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Office design plays a bigger role in company culture than most entrepreneurs want to admit. It’s commonly accepted that company culture is worth investing in (culture matters to employees, and money saved on recruitment is money earned). But how do you promote a nebulous concept like culture? Writing it into a handbook doesn’t make it real.

Often times, hiring a good design agency is the first step. Whatever the mission statement might say, the fact is that employees walk into a physical building every day. The physical properties of the space have a tremendous impact on how people experience their daily lives. We’ve seen how office design affects work styles for startups, but how does it affect mentality and happiness?

As a designer, one of the most effective tools at your disposal is art. Here are a few ways in which you can bring creativity into the office environment to make your clients happy.

1) Make the most of paintings, posters, and sculptures

If you’re working with a tech company, chances are that any creativity they show is executed through the computer. Whether it’s marketing, design, or code, tech startup creativity revolves around the digital world.

When your eyes are on the computer screen all day, it’s refreshing to have inspiring surroundings to look at when you get up. Designers can spice things up by installing physical art wherever possible.

For a small startup with an equally small office, wall hangings are the place to start. They come in a variety of materials; canvas can provide a nice, textured alternative to the paper posters and fliers we see too much of in advertising.

For bigger companies, it pays to get creative. Big projects like sculptures for the courtyard are the best way to make every employee realize that they’re working somewhere special. Needless to say, the best (and most expensive) parts of the project should be reserved for common areas, rather than gated away in executive meeting rooms. One of the reasons businesses want a strong culture in the first place is to make sure that today’s interns will want to become tomorrow’s executives.

2) Put murals where you least expect them

Murals are a powerful tool when they’re used right. Unlike paintings, sculptures, and other forms of traditional art, murals and decals can be painted onto any wall, anywhere. No need for prominent displays and ample spacing.

If the office has a high-traffic hall that doesn’t offer much to look at, take a walk down it yourself and see where your eyes are naturally drawn. If there’s any kind of flat surface in your line of vision, you can paint a mural or stick a decal on it. Awkward sizes and viewing distances aren’t a big deal because you can tailor the drawing to the space.

Better yet, murals take well to text-based designs. Sometimes, sticking up few simple words related to the company’s mission or product is all takes to inject life into a drab corridor.

3) Employees can make their own art – encourage decentralization

In Fast Company‘s profile of innovative corporate headquarters, we see that Facebook’s campus goes through tiny changes every day. You might find a sign or a poster mysteriously hanging in a hallway, or maybe an office manager decided the weekend before to change the color of the mugs in the kitchen.

Giving individual employees the freedom and power to affect the physical office space is as important as empowering them to affect the office culture. Ideally, one would lead to the other. By encouraging decentralized creativity, you give employees a sense of ownership and responsibility.

As a designer, it’s difficult to encourage this behavior directly, but you can provide the tools that make it possible. Creative blank slates like whiteboards, toy blocks, and cork boards give employees a chance to express themselves. More importantly, they increase the odds of coming into the office every day and seeing something new.

If you’re lacking inspiration, platforms like Share Your Office offer a convenient look into popular shared offices and coworking spaces. In the end, however, it’s not an office designer’s job to define or build company culture. You’ll have to depend on management to take what you offer and develop it.

At the same time, you’ll have a happier client and a cooler project in your portfolio if you keep in mind how employees will actually engage with the space. Office design is not a standalone work of art; it’s dynamic. Embrace this dynamism in your work, and you’ll make a real difference in every employee’s life.

Not everybody thinks about hiring an interior decorator for their home, however there will be times when having a professional help you with your home is necessary. When should you to enlist the help of an interior designer for your home? Should you really consider getting one?

There are many reasons why you need to consider hiring an interior decorator. Here are some times when getting a professional’s help with your home is a good idea:

When you don’t have enough time to spend on your home décor projects – you have to admit it, putting together a home, or even just a room, that looks amazing is going to eat up a lot of your time. If you cannot devote a good amount of your schedule to such a project, hiring an interior decorator to help you out is practically a necessity.

A great way to do this is to hire an online interior designer to help you. When working with a decorator online, you don’t have to schedule meetings, shop for furniture, and other time-consuming activities. You get someone who can work with you on your home décor projects on your free time. They can even help you buy furniture at a discount through their industry contacts and have the pieces delivered to your home, saving you even more time.

You have ideas but are unsure how to execute them – you may have a picture in your head about how your house or room should look. Problem is, you do not know how to make that idea a reality. With the help of an online interior decorator, you will be able to get that dream room built just the way you want by simply sending them pictures of what you want and communicating your vision.

You won’t have to struggle with figuring out how to put together your ideas into a cohesive room design when you let a professional help you. With the use of images that you send the designer about the kinds of looks you want your rooms to have, what furniture you already have, and what your budget is, you will be able to get ideas that are both fit your vision and your budget.

When you just moved to a new home and have no idea how to make it look spectacular – moving can be an exciting thing, and redecorating a new place is one of the things that makes it so thrilling. However, there are times when making a new place look astonishing, and making it comfortable to live in, can be an intimidating task.

If you have no idea where to start and what to do with the new place, a professional designer can help you get some perspective. With pictures of your new home, the furniture you currently have, and ideas of how you want your space to look, they can give you the ideas you may be struggling to get.

From the common house mouse to larger rats of all shapes and sizes, there are many species of rodents that could invade your home. While infestations are more common in the winter when these mammals seek a warm place to nest, they may enter your home year round and for a number of reasons. Usually, by the time you see a mouse or rat in or around the perimeter of your home, chances are they have already found their way inside. If you believe you are facing a rodent infestation, here are three signs to look for that may help you discover if these pests have moved in with you.

Your Pets Become Restless

If you have a dog or cat that was previously calm and has recently begun to pace, sniff at the walls or otherwise become restless, it may be because they can smell the pests that have entered your home and possibly even hear them in the walls. If your pets frequently return to the same areas of your home and seem to growl or whine for no reason, you may want to consider having your home inspected for mice or rats. Do not let your pets hunt or kill rodents, as they can carry diseases that may infect them or inflict dangerous bites, especially in the case of larger rats.

New Odors Appear in the Home

No matter if you are dealing with mice or rats, most species of rodents urinate and defecate a great deal, so much so that you may notice new unpleasant odors where they nest. Larger male rodents exude a musky odor that may become noticeable when new colonies start to build in your attic or basement. Rodents also carry a greasy type of oil in their fur that they leave behind on baseboards or walls when they squeeze through, and you may notice this odor as well. This grease may leave stains behind on your home’s paint, so you may catch a whiff of the smell and see the smudges at the same time.

Shredded Material in the Attic

Even if you do not know the difference between rats and mice, the way they nest is extremely similar. In order to build a nest, they chew up cardboard, insulation, furniture cushions and paper and stuff the shreds into small holes, boxes or other hidey holes to make a warm, safe home for their pups. This is why rodents are most commonly found in the attic, as there is usually a jumble of nesting material available to them. If you store furniture or boxes or old clothing in your attic’s home, wrap them tightly in heavy-duty plastic and store smaller items in plastic storage boxes with snap-on lids so that rodents do not have access to them. This is one of the most effective ways to protect your home from a mice or rodent infestation.

Be Vigilant

Because species of mice and rats can be found virtually anywhere, prevention is key to keeping rodents away from your home. Do not give them the opportunity to nest, and plug up areas where they might enter your home. Keep all food, including pet food, in air-tight containers.

The more you know about the behaviors of mice and rats, the better you will be able to identify their presence and take the proper steps to have them professionally eliminated.

What is the actual difference between architecture and interior design? Many people feel that this difference exists, however they cannot express it with their own words. When people think about home renovation, there is a paramount question whom to hire – an architect or an interior designer. Both experts are responsible for beautifying and building. They can make your home look elegant and classy or extravagant and unusual. Everything depends on your preferences. Thus, it is considerable to grasp this slight difference between architecture and interior design.

Foremost, let us figure out what architecture is. Architecture is related to projecting, planning and construction of buildings. Every building has been built due to the hard work of architectures. Nonetheless, not every building has been built with the help of a designer. When you look at the rough and unattractive factories, warehouses, dormitories, you will not find the slightest influence of a designer. These buildings serve for practical application and nothing else. They do not need to be admirable or alluring. They serve as space or room for equipment, resources, etc. For that reason, we can say that the chief responsibility of an architect is the creation of the functional and safe built environment and space.

Definitely, the role of an architect cannot be questioned, inasmuch as human life and health depend on him. A smart architect has to make the right project of a building. He should think about its safety, functionality and exterior aesthetics. Pay attention to the remarkable and genuine cathedrals, city halls and other noteworthy administrative buildings. They impress and seize our attention with the splendid sculptures, domes, shapes and sharp architectural decisions. Due to their mathematical and logical thinking, architects manage to plan the right forms, angles and lines that can ensure a building’s stability, safety and solidity. They have to choose the right materials for construction in order to improve the quality of the entire building. In brief, the main duty of an architect is to provide exterior and interior designers with the reliable, functional and solid built environment for the further decorative improvement.

The work of an interior designer depends on the space organized by an architect. It is right to state that interior design is an extremely hard job. It requires knowledge about projecting, planning, building, decorating, etc. What is more, designers have to develop their personal taste and sense of aesthetics. Creativity and taste are two vital components of this job. Sometimes, logical thinking can ruin the total internal image of a building. In case of interior design, one should rely on intuition and his well-trained good taste. On the other hand, a professional interior designer cannot survive without logical thinking and accurate calculations. He has to make functional and beautiful space for living, work or entertainment. Very often, the built environment is very narrow and one has to invent something radical and uncommon to organize this space in the best way.

Being an interior designer is a challenge whereas he has to be multitasking and open-minded. Every client has different taste and preferences regarding the design of his home or office. An interior designer is expected to be good at different styles and decorative approaches. He should be able to decorate a flat, hospital, office building, etc. meeting the requirements of his clients even though he does not like their choice. Although you prefer designing restrained and discreet classy private offices, it does not mean that you cannot organize a contemporary, trendy and colorful kitchen for a young client. Interior design is associated with the improvement of space with the help of fabrics, paint, wallpapers, pictures, furniture, home appliances, lining materials, etc. These elements should coexist with one another and improve the general atmosphere of the chosen room, office or hall.

Architecture and interior design are closely connected with each other. Architecture focuses on the exterior design and constitution of the whole building. It is responsible for safety, solidity and functionality of the chosen space. Architects project central heating, electricity and water supply of a building while interior designers improve this space with color, additional facing materials, fabrics and furniture making it comfortable and satisfactory for living or work.

This article is written by essay writer who work for some professional academic writing services.