Top 10 furniture designs to create the ultimate productivity-boosting office

Offices have been opening up, and people have been making their way back to their dreary old work desks. However, companies have begun to adopt a more flexible and hybrid working system that also includes a fair portion of work from home. In such a situation, not only do we need well-designed commercial offices, but home offices as well. And a great way to ensure that we have a productive and efficient space to work in is by adding nifty and ergonomic furniture designs to them! These pieces of furniture need to be not only comfortable but ergonomic, and aesthetic as well. And we’ve curated a collection of furniture designs that meet all these criteria. From a wall desk that transforms from a work of art into a functional table to an IKEA-worthy minimal fold-away desk – these furniture designs are all you need to create the ultimate office.

1. The Flow Wall Desk

The Flow Wall Desk is a great piece of office furniture for those spaces that aren’t quite large. It’s the kind of furniture piece that is both functional and decorative, but at the same time maintains a rather simple design philosophy and is sustainable as well!

Why is it noteworthy?

The Flow Wall Desk is something that might be able to fit all of those requirements for a piece of furniture. When “stored” and folded up, it looks like a piece of art on your wall with its minimalist, geometric shapes. Initially, it’s a flat canvas and when you unfold it, it looks like a “spiraling caterpillar” and you realize that it is turning into a desk where you can work, read, or write in your journal.

What we like

  • Multifunctional design
  • Sustainable
  • Features a flatpack form

What we dislike

  • Folding and unfolding the desk whenever you need to use means we can’t have a constant setup.

2. Coffin Office Chair

Are you someone who absolutely despises your dead-end corporate job, well then, we may have found the chair for you! Shaped like a coffin, this wooden chair recently took the internet by storm. A Twitter user shared it on September 7th, and everyone who’s downright fed up with their jobs completely resonated with it.

Why is it noteworthy?

The conceptual coffin chair perfectly represents all the dreaded emotions employees feel throughout the entirety of their workday. It reflects the feeling of doom one experiences, as they have to sit through another pointless meeting that could have been an email.

What we like

  • Inspired by Rene Magritte’s painting titled The Balcony (1950)
  • Perfectly captures the feeling of having a dead-end job

What we dislike

  • It’s an uncomfortable idea to implement in reality
  • There’s no cozy cushioning to get comfy in
  • Not the most practical design for an office in reality

3. The Worklab

Narbutas teamed up with Italian design studio Baldanzi and Novelli to create a mobile office divider called the Worklab. It serves as a multi-functional component for workspaces, combining multiple elements such as a media wall, mobile workstation, whiteboard, space divider, and shelving unit.

Why is it noteworthy?

The highly customizable furniture design is available in a wide range of colors, finishes, accessories, and side panels which come in perforated metal or upholstery. The two combine to provide an intriguing visual elevation to the workplace. It has been equipped with castors, so you can easily move it from one place to another in the office, wherever the need arises. It features a pretty portable design! It creates a private space or provides a division between spaces.

What we like

  • Adds a multifunctional element to offices
  • Sturdy + durable
  • Blends effortlessly with different spaces

What we dislike

  • Not the best option for offices that have space constraints

4. The ZooZoo Collection

Adding an element of warmth will surely help employees to ease into their new work routine, after spending more than a year working from home. And a great collection of furniture could really help with that – such as the ZooZoo collection by Narbutas.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed by Annie Lee for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the ZooZoo collection includes an intriguingly high coffee table and a complementing pouf. The sleek coffee table is 27.2 inches tall and features a metal base, as well as a smooth top. The coffee table is available in two sizes, and the metal base can be customized to the color of your choice. The collection also includes a series of matching poufs available in a variety of colors and textiles. The poufs are accompanied by cushioned seats.

What we like

  • The entire collection is available in a single color, or a two-toned option, hence allowing it to suit diverse interior spaces
  • The poufs can be neatly stowed under the coffee tables, and also boast handy storage nooks to hold books, folders, and other miscellaneous items

What we dislike

  • The design is more convenient for temporary use as its not ergonomic or posture-friendly for working long hours

5. Chatpod 700

Office booths are an excellent addition to modern-day office spaces, especially after COVID-19 hit. They create private spaces to work in and allow you to truly focus on your work. And the Chatpod 700 is one such booth, and it claims to be the most sustainable office booth on the market.

Why is it noteworthy?

Made entirely from recycled materials such as post-consumer cardboard, sawdust, rubber, and plastic bottle, the Chatpod 700 is quite proud of its sustainable composition, and with reason. Designed by Jeffrey Ibañez for Impact Acoustic, the office booth was ideally created for team meetings. It has the ability to hold up to four people and serves as an extremely quiet place that would work well for those team meetings where you need to shut the rest of the office off.

What we like

  • Most sustainable office booth on the market
  • Serves as a quiet and isolated space to work in

What we dislike

  • Besides being super sustainable, it’s quite similar to other office booths on the market

6. Iko

The ‘Iko’ is designed to be “a levitating sphere, a focused capsule, a refuge for the senses”. Designed by Ivo Andric, the Iko is a far cry from the traditional chairs you usually come across. It is influenced by the nest of a weaverbird, and the little hanging cocoon creates a neat and cozy space to lounge about in, enabling you to take a break from the office.

Why is it noteworthy?

Iko is made using a few well-curated materials. Its outer frame is crafted from wooden elements that are machine-made and surface-treated by hand, with metal rod internal cores. The rods provide rigidity, the wood gives Iko its classy appeal, and the negative triangular spaces are filled with wool-covered acoustic panels that absorb sound.

What we like

  • Almost every aspect of the Iko (barring the metal) is designed with natural materials

What we dislike

  • While designed for a cozy space, its not great for collaborative spaces or open office setup

7. The FLO Concept

The FLO concept aims to be much more than your ordinary swivel chair. It attempts to take on a more visually whole and expansive shape and is constructed from different parts that you need to assemble yourself. But once built, it looks as if the chair has come out of a factory!

Why is it noteworthy?

This design allows the eyes to smoothly follow the contour of the chair like flowing water, hence the name. Perhaps almost as a side effect, the chair’s overall design looks futuristic and something from a utopian office. The sleek form and twisting structures of the armrests and the bent shape of the backrest give it an almost otherworldly appearance, definitely not something that would fit in today’s office settings.

What we like

  • Visually striking
  • The structure of the chair is actually designed to provide more stability and durability, especially when leaning back

What we dislike

  • The hand rest and the back rest are not adjustable to match unique user needs

8. The Flip Desk

An excellent desk is imperative for a productivity-conducing office space. Not only should our desks be clean, but they should also sport an ergonomic and functional design. And with the space constraint issues that most modern houses face today, we can also add ‘space-saving’ to the checklist. And one such design I recently came across is the Flip Desk!

Why is it noteworthy?

The issue of space constraint is really a major one in the contemporary apartments of today. Hence, having a dedicated workstation that not only amps up your everyday productivity but also manages to consume a minimum amount of space in your home is always an excellent idea. And this is where the Flip Desk jumps right in. Designed by Zurich-based designer Charles O. Job for the Dutch design brand Vij5, this minimal and sturdy desk promises to take up zero floor space.

What we like

  • Space-saving design
  • Minimal and contemporary aesthetics

What we dislike

  • The desk does not offer any aesthetic solutions for when the desk is closed

9. The HÅG Capisco Chair

The HÅG Capisco chair ergonomic office seat is an innovative chair design that’s been amped with a variety of active sitting options, that ensure you don’t have to sit still all day long! It pairs perfectly with standing desks, or desks with an adjustable height. It comes in twelve different upholstery options, as well as three different color options.

Why is it noteworthy?

The chair works well for all kinds of people. Whether you’re a fidgety personality who loves to move around, or someone who enjoys stretching and practicing yoga – this chair works perfectly for everyone! It supports any seating position you may occupy – whether you sit backward, sideways, kneeling, cross-legged, squatting, or more.

What we like

  • Adjustable height – 15″ to 40″
  • Supports a maximum weight of 250 pounds

What we dislike

  • The chair’s quirky form may not be suitable for every office interior

10.  The Zedo Desk

Not only should our desks be clean, but they should also sport an ergonomic and functional design. One such desk I recently came across is the Zedo Desk.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed by Paolo Pampanoni for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the Zedo desk is great to bring some personality and character into a dreary old corporate office. It can be used as an individual desk or linked together with multiple other Zedo desks. The flexible desk system has distinct metal parts, and colorful accessories to help you create a desk space according to your personal taste and requirements.

What we like

  • As ideal as Zedo is for office space, it could also work great in your home office
  • You can team it up with the Polytone-L chair, which is also by Narbutas

What we dislike

  • The aesthetics of the Zedo Desk are strictly minimal – adding individuality will be a task