that job done. YES, shut it down and put the office away, your home is more important than work. If you are feeling that work is more important than the home that may be the right order of priorities for that stage in your life. “Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” Some old Jewish guy wrote that and it is still true today. If you cannot support yourself, your family, and your home… get a better work plan.

    Working From Home

    This can be very different for everyone, the basics are…

    1. Support Your Body
    2. Move to keep engaged and your fluids flowing.
    3. WATER
    4. comfortably support your equipment.
    5. Choose to store your stuff strategically, it may be an opportunity to stand up and move.

          6. Control your environment to help you succeed.

    Step up your home’s storage and save with TheShelvingStore.com.

    Home Office Ideas, even if your home is On The Road.

    I am an  EtsyFiverr Affiliate,  Shelving.com,  StandSteady.com,  SwimOutlet.comZumaOffice.comGameFly.comcambriabike.comQuictent.comCrandall Office FurnitureJackery,  The New Alpha Coinbase,  RVT  , Industry West, Eternity Modern, Walrus Oil, Antique Farm House furniture, Casa Gear promotor and have Bookshop.org/shop/Local831Furniture, and get a small commission from each sale.

     

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    Axiom Commercial Furniture , Local 831 LifestyleLocal 831Workstyle ,

    Relax with Nature Videos with Sand 831 on Rumble.

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    Thank you for your support,

    Charles Bradley

  • No Desk

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    No Desk

    I have spent most of my computer work time on a table, café table, or laptop stand. Desks are just tables that have drawers and Florence Knoll taught us that drawers get in the way of our knees. The table is the work surface, for paper blueprints, equipment, and face-to-face conversations. Now we use pixelated blueprints, laptops, surfaces, and iPads for face-to-face conversations. The table has “zoom meeting” to a very small size and floor space is so much more valuable. We need storage for stuff, not paper files. The desk has been dead for a very long time and most of us don’t have space at home for that big hulking drawer holder. Furniture has a long history and even longer future.

    Flexible Furniture

    Herman Miller company understood this and made this very adjustable keyboard stand, the scooter. I had one for many years and loved it. Old things are new again. With our input equipment getting smaller and mobile this concept is very helpful. The big monitors can be wall-mounted or hung on a floor stand. Your very comfy chair and adjustable small table can get you in the zone for hours of flow state.

    Small, mobile, and adjustable.

    Several companies offer modern tables like this, scaled for laptops or small monitor arms. Many have gas lift height and tilt adjustments, less expensive ones are manual with slides and hand-tightened screws. Adjustable Tables for small-scale equipment can be a great space-saving solution.

    Stand Steady is my favorite adjustable personal computer table source. They even have mobile tables that are designed so you can work in bed.

    The Work From Anywhere, RV, and Van Lifestyle has given new innovations for what Road Work is.

    No Desk

    I am an  EtsyFiverr Affiliate,  Shelving.com,  StandSteady.com,  SwimOutlet.comZumaOffice.comGameFly.comcambriabike.comQuictent.comCrandall Office FurnitureJackery,  The New Alpha Coinbase,  RVT  , Industry West, Eternity Modern, Walrus Oil, Antique Farm House furniture, Casa Gear promotor and have Bookshop.org/shop/Local831Furniture, and get a small commission from each sale.

     

    Get Cash Back with Rakuten

    Mammoth Nation Patriot Store is America’s Conservative Market Place.

    Axiom Commercial Furniture , Local 831 LifestyleLocal 831Workstyle ,

    Relax with Nature Videos with Sand 831 on Rumble.

    Local 831 Lifestyle Relaxing Nature Videos on YouTube.

    Thank you for your support,

    Charles Bradley

  • How to Buy Office Furniture: The Local 831 Guide.

    This post has affiliate links and we make a small commission on any order.

    How to Buy Office Furniture: The Local 831 Guide.

    Update from 5-2022. Shop online through social media, affiliate content producers, or other people that create helpful information to support your work. There are lots of resources and empty office buildings full of furniture. These same principles are a good way of planning for adding furniture to help support your body and equipment.

    Can we work together?

    Space- what is the space that we will be working in? Also, you should put a list of requirements if you do not already have the building that will be used. Office space selection is very important for many reasons and needs a separate post. This is a short list of thoughts.

    Size, will the space fit, and support the number of people? In other words, will the people and equipment have enough room to get their work done efficiently? Data entry and a production line have very different square foot requirements for employees.

    Time, how long do you plan to use that building, and what changes in growth should be expected? For example, is there planned hiring for data entry, or is that new production line scheduled for next year?

    Logistics, parking, data /power, and tuck docks with warehouse storage. Commuting for employees and traffic patterns for a new location has become very important over the years.

    On-site measure, DWG, PDF, or pencil sketch on paper. Let’s get on the same page and define the walls, columns data/power entry. At Fiverr, some people will do project work and computer drawings are easy to do as a remote task.

    Design Resources

    There are also, office furniture design specialists that can put a plan together for you to send out to bid. You should pay them a per square foot amount or a flat fee. If they ask for an hourly amount, it could be very difficult to monitor. There are many places to see furniture online. My Resource Library has become the industry standard, they also can help you organize the vendor catalogs for specific areas or the whole project. When you use fewer vendors, you can get deeper discounts. There are also Government resources that can help with seeing the bigger picture and then focus on each department. I have compiled an extensive glossary of furniture terms in Post #26.

    Go TEAM

    The main idea at this point is to put a team together, to develop a plan and budget for your project. This will give you “the big picture” early and you will use the floor plans every meeting. Many furniture dealerships offer these “add-on” services, track the value and if you don’t buy from them… you get billed. Read the fine print before you sign, it is sage advice for a reason.

    Scope of Work

    What type of work needs to be supported, company culture, café style, manufacturing shop, or cocoon coding? Most likely there will be a variety of work areas, meeting spaces, and alcoves. Also, plan for the next stages of growth, downsize, or flex work from home. Office furniture space planning and design have a long and valuable history. Good design is good value for workflow, social distance, sound management, and focused attention.

    Style

    Branding corporate culture has become ever more important through social media. Your building, furniture, and office amenities can be a very powerful set of communication tools. The back office is “seen” more than ever and can help potential partners, customers and employees build trust.

    Specifying Furniture

    The hard and soft of it – Furniture Specification? Basic follow up from the above, let’s help the people produce. At this point, we should have a pretty good idea of what and how to accomplish the project. #1 How to buy: office furniture purchasing process

    Final Selections

    The main drivers- style, time, budget? What will filter out the endless options? The lead time might cut right to the shortlist. The budget and style need to be balanced. There are endless images to look at. Take a look at office furniture shopping online and see what you like.

    Wrap up the details

    Nuts & Bolts- parts list anyone? I am still a fan of Excel and use it for job costing, purchase orders, and receiving counts. Let’s figure out power, cabling, lighting, monitor arms, adjustable work surfaces, keyboard trays, chair mats, and steel storage.

    Shelving Inc.

    Comparing Quotes

    How did your office furniture shopping go, is there anything you would like me to change? Make revisions early, Change Orders cost time and money. Savvy entrepreneurs have learned the value of clean, quality used office furniture.

    As-Is Furniture

    We have LOTS of empty office space and vacant furniture due to “Work at Home” during the start of the 2020s. Used furniture is a viable option and should not be overlooked. These items may supplement your project with meeting tables, lobby furniture, or possibly the whole project. Large inventories can be shared with multiple companies through long-term business contacts or social media groups. Skip the warehouse, buy direct, DIY project manage, and get FREE furniture.

    How to Buy Office Furniture: The Local 831 Guide.

    This can go very well or just as bad. Do you have a facilities ROCK STAR on your payroll? They are worth all the $$$ on a project. When a facility is decommissioned, everything goes- I.T. (the whole package), the phone system, copier/fax, surplus toner, and office supplies. Battery / Server backups, furniture, Post-Its, and everything. This has been a GOLDMINE for Start-Ups that have people with “the knowledge about the doing”. Note: when subcontracting knock down (K/D), and removal (palletizing and speed packing) for truck loading, it helps to have the same company deliver, unload and install the furniture. Keeping the command chain of liability is very important and you want that chain short and tight.

    Project Management

    Logistics- schedule subs? Who is going to do what and when? Plan moving, sell surplus items, or send them home for flex WFH.

    Are we still getting along? Let’s load the deposit and pull the trigger. If you are a larger organization a Purchase Order or Purchase Card will get things started.

    Please sign here, so I can start the real work of making your project a great success.

    X _______________________________

    How to Buy Office Furniture: The Local 831 Guide.

     

    I am an  EtsyFiverr Affiliate,  Shelving.com,  StandSteady.com,  SwimOutlet.comZumaOffice.comGameFly.comcambriabike.comQuictent.comCrandall Office FurnitureJackery,  The New Alpha Coinbase,  RVT  , Industry West, Eternity Modern, Walrus Oil, Antique Farm House furniture, Casa Gear promotor and have Bookshop.org/shop/Local831Furniture, and get a small commission from each sale.

     

    Get Cash Back with Rakuten

    Mammoth Nation Patriot Store is America’s Conservative Market Place.

    Axiom Commercial Furniture , Local 831 LifestyleLocal 831Workstyle ,

    Relax with Nature Videos with Sand 831 on Rumble.

    Local 831 Lifestyle Relaxing Nature Videos on YouTube.

    Thank you for your support,

    Charles Bradley