Five emerging office furniture trends

As the furniture industry enters into the school and government buying season, typically from June to September, OFM, an office and school furniture manufacturers and distributor, is seeing five emerging office furniture trends. Blake Zalcberg, COO of OFM, lists the five emerging office furniture trends:
1. Dark woods are making a comeback. People are choosing darker walnut colors over lighter woods as many are drawn to the natural, earthy look that dark woods give.
2. Technology is being infused into office furniture designs. Electrically-wired tables and cut outs for computer hardware are becoming popular to accommodate demands for employees to easily plug in their laptop or other devices.
3. Contemporary office spaces are replacing traditional work environments. There is less use of panel workstations and more use of community spaces so people work in closer proximity to each other with less privacy, with a focus on collaborative instead of individual.
4. An increased demand for white laminate desktops. Productivity is key with any piece of office furniture. The white laminates provide a clean, blank workspace that can spur creativity for the user.
5. Government-affiliated groups are asking for more green products. This group of purchasers wants to make sure the office furniture they buy practices what they preach to the larger public, which is why there is an increased demand from government agencies for sustainable material and green certified products.

Dynasty, Melrose Place and Barcelona

It had all the makings of a catty nighttime soap opera, see “Mies van der Rohe Furniture Designs causes legal catfight” but ended rather anti climactically.
Knoll Inc. and Alphaville Design Inc., settled their dispute relating to Knoll's registered Barcelona trademark. Knoll had alleged that certain products sold by Alphaville Design infringed the Knoll trademarks, while Alphaville Design claimed that the trademarks were invalid. To resolve the dispute, Alphaville Design Inc. acknowledged the validity of, and Knoll's rights to, the above-referenced trademarks, and in return Knoll granted them the right to sell similar furniture products for a limited period of time. In connection with the settlement, the parties have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

It’s not you, it’s your furniture

Do you suffer from periodic creative droughts? If so, your furniture may be holding you back.
Steelcase’s Turnstone division recently launched Campfire, a line of informal office furniture inspired by familiar indoor and outdoor spaces for small businesses. The seven-piece furniture line boasts a paper table with a glass surface similar to a white board or a paper pad top for ideas on the go. Furniture groupings have kicky names such as Island, Base Camp, Oasis and my favorite Shanty. The big lamp is reminiscent of a beach umbrella, the big table is similar to a kitchen table and the big lounge is, well, you get the picture.
While Campfire is designed to foster creativity and teamwork— chatty co-workers can be the biggest creativity buzzkillers. Will small businesses owners bite or just go work in the park for inspiration?

A cure for chair butt?

Inspired by the playfulness of an orange peel, Varier Furniture is unleashing its Peel Club chair at NeoCon, June 15-17.
This chair is more than good looking—it’s a pleasurable experience for the body. Goodbye chair butt??! The organic shape allows users to vary their sitting position while lounging, reading, listening or plotting evil (my personal favorite).
The ergonomic chair has been wildly popular in the European contract market, selling more than 55,000 units in 10 months. To translate: If you don’t like this chair, then you’re not as sophisticated or cool as our chain-smoking, swatch car driving, and beret wearing brethren across the pond.
The Peel Club is made from 100 percent recycled materials and is available in eco-friendly wool and hundreds of color and fabric combinations.