What is resimercial design?
“Resimercial” design combines residential and commercial elements to make employees feel at home in the office. As the working world evolves, employers increasingly pull decorative touches from homes — like cozy furniture and creative art — and bring them into the workplace with the goal of raising employee morale and efficiency.
Read on to learn why sofas and armchairs are finding themselves part of the classic 9-5, and see how your next project can benefit from incorporating a few resimercial touches of your own.
Why is resimercial design a growing trend — and is it here to stay?
Incorporating home-like elements into today’s modern workplace has been shown to increase employee productivity — and all signs indicate that the resimercial design trend is here to stay.
Here’s why.
When employees are comfortable, they’re more productive
We spend about a third of our lives at work. In fact, 30 percent of Americans already put in more than 45 hours per week, and that number continues to grow in the age of interconnectivity. We can never really “get away” — and as the corporate world increases pressure on employees to perform, it’s more important than ever to create office spaces that support productivity.
Thankfully, resimercial design is one way to boost worker morale and ensure a job well done. Nearly 80 percent of creative professionals have their best ideas when working in flexible spaces, and it turns out office design is almost as critical for employee retention as traditional benefits.
Creating a relaxed atmosphere through the addition of residential elements can decrease employee turnover, improve project focus, and ultimately boost an employers’ bottom line.
Resimercial design helps corporate offices compete with work-from-home opportunities
Companies are no longer just competing with other office spaces for their top talent — they also have to stand up to the influx of work-from-home positions. Nearly 8 percent of Americans work remotely, and that number is projected to climb into the double digits within the year.
How can large employers keep their brick-and-mortar locations attractive? By making them feel less like sterile cubicles and more like the soft living rooms we come home to at the end of a long day.
Resimercial design is a great way to create an office space that combines the comfort of working from home with the benefits of being with coworkers on-site.
Comfortable, relaxed workspaces are becoming expected
Finally, comfortable office spaces are simply becoming expected — and employers who don’t get on board will likely find their workers abandoning ship. More than half of all millennials say they want a relaxed working atmosphere, and the number is even higher among Gen Xers.
What’s more? Big-name powerhouses like Uber, Yelp, and Microsoft have been investing in resimercial design for years — and they aren’t turning back. We expect their decisions to continue driving the choices of smaller companies throughout the next few years.
How can you incorporate resimercial elements in your office design?
Use a variety of textures and silhouettes
One of the biggest differences between the classic workplace and the average home is that offices are known for being consistent to the point of repetitiveness — while the most comfortable living rooms thrive on a bit of variety.
You can break up the monotony of the American 9-5 by incorporating different furniture textures and shapes into your corporate design. Consider placing a small end table next to a large sofa, stationing a tall bookshelf near a collapsed bean bag chair, or even replacing standard white-gray desks with textured-wood versions.
Even just a few unexpected silhouettes can go a long way in making your design feel more organic.
Create warmth and comfort with natural elements
Natural fibers and lighting can take a corporate space from harsh to comfortable faster than pretty much anything else. Instead of opting for only sleek, polished accessories, try to incorporate touches of the outside world through wool rugs, large curtained windows, and classic house plants.
Imagine you’re designing for a living room
At the end of the day, most office spaces can benefit if you treat them a little bit like you’re designing for a home’s comfortable living room. The same principles that encourage family connection can increase employee collaboration — and there’s a reason that our most-loved hangouts have dimmable lights and multiple seating options.
Resimercial design isn’t so complicated when you start to simply think about what design elements make a home feel more inviting.
One word of caution: Residential furnishings are often not as durable as those designed specifically for a high-traffic workplace. Thankfully, many furniture designers and manufacturers are understanding the resimercial trend and creating options that straddle the best of both worlds — but you should still always consider how your perfect cozy sofa will hold up over the years.
Find the perfect rug to soften your space
One of our favorite ways to bring a home-like element into an office space design? Natural fiber rugs.
We not only have a variety of on-demand rugs that are ready to ship for your project today — we can also create a custom hand-knotted wool or silk rug to your exact specifications.
Drop us a line and let us know how we can help!
