The Alternative Approach To Office Furniture

The subject of office furniture can be a tedious and boring affair and not something we take a great deal of notice until it is affecting us in an adverse manner. You won't hear anybody arrive home from work singing the praises of their office chair or the beauty and quality of their office desk but there are plenty of wives that have to put up with their men bemoaning the problems of uncomfortable office furniture that gives you back ache or repetitive strain injury.

There has been some noises made around our office of late shouting about the alternative office furniture that the staff of Google are treated to. For example, there is a slide to get from one department to another, soft padded chill out areas and unusual looking 'pods' for carrying out meetings in bespoke surroundings. This could be that the staff of Google are high fliers that dedicate their live to their work and so have to include a little fun in their everyday lives to prevent them from turning into complete anoraks - or am I just sounding bitter and twisted here?

It surely could not hurt any company to take another look at their office furniture and see what they could do to make staff and visitors have a wholly more enjoyable office experience and want to come back again. How could this be possible? Well, requests emanating from my floor at work suggest the use of a simple hammock that could be strung across a quiet corner for those after lunch forty winks.

Our boss, unsurprisingly, is not in favour of this suggestion but I urge him to think again. Pushing ourselves to our limits for the whole afternoon is counter-productive. Ideas come with more of a struggle and work is done at a much slower pace. Better to have a power nap for ten minutes and awake fully refreshed and ready for several more hours of grind at our optimum level.

Mandy from accounts has put forward the suggestion that we look to use office furniture as a way of brightening up our surroundings, in theory making us all happier and more enthusiastic about coming into work. This is a possibility but I think the majority would want her preferred Barbie pink furniture to be reconsidered.

Dave from sales has requested points of interest to surround the office furniture. Specifically, he has asked for a model train track to surround his desk and also to have the option of a uniform similar to the fat controller. This could give you an inkling as to why Dave from sales has no friends!

Delores from the admin department wants hard backed chairs and desks with sharp corners all in shades of grey. This is because she believes that a company should not be pressured into certain circumstances by the staff and that office equipment should be purely functional, not pretty. Delores has never married, or had children or, indeed a boyfriend.

Input from the creative team, namely Summer Rainbow Sky - the resident hippy - has suggested we look at ergonomic chairs and desks made from raw tree parts from sustainable forests and that we should hold a corporate event of replanting as many trees as we use for our furniture. I'm all for a works day out but give me a paintballing session and a knees up down the pub over a tree hugging expedition any day.

For those with any other ideas on what we can do to brighten up our office - answers on a postcard please.