Office Guest Chairs - Selecting The Best Type Of Guest Seating

Successful office guest chair selection begins with deciding how you meet with your guests, because only then can you choose the most appropriate visitor seating for your needs.

Next, you need to consider where you meet your guests as this too influences your choice of guest chair.

Once you have answered these two key points then you are ready to make the actual seating selection best suited to your needs, here’s what you need to do.

How Do You Normally Meet With Your Guests And Visitors?

When considering what office guest chair is best for your business the first thing to look at is how you meet with your guests and visitors as this will greatly affect your final chair selection.

So, first off – do you prefer a formal structured approach when receiving visitors, or are you more inclined to take a relaxed approach with your guests? It’s important that you decide which is best for you as this will enable you to focus more effectively on the most appropriate type of guest seating for your business.

For instance, if you are happiest with an informal approach then a rigid upright four legged chair is not likely to be appropriate, and probably a comfortable settee will much better suited to your needs.

Where Do You Meet With Your Guests And Visitors?

Next, decide where you like to meet with your guests, there are many choices including:

• Reception and lobby area
• Interview room near to reception
• Meeting room possibly with audio, visual and Internet facilities
• Your own office

And don't forget your guest chairs are actually quite an important part of your business seating as visitors to your premises may well form a subliminal opinion of your business based on how you receive, greet and seat them.

For instance, if you sit them on some cheap tacky guest chair what message are you sending out to them?

On the other hand if you give them quality, comfortable guest seating they are less likely to form any negative opinions about you and your business.

Choosing Your Guest Seating

So, where do you begin when choosing your office guest chairs and what needs to be considered?

Well, although the choice of office guest seating is vast, it actually falls into 3 broad categories - wood and metal framed chairs, lounge or tub seats and sofas.

Wood and metal framed guest chairs are often very similar in style, with the obvious difference being the material the frame is made from.

Both wood and metal guest chairs make good choices for your guest seating, particularly if you prefer a more formal type of seating.

Wood side chairs can look very classy and if comfort is important make sure you choose a well padded model. The same can be said for metal guest chairs and there are some really stylish chairs to choose from particularly those with aluminium frames as it’s such a brilliant material to shape and form chair frames with.

A point you should note though if you plan to go for guest seats with arms, avoid very narrow framed models as the arms can be quite restrictive for larger framed users.

Lounge or tub seats have become an increasingly popular choice of guest chair in recent years. These chairs can be really great for seating your guests and visitors, generally speaking they are comfortable and project a very good image as they look solid and stylish.

The only drawback with them is that some of the larger models can be a bit awkward to get up from, so it’s best to stick with standard sized models.

Sofas make for excellent guest and visitor seating provided they are used in the right way. Generally speaking they are best used to seat visitors informally, so if you favor a more casual type of seating then sofas are the way to go.

There are a couple of points to be aware of when choosing a sofa, first avoid very spongy models as your visitors may sink into them and suffer embarrassment as they struggle to get out of them.

Second, steer clear of models that have a very deep front to back measurement as they too can be a real bind to get out of, frequently visitors will perch on the edge of the seat and end up looking awkward and feeling uncomfortable in them.

Summary

So to summarize how to go about selecting your office guest seating, first begin by deciding on whether you prefer a formal or informal meeting with your guests. Wood and metal framed guest chairs are best for the former and sofas for the latter. Lounge or tub seats are generally fine for both approaches.

Next, decide where you actually want to meet with them and it may be that you receive different visitors in different way depending on their status and importance to your business.

Don't lose sight of the image you are unwittingly projecting to visitors to your business, avoid cheap seats instead set a minimum standard of chair.

Finally, bear in mind the various caveats that I have pointed out with each type of seat before making your final choice of guest seating.

If you follow these simple guidelines you should find choosing your office guest seating a straightforward procedure.

If you want to know more about selecting the best Office Guest & Visitor Seating. Visit Guest Chairs & Visitor Seating for further advice, tips and product reviews.