The lighting dynamics of a small office with a view

Mrs ERJ and I had an opportunity to visit with a professional in her new office.

The profession could have been a doctor, financial advisor, attorney; somebody who advises either one or small groups of people.

Approximate size of 10' by 12'

The professional chose to put her desk diagonally across from the entry door.  She had a three-person couch immediately to the left of the door and a two-person couch across the room from her desk.

The most notable feature, as a visitor, was the window.  It started at about 36" and continued to the ceiling and spanned the entire width of the back wall.

Sitting in the three-person couch, this is what I saw

That may be great for interrogations but doesn't work for professional relationships.  60% of the client seating in her office was not going to work.

And before you ask, the sun was not shining in the window.  It was 10:30 in the morning and the office was on the west side of the complex.

Color palette
A minor contributor to the issue was the color palette.

The color intensity was mid-tone rather than pastel.  I think the professional was trying to avoid the sterile, industrial feel that pastels can bring to a room's environment.

Furniture placement
The biggest issue, other than the vast amount of windows on one side of the room involved furniture placement.

From a communication standpoint, the arrangement shown in the picture would work better than the current arrangement.  The book-shelf could be moved to soften the back-lighting as seen from the two-person couch.

Unfortunately, the professional shot herself in the foot when she bought the furniture.  She would have had far more options if both couches were two-person couches as the 7' long couch really limits the space. 

A cheap way to have identified the issue of limited options would have been to cut some Post-it notes to scale and shuffle them around on a to-scale office plan.

Maybe this post will help young professionals from making similar mistakes.