Choosing the best cubicle furniture means getting the most function for your budget. It's important to consider the type of work to be done in the space, then decide what kind of furniture will best serve that purpose. Of course, the look and scale of cubicle furniture should coordinate well with the rest of the office.
The chair and the desk are the most important furniture in a cubicle. Improper desk height and non-adjustable chairs with non-supportive backs can cause harmful medical conditions such as the wrist problem called carpal tunnel syndrome. Ergonomic cubicle furniture is designed to help prevent medical problems and back pain due to improper support and computer height. If you're on a tight budget, it's best to spend most of the money on good ergonomic desks and chairs that will work for different sizes of employees before deciding on any other cubicle furnishings.
If possible, you should physically get into the cubicle space to decide the best placement of the desk and chair. After that, you can decide what storage or work table pieces you can afford and where they should be placed. You'll need to take careful measurements before you search for cubicle furniture in store catalogs.
While many cubicles feature some open shelving, keep in mind that closed shelves usually have a much neater appearance. What each office worker will place on the shelves will vary; from a distance, the different mix of items in the rows of cubicles may appear messy and haphazard. Yet, with cupboard doors covering the same shelves, the mix of items can still be there, but the eye sees only the same cabinet finishes. Bulletin boards hung in each space can allow workers to display individual projects and photographs in a more limited area to allow visual interest without an entire wall of mess in open cubicle furniture.
A lower cabinet with a counter top to fit under the closed shelving can provide a surface for organizing projects as well as more storage. Rather than shelves in the lower storage unit, which may be difficult for an office worker to access in the typically small space of a cubicle, drawers may work best. Shallow drawers allow for the storage of project pieces as well as stationery supplies such as pens. Deeper lower drawers designed for hanging file folders allow each worker to have a mini filing cabinet in his or her cubicle. This way, important papers can be organized efficiently for easy access.
