From Guest Blogger Dimitris Papadopoulus: A Green Makeover–Making the Most of a Small Office

A break area complete with ping pong tables and cosy beanbag chairs made for cheeky afternoon naps, outside courtyards and an airy, open plan central atrium filled with ergonomically designed workstations…oh, the fun you could have with your office if you only had the room.

A Google-esque workplace may be a dream of yours, but in a property market where space comes at a premium, you’d also need the budget of a super successful multinational to create one.

And it’s not just the financial cost either.

Renovations and construction can also come with a huge environmental price, destroying green spaces and causing longterm damage to the surrounding area.

But don’t resign yourself to being stuck in a soul-destroying, cramped office quite just yet.

So long as you carefully plan it all out, you can transform your workplace without angering either Mother Nature OR your bank manager.

Here’s our pick of a few eco-friendly ways to maximise a small office.

#1: ethical expansion

Add more physical space without eating up land? Sounds impossible, right? Not if you look to Invicta, the experts in mezzanine flooring, to install a whole new level in your office building.

They’ll carefully manage the construction to ensure minimal disruption, and you’ll end up with another floor perfect for squeezing in a few more desks, a break area or some extra storage.

#2: undergo a makeover

Shabby, peeling grey walls and dusty old carpets aren’t doing anything for the atmosphere of your small office.

Freshen it up with a lick of bright paint (calming blues or light-reflecting creams are always a good shout) and consider replacing worn furniture, anything to give the overall mood and feel of the place a boost.

#3: have a spring clean

We may be a month early, but a good spring clean works wonders in a tiny office. Start by decluttering desks, following the “If you don’t use it every day, tidy it away” rule. Use baskets or storage boxes to keep everything neatly organised and easy to find.

And make staying on top of mess every employee’s responsibility to stop unsightly clutter building back up again in the future.

#4: go paperless

Is your office full of teetering piles of files and documents, blocking out the light and threatening to bury your poor colleagues at any moment?

Join the paperless revolution to ditch space-wasting paperwork for good. Install cloud storage like Dropbox and collaborative software like Google Docs to find new ways of working completely online.

#5: tidy away cables

As well as being a tripping hazard, endless computer cables crisscrossing between desks in a clumsy spider web instantly make a room feel more cramped.

Invest in some cable clips and management systems to conceal all the mess, and they’ll also help protect your valuable equipment from general wear and tear. It’s a simple step that’ll quickly free up your office.

If you’ve followed all our tips and the cabin fever still hasn’t let up, then remember you don’t have to be constrained by a small office. Work from home for a day or two, or enjoy a change of scene by holding weekly team meetings externally –