What is res-imercial? … bringing home into the office

“Ahhhhhh! Home sweet home!”

Do you catch yourself thinking that when you get home after a long day at work or travel?

“Home” is where the heart is. It emulates something we value as comfortable, safe and creates a sense of belonging. “Home” is where our professional styles and defences are down, and where we enjoy comforts that nourish a calm space for personal productivity. 

It’s no wonder if a home is such a serene and special place, that companies looking to attract great talent in a competitive market are offering a new attractive workplace design that reflects a home-like feel.

Work Sweet Work

Forward-thinking business leaders are combining “home” with “commercial” in a new way of thinking about workplace design, cleverly named “Resi-mercial”, to attract and keep employees excited about their daily work and company employment.

Younger team members, Millenials and Gen-Z generations, expect to have a happy and comfortable workplace they love to come to. Office designers, commercial furniture manufacturers and sellers are listening too. “Resi-mercial” options are a complementary mix between residential styles and commercial durability – without the sterile and containment elements of old offices.

Using inexpensive home furniture options to achieve this residential style of office design can come at a cost. Work wear on home furniture can result in broken furniture and faster asset replacement. Home-oriented furniture can also encourage health problems due to non-ergonomic design.

Commercial furniture has been designed over the years to withstand daily use and wear, offering durability that is unmatched with residential furniture. The practicality of commercial furniture is that it still looks “next to new” with years of 8 hours per day wear. Seat pads don’t sag. Work surfaces don’t have wear marks on them.

Examples of Residential Style in Offices
  • Bar tables and high stools
  • Relaxed lounge chairs and  sofas
  • Mid-century styled furniture with warm wood accents
  • Coffee bars and refreshment areas in  work areas
  • Home-inspired textiles
  • Barn doors and rustic wood cladding
Home-Style Furniture Options

So if you are looking to achieve this casual style in your office, we can help. Just two examples of “Res-imercial” design we offer are… Three H Woodstock desking and Artopex Fjord seating … both offering the cool, cozy aspects of home-styled residential furniture but with the durability of commercial. 

A business looking to design home-like spaces such as cozy nooks and modern furniture lines are creating workspaces that are fun and functional at the same time. This trend is enhancing the quality of work-life for employees. With elements such as nature and home-like furniture, a business is able to offer both a comfortable atmosphere and a productive work environment.

Leave a comment