Best Pieces of Waiting Room Furniture: Desk, Chair & More

Waiting rooms are something business owners often take for granted since they put more effort into office storage & organization, but the waiting office furniture you have is essential to make sure your clients stay loyal and comfortable working with you.  

Regardless of the services or products you offer, if your clients don’t feel comfortable in your waiting room, they may not come back in the future. 

On the contrary, getting nice and stylish furniture for your waiting room will make the whole experience of hiring you more enjoyable. We understand it’s not that easy to find all the things you need for your waiting room by yourself, so we are here to help you with that.  

Here, you can find the 20 essential pieces of office waiting room furniture for your business and some examples of excellent products you could buy. We know investing in all these at the same time could be difficult if you are working on a budget, but doing so may show excellent benefits in the long term. 

20 Best Pieces of Waiting Room Furniture

1. Reception Desk

The first thing you should get for your waiting room is a sophisticated reception desk for your receptionist to have everything they need at hand. You are good to go with a compact desk such as the Autonomous CompactDesk Core or the Northread CompactDesk: Programmable Keypad.  

However, try picking something that adapts to your waiting room’s space and the things you need your receptionist to work with. Getting a standing desk for your waiting room is also an excellent option since sitting all day could make your receptionist develop severe back and neck pain.  

2. Ergonomic Chair

Although you don’t want your receptionist to sit on a chair all day, you don’t want them to spend hours standing, either, so an office chair with ergonomic designs might be what you need for them. You can even buy more than one waiting room chair in case you want to leave some of them there for clients.  

Why do we tell you to get an ergonomic chair? Because they offer lumbar support, which improves the chair’s user’s posture and prevents back pain. Your receptionist is the one in charge of talking to your clients, and you don’t want them to be in pain since that could lead them to not give their 100% when addressing anyone’s needs.

3. Sofa

Now that you have taken care of everything your receptionist needs to stay comfortable while working, it’s time to get some office waiting room furniture for your clients. Let’s start with a couple of sofas that are comfy enough for them to wait there all the time they need with no trouble.  

Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that making sure the sofas are comfortable is not the only thing you should worry about when looking for them. Aesthetics are also important when designing your waiting room’s layout, so try buying products that make the whole place look better.  

4. Desk Lamps

Desk accessories are also a fundamental part of your waiting room, even if it’s a small waiting room design. If your clients come to the receptionist with a question or a problem, you don’t want them to make an effort to clearly see what they are trying to show them. How do you solve this? Buy a desk lamp!  

The Autonomous Ultra-Wide LED Desk Lamp is the best desk lamp you can find on the market or at least one of the best out there. This smart desk lamp is easy to use, and you can customize it to suit the vibe you have in your waiting room.   

5. Wall Decoration

As we mentioned before, aesthetics are essential when thinking of a modern office waiting area design, so you should get as many decorations as you can to make the place stand out from your competitors’ waiting rooms.  

Things such as paintings are excellent for the job, and we are not saying you have to buy the most expensive office wall décor you see on the market. Purchasing something that fits with the room vibe is more than enough.

6. Carpets 

Carpets always make waiting rooms look and feel cozier than they would without one. If you are thinking about getting waiting room furniture and missing decorations, a nice-looking carpet is an ideal place to start. However, you need to pick the color you want for your carpet carefully.  

If you want your waiting room to be filled with warm colors, we recommend going for earth-tone colors such as beige and cream. People looking for a more sophisticated-looking waiting room should go for darker colors such as dark blue, black, and gray. Black and white are always safe options, too.  

7. Stools

Even if you already have a sofa for your clients to sit on while they wait, it’s never bad to add some stools to the mix to make sure you have room for everyone. Naturally, you need to adapt your waiting room furniture to the number of people you think you will receive, but even if there are not that many, it’s always a good thing to have some stools in stock.  

The reason for this is not everyone wants to sit on the same sofa as someone they don’t know due to the risk of getting sick after the COVID-19 pandemic.

8. Plants

Plants are also an amazing addition to your waiting room, so you could put some of them close to your waiting room office chair or any other place you see fit. Some prefer not to have plants since they don’t want to go through the hassle of taking care of them, but they bring several benefits to your workplace.  

You can get all the must-have office supplies and office waiting room furniture you want, but things won’t be the same until you get a natural element, such as plants. The reason for this is they help people stay focused, promote happiness and peace, and some people believe they even help keep negative vibes off your waiting room.  

9. Speakers

Getting speakers is one of the best ways of keeping people entertained while you set everything up for them. You can use them to play some music or even to tell them when it’s time for them to come into your office.   

If you want to play music on your speakers, we recommend you play something relaxing, such as smooth jazz or blues. Other than that, some people prefer just letting the radio on for people to hear the news.

10. Toys and Video Games

Waiting room furniture, such as a waiting room chair or a desk, is something most of these rooms have, but you can’t forget about some toys or video games for children to play while they wait for their parents to talk business with you.  

Although it’s not something that will happen every time you have clients in your office buildings, customers often need to take their children with them when they go to work, and kids can bother their parents if they are bored while they wait. You don’t want that, so it’s best if you get something for them to have fun with.  

11. Newspapers and Magazines

Children are not the only ones you don’t want to get bored in your waiting room since, although your customers know they need to wait for you, it’s better to have something for them to do while they wait.  

Sometimes, you can take more time than you thought to let your clients in, so give them some newspapers for them to read or magazines you think they would like. If you are selling products, you can leave a magazine with your latest deals to see if they buy something while they are there.

12. Air Purifier

Not many people think about air purifiers when looking for office waiting room furniture, but it’s something that will help you a lot and prevent many issues from happening. Things such as dust or mold can contaminate the air and trigger your customers’ allergies.  

There are not many things that feel as uncomfortable as suffering from allergies outside your house, and getting an air purifier can make sure not your customers but also your receptionist and yourself are healthy while working.  

You should still make sure your waiting room furniture is free of dust or dirt since that could also trigger people’s allergies.  

13. Calendar

Calendars are essential for waiting rooms since many people may go there to arrange appointments, and you need to be ready to pick a date that works for both of you.  

It doesn’t matter if it’s a big wall calendar or a small one on a compact desk as long as you have one. Doing this will also help you keep track of the people you will meet all week.

14. Wall Clock

Keeping track of time is also important if you need to meet clients throughout the day since it also helps your customers know if they are late or if they still need to wait a bit more for the meeting.  

We think a wall clock is the best fit for the job since it allows everyone to see the time when they need it. Apart from that, there are many affordable wall clocks available on the market for people working on a budget. 

15. Phone

Waiting rooms often work as a reception place, too, so you need to have someone on the phone who can take all the calls coming to your office. You can also use that phone to let the receptionist or secretary know if they can let someone in.

16. Air Conditioner

Comfort is your top priority when designing your waiting room, and no one wants to wait in a place with no fans or air conditioner. Most people going to office buildings wear clothes not fit for hot temperatures, so it’s best if you have a top-tier air conditioner to keep the room cool at all times.

17. Water Dispenser

If you have a waiting room in your office building, your business may require you to negotiate things with clients all day, and that means you both need to talk a lot.  

It’s difficult to keep a conversation if you are thirsty, so the best way to keep your clients from being all thirsty when they meet you is by adding a water dispenser to your office waiting room furniture list.  

18. Coffee Station

Just as you want your clients to drink as much water as they can, early morning meetings can be difficult for people who are still drowsy when they get to your office building. Add a coffee station to your waiting area to make sure your clients are fully awake when you meet them.  

You can put a little table and waiting room office chair there for them to sit and have a cup of coffee.

19. Decorative Table

Decorative tables are not that common when talking about waiting room furniture since most people often go for a regular desk or a waiting room office chair. Regardless of that, it’s still a decent option since it allows you to put other decorations on it.

20. Small Desk

When we say you should get a small desk for your waiting room, we don’t mean the compact desk we mentioned your receptionist needs but rather a desk for customers to have close to the other waiting room furniture at the reception. You can put some newspapers or magazines there, and even if you don’t, small desks are an excellent decoration for an office.  

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many things you can get to make your waiting room better and more comfortable for your customers. We recommend you get all the things we mentioned on this list since they all work together to deliver excellent benefits.  

Many of the items on this list can be found on the Autonomous website, so check it out whenever you have time.