This Insights was contributed by Ginger Thornton, lead designer at Strickland’s Closets & Home Organization, sister company to Strickland’s Blinds, Shades & Shutters.
More women are going into business for themselves these days.
Between 2007 and 2015, the number of woman-owned firms grew by 68 percent, compared to 47 percent for all businesses. Today, 31 percent of all privately held businesses are owned by women.
It’s a reason to celebrate - and it’s also a catalyst for major change in the office-design industry. Sadly, today’s typical office is not that woman-friendly.
It’s time for that to change.
To do our part, we’ve compiled a few quick-and- easy solutions for creating a more female-friendly office environment.
Open Cubby With Jewelry Tray
Most women in the workplace will recognize this scenario. Every morning, you put your earrings on. Maybe you have a big meeting and you want to make a good impression. But the meeting doesn’t last all day, and when you’re in the office or on the phone with clients, who has time for accessories? The earrings dig painfully into your head when you put on your headset and the bracelets knock against the desk while you type.
This is where the open cubby comes in handy. It can hold a jewelry tray as a safe place to keep accessories while you focus on your phone calls and emails. Then, when it’s time for that important meeting, you know exactly where to find your power accessories.
Shelving For Photos, Keepsakes And Awards
Women’s offices are more likely to be personalized. It makes sense. When you spend 40 or more hours a week in one place, why wouldn’t you make it comfortable? However, that warmth does come at a price - space. A well-designed feminine office should include extra space-saving shelving for family photos, awards and other small mementos.
Cubby To Conceal Purse
Every working woman needs a good purse. She has more to carry than her male counterparts, and women’s work clothes just don’t offer the same kind of pocket space that men’s clothes do.
But the truth is, purses in the workplace are often difficult to manage. If you set it on the floor, an expensive and integral piece of your wardrobe is bound to wear out faster. If you hang it on a hook, the office looks unnecessarily cluttered.
Enter the closed cubby. A closed cubby can provide the perfect hidden storage for purses or other bags. The purse is safe from a dusty floor, and you’re safe from the kinds of coworkers or clients who will inevitably judge your office based on the more austere standards of the masculine order.
Corner Kids’ Area For Working Moms
The world is full of working fathers, but working mothers are the ones most likely to have overlap between parental responsibilities and work responsibilities. Sometimes the sitter calls in sick but you’ve still got important meetings to attend. Sometimes after-school activities are cancelled or play-dates fall through.
Ideally, any mother-friendly office should have an area where kids can feel comfortable and play quietly, in case they need to drop by after school or be brought to work for any reason.
We think designing woman-friendly work spaces is a must for any company, not to mention anyone planning their own custom home office. That’s why at Strickland’s Closets & Home Organization, we listen to each client’s specific needs and then work to design and build a custom office tailored to their specifications.
Want to learn more about our design process? Stop by Strickland’s showroom today to speak to one of our designers.
The Strickland’s team provides professionally designed, custom-built organization solutions for closets, pantries, garages, laundry rooms, offices and more. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, locally-owned Strickland’s Blinds, Shades & Shutters specializes in custom window and fabric treatments. To learn more, visit stricklandsclosets.com and stricklandsblinds.com, or see the working displays for both companies at their 5422 Oleander Drive showroom. Ginger Thornton can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 910.762.0944.
