Day Trip: Office Trends from Metrocon

A few Perry folks visited the regional convention of interior designers at Metrocon in Dallas on Friday, August 12. Part of the convention includes a small tradeshow, full of vendors showing off the latest in residential and business furniture, wall and floor coverings, equipment and decor. Here are a few highlights from our day:

Check out this Jafco conference table. Remind you of a restaurant booth? It should. Our Furniture Consultants, Lea and Jessica, tried it out:

It’s actually easier to sit down on the benches than those a restaurant, because they are made to sit far enough from the table for you to walk between them. And, once you’re seated, the table splits in the middle and can be pulled apart so you don’t have to ‘scoot up’ to it. Imagine how relaxed and comfortable meetings would be at this table… just like meeting friends for dinner.

Speaking of relaxed, Lea tried out this La-Z-Boy bariatric recliner with warming and vibration… great for medical facilities. Plus, the arms detach for getting patients easily into and out of the chair.

Once we woke Lea up, we turned around and saw these bad boys… Some amazing silk plant decor:

And you know what your office restroom is missing? This dragon faucet… or maybe the blinged-out number behind it.

We made our way over to check out Hedge, Scootch and Rise from Allsteel. Sounds like nicknames frat brothers might give each other, but these are award-winning pieces of new furniture, unveiled at Neocon in Chicago this spring.

“Hedge” is an upholstered room divider – sturdy enough to lean with confidence – and includes built-in standing-height worksurfaces. “Scooch” is a set of pull-up stools shaped for multiple postures. This set was covered in felt, a popular fabric this year. “Rise” (on the left) is a set of tiered upholstered seating. You could imagine how well these would work in an education setting. Or maybe this is what the Google conference room looks like.

After ooh-ing and aah-ing over some other cool new products at the show, it was time for lunch at Truluck’s (I had the kobe beef sliders – highly recommended):

And then we stopped off at the Allsteel showroom:

It was a nice day trip to check out some of the latest trends in design.

Top Four Trends We Noticed

1. Mixed materials: Stone & Glass, Plastic and Metal, Wood & Metal, etc
2. Felt: It’s not just for kindergarten classrooms anymore! It’s now a unique option for covering guest and collaborative seating.
3. White (and bright colors): Goodbye, dark and traditional offices. Hello, clean and bright open spaces.
4. Stools and bench seating: When someone stops by your cubicle or office, they’re going to lean or sit on something, even if a guest chair isn’t available. Manufacturers are taking note and offering mobile stools, and built-in padded seating where people would probably park it anyway, especially as offices become more collaborative.

Which trend do you think you could get into? Or are you just keen on the beef sliders? (Did I mention the spicy pimento cheese on them?)

Bonnie Hunt

Marketing Manager

Perry Office Plus

Customer Brags on New HON Vicinity

“Lea, We love our furniture! It fits perfectly in the room and the colors go great together.  Thank you for all your help.”

Heather Cox, Activities Center Coordinator
Harker Heights Parks & Recreation

That’s the note that Furniture Consultant Lea Shawstad got from her customer this week after their new HON Vicinity was installed.

What’s so great about HON Vicinity?

It’s a storage system from The HON Company. Easily adapting to different work environments, workstyles and functions, Vicinity ensures users can stay organized and stage their work while also finding space to store all their “stuff”. It stores anything, goes anywhere, and supports any workstyle.

Vicinity’s column-based design and versatile kit of parts make it easy to customize a wide range of functional solutions: public and private environments, task-oriented spaces, supply-intensive areas and more. Components attach easily and securely to columns – and they’re just as easily reconfigured to meet evolving demands.

Configurable cabinets provide storage for a wide variety of items, from binders to supplies to equipment. Cabinets can be open or closed, equipped with locks or not, specified with shelves or outfitted with translucent SecureFit accessories.

Here are just a few ways Vicinity could be used in your office:

EXECUTIVE OFFICE. Remarkable fit and finish, an extended color palette and unlimited configuration options set Vicinity apart from other storage options, making it an excellent choice for your most distinguished personnel. It performs beautifully with HON executive desks.

DISPLAYS OR COPY ROOM. Unique articulating shelves can be used to display and organize materials. Great for literature displays in public spaces. A handy work surface near the copier is helpful on big print jobs.

WORKSTATIONS. Individuals can organize and stage their work in an active storage zone that includes worksurfaces, cabinets, shelves and files.

RECEPTION. Vicinity looks more sophisticated than conventional storage lines, so it’s ideal for high-profile areas like reception stations. Here, open shelves can display art and promotional materials while files and cabinets provide easily accessible group storage. Works well with HON Initiate panels, too.

Want to learn more? Call a Perry Office Plus Furniture Consultant for more information on this line of HON furniture or for help with your other workspace needs. They offer free, computer-aided space planning services to help create just the right workspace, reception area or meeting space for your needs. Call (800) 234-6605.

Safco Chairs Let You ‘Flaunt’ Your Style for Less

This is one of our favorite new chairs from Safco!

The Flaunt series is lightweight, sturdy and super stylish. Stitched accents on the seat and back give it a sophisticated, contemporary look. Padded loop arms increase comfort and the cool chrome frame make it a great a variety of spaces. The sturdy five-star base with casters offers easy mobility.

Perry Office Plus Furniture Consultant Lea Shawstad says office chairs should be functional but attractive, too. “A lot of workers don’t necessarily sit at their desk all day and just need a place to touch-down during the day. This chair is great for uses like that,” she says, “Or informal meetings in an updated conference room. The guest chairs would be perfect in a contemporary lobby.”

She adds that, “Rather than feeling down about the economy or business being slow, many companies are finding inexpensive ways to inject some fun and style into their work day. Bright accents can boost optimism and energize your team.”

Need more reasons to make this part of your office ensemble? Prices start at $224 for the mid-back manager’s chairs and $169 for the guest chairs. You can choose from red, camel or black and start warming things up!

Our furniture consultants are happy to help with questions about this series or any other furniture needs you have. Call today for a free consultation: (800) 234-6605.

Happy Accident: New Chairs for UMHB

The folks at UMHB will be enjoying new HON guest chairs in lovely “Crusader purple” after an over-production at HON resulted in 45 extra seats that needed a home.

Perry Office Plus was asked by HON to donate the chairs locally.

Perry Office Plus Furniture Consultant Lea Shawstad says, “Because of the purple, UMHB was the first place I thought of, so I called Mike Frazier. He was thrilled.”

Mike says the new chairs will help fill out different seating areas around campus.

The chair is a HON Invitation 2111 Guest Chair in Natural Maple and Mulberry.

Shelli’s New Office: A Time-Lapse Video

Since the Perry Office Plus headquarters is a “working showroom”, customers often are interested in buying the furniture we use. That’s what happened to the office furniture of our COO, Shelli Hellinghausen. After using temporary furniture for a few weeks, Shelli’s office gets a makeover with brand new HON Valido in the new Columbian Walnut laminate finish. Watch the time-lapse as our installers remove the old furniture and setup her new office. For more information on Valido, visit the HON website.

Need a makeover for your office? The furniture consultants that outfitted Shelli’s office can help you, too.

Office Trends 2010: What your office furniture should be doing for you

As responsibilities are consolidated and the business environment shrinks, office furniture is becoming more focused on making office workers more efficient and comfortable. Here are three things your furniture should be doing for you this year:

1. Affordable Comfort: No More Ergonomics vs Economics

Office workers spend more time at their desks than ever before, so ergonomic seating is a must. That used to mean a lot of additional costs – but not today. So much of today’s furniture is designed to be ergonomically sound… and economically appealing, too!

A Great Example: HON Ignition

Application: Seating

Unify your office with a single look and provide a seating option for every application, from reception to task chairs to conference rooms. Plus, give each person the features they want in a chair, providing the highest level of comfort  – all without the hefty price tag.

SEE IT: See all the ways Ignition can serve your seating needs >

The very versatile Allsteel Stride

2. Customizable: Managing Generations
As more young people enter the workforce and seasoned workers waiting longer to retire, many offices have two or three generations collaborating in a single work environment. To accommodate their vastly different work styles, furniture should be customizable.

A Great Example: Allsteel Stride
Application: Systems Furniture

Stride is a complete platform of surfaces, storage, and space division. Multiple options for storage and organization adapts to the worker, rather than the worker adapting to the space, making it a more personalized and productive place to work – for different tasks, job functions and work styles. Plus, Stride focuses on sustainable practices every step of the way, so it’s a “green” product, too.

TRY IT OUT: Check out the Stride Configurator to design your own custom workspace>

3. Multi-Tasking: Do More With Less
In a tight economy, manufacturers know your furniture has to multi-task as much as you do, so you get the most bang for your buck.

A Great Example:
HON Vicinity

Application:
It does it all… storage, desking, workspaces and more!

A flexible full-office solution, Vicinity can be used from the reception area, to offices, to the copy room and everything in between. It’s expandable, reconfigurable, and completely customizable to the space it’s in and the people using it.

VIDEO: See an animation of HON Vicinity in action!

So, how do you get there?
Call us. One of the knowledgeable furniture consultants here at Perry Office Plus can help provide the solution to your specific office challenges.

Whether you are facing relocation or squeezing more employees into a smaller footprint, we provide a complimentary consultation to discuss the best way to use the space you have for what you need.

Our services include space planning, total project management, assembly, installation and reconfiguration. Call us and make your space work for you!

Request Your Furniture Catalog or other furniture information>

Contact our Furniture Department Today! 800.234.6605

OUR SERVICES: Space Planning & Design Consultation, 2D & 3D Renderings of Your New Space, Delivery & Professional Installation, Repair & Warranty Service, Reconfigurations, Project Management