Did you know that Russia has its very own awards contest for office design and furniture? We’ve found a great photo collection of award winning offices that feature some ultra-modern desks. New Orleans is already experiencing its typical warm temps and humidity this spring. But nighttime temperatures are still hovering just above freezing in Moscow. In a land with so much frozen precipitation, it’s no surprise that snowy white is a popular color for office furniture. It’s all about the cool factor. Take a look at the images at officenext-moscow.com (scroll all the way down) and then let’s consider ways you could use similar designs and concepts in your office.

EF (English First)

Picture #2 in the slideshow for this award winner features a trapezoidal white desk in a conference room. That’s a great outline to use in an odd shaped room if you want to create a unique look. It’s also a good shape for putting in a corner to use space effectively. In fact, the trapezoid is a favorite for training and meeting rooms when multiple tables or desks need to be configured as a continuous worksurface.

OAO VTB Bank

Want an imposing reception desk that still allows your lobby to look open and airy? White is the way to go since it looks great in natural light supplemented with recessed lighting that makes the desk appear to glow. Choose a design with a textured surface to give the furniture depth. Otherwise, it may appear too blank and featureless. Pair the white desk with a deeply hued wood floor to ground the design.

Harley Davidson

Oh yes, this company does have offices in Moscow too! This firm has decided to take its signature tangerine logo color and pair it with white desks and cubicles to create a fully branded workspace. The use of tropical colors in chair upholstery and cubicle panels offers a gorgeous contrast to the clean and simple lines of the worksurfaces.

V Kontakte

Here’s another office where white furniture makes it easy to use color throughout the space. Slide #6 shows three rooms side by side, each with brightly colored walls. One room is green, one blue, and one red. The common features that tie them all together are white desks and tables. Perhaps white is the new black for 2013.

Looking for the right place to source snowy white office desks? New Orleans businesses don’t have to shop in Moscow or St. Petersburg. We can find the perfect modern furnishings for your office much closer to home.

L shape desks are one of the most popular options for workstations. They occupy the middle ground between the full “U” and the minimalist rectangle. Here’s how to know if they are the right style for your office.

Do Employees Still Need Dedicated Storage for Files?

One of the standard features of most L desks is a full set of file drawers (sometimes two sets). If your office is entirely paperless, there’s little need for such accommodation at each workstation. The same holds true if you can get away with using a centralized filing system for an entire department to hold shared resources, documents and reference materials.

What About Desktop Space?

Employees do often still like to have an expansive worksurface to hold supplies, accessories and paperwork. However, offering lots of extra space can sometimes encourage clutter. You might consider limiting the number of L shape desks and adding some shared meeting spaces with tables. Here, employees can spread stuff out to work on temporarily, but they’ll be expected to clear off the surface afterward.

If you go with less desktop space per employee, add vertical or under-desk storage space for office supplies and other workplace paraphernalia. Just be sure that reducing desktop space doesn’t mean employees have to bend, reach or stretch too much to get to frequently used items. This might increase the risk of repetitive stress injuries.

When Do L Shape Desks Make Sense?

We’re not trying to give you the impression that the L shape is never a good idea. In fact, that extra arm can be quite useful. In open office layouts, bench style workstations with everyone sitting side by side save lots of space. But they definitely aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. An L shape can provide employees with a sense of having a boundary between themselves and coworkers. This makes it an excellent fit for office cultures that place a high value on personal space but where you don’t have room for fully enclosed U shape desks.

At the same time, that extra desktop space can actually make it easier for employees to collaborate occasionally. There’s an area of the desk available to share without the monitor and other computer equipment getting in the way (which might be a problem with a rectangular desktop). And, the desk isn’t so enclosed that cozying up to work side by side would feel awkward (a pitfall with a U shape desk).

Professional space planning is really the best way to figure out for sure if your business will fall in Love with the L desk. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.