Great office furniture not only contributes to the comfort and well-being of your employees but also impacts their productivity.
But choosing furniture for your office is more than just doing some simple online browsing and saying yes to whatever catches your fancy.
Whatever office furniture you eventually settle on should be specialized for your needs if worker productivity and effectiveness are to be kept running at full gear.
So, whether you’re setting up a small home office or a professional corporate space, it’s important to choose office furniture that’s comfortable, functional, and stylish. After all, you can’t forget we spend a lot of our waking hours grinding away in the office.
Read on to discover the steps you should take to get your hands on great office furniture in Nairobi, before taking a look at some of the places you can get some of the best furniture deals for your office.
1. Consider Spacing Constraints
You may have the budget and access to all of the best office furniture around, but it’ll do you little good if you don’t have enough office space.
This is why you should first take proper measurements in the room you want to furnish. Next, visualize how you’d like it to look before you choose and install any furniture in it.
It’s easy to get tempted to look at your current office setup and go ahead to make decisions based on the number of chairs, desks, and tables that you have. But upgrading to a different workspace that will impact the flow of your office can lead to over or under-purchasing if one’s not careful.
Worse, you might even find out the hard way that the furniture you ordered can’t even fit through your doorway.
Consequently, don’t be afraid to tape off exact desk measurements on your office floor to test and visualize how you’ll be getting around.
It’s not just the size of your office space that you must consider, however. The number of employees the office has will help you determine the kind of furniture you can realistically work with.
A small office space with a few employees, for instance, may benefit more from larger coworking tables or a higher number of smaller but comfortable tables.
Remember, however, that cramming in more employees in a small office will not only make it look congested but also restrict their free movement.
Plus, you don’t want to run afoul of the 2007 Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) which sets guidelines on how much space per person Kenyan offices should have.
According to the Act, workplaces should have sufficient size and free space for work to be carried out. An adequate amount of air for each employee should also be maintained, with ten cubic meters per person being the minimum permissible.
Don’t give up space to create clutter. The last thing you want is to have your clients or workers stumbling over obstacles to get from your door to your desk.
As you look at the space you’re working with, remember it’s not just chairs, desks, and tables that are important to a workspace. Storage options, whether in the form of filing cabinets, bookcases, storage drawers, and more, should also match your office furniture.
Make sure, then, that as you consider the space you’re working with, you also plan for what you anticipate your future needs will be and adjust accordingly.
2. Keep in Mind Comfort, Functionality, and Style
Looks alone are not everything. You have to put at the center of your mind the nature of your work, as well as the work culture you have in place.
Because you’re getting furniture for people who sit and work most of the day in the office, making ergonomic furniture considerations will make working both easier and healthier.
Ergonomic design, which deals with fitting the workplace to your employees’ needs, reduces discomfort and increases efficiency and productivity.
You can make ergonomic furniture considerations in the choice of office seats, center tables, side tables, or office storage you choose to go with. Good ergonomics play a big role in taking care of your employees’ health, as well as improving your organization’s bottom line.
The appearance of your office furniture is an important factor to weigh in, too. This is especially because your office furniture should reflect the values and personality of your organization, and it should, therefore, reflect your brand even as it serves the needs of your employees.
Traditional businesses can benefit from office furniture that comes in a cherry finish, for instance. Wood furniture also carries with it a more traditional feel.
Contemporary businesses, on the other hand, may find grey or white colors more to their liking. Steel and glass pieces can help these businesses look modern and industrial as they strive to meet current workplace trends.
The other reason style matters are because the kind of furniture you choose reflects on the type of business you run or the company you work for. A bank CEO with an office desk or seat that looks like a ten-year-old put it together may send out the wrong kind of message to potential clients or partners.
3. Examine Your Budget, Then Check Out Deals and Discounts
You want to have an idea of just how many desks, tables, and chairs, among other items of office furniture, you need. Thinking through these items will help you come up with a realistic budget figure to work with.
You can expect that great office furniture will come with a correspondingly appropriate price tag. Regardless, be wary of falling into the trap of thinking that the lowest-price furniture vendor is necessarily your best bet.
Instead, sift through your vendor list to get a few reputable companies that provide durable and high-quality office furniture that will fit your budget. Taking the necessary due care will save you from having to replace all of your office furniture in a year due to overuse.
Fortunately, there are a few ways you can use to grade your office furniture dealer:
- The kind of warranty they offer
- How they treat furniture that is damaged during shipping
- The services they provide for delivery, assembly, set up, and installation
- Their return policy
When you eventually get down to making the order for some great office furniture, don’t forget to check if you can get discounts for buying in bulk. You might find that you can save money if you order multiple pieces of certain items or open a trade account with your dealer.
8 of the Best Shops to Buy Office Furniture in Nairobi
Now that you’re well-armed with tips on how to go about getting great office furniture, here are a few dealers in Nairobi that you might want to consider before settling on who works best for you.
Please note that some of these furniture dealers have stores in other Kenyan towns too.
| Dealer | Features | Location(s) |
| Victoria Furnitures Ltd | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ Curbside pickup ✔ Delivery ✔ Furniture can be customized ✔ Warranty on all products ✔ Financing is available | 9 Parklands Road, Westlands 15 Koinange Street, Nairobi CBD 2nd Floor, Victoria Courts, Mombasa Road (Directly after Panari Sky Center) |
| Rosewood Furniture Manufacturers Ltd | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery | Chiromo Business Park, Chiromo Road (After The Mirage) Simi Industrial Park, Mombasa Road (Opposite Vitafoam) |
| Antarc Kenya | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery | 62 Muthithi Road, Westlands |
| Bürotime Office Furniture | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery | Ground Floor, Gallant House, Parklands Road, Westlands Ground Floor, Panesar Center, Mombasa Road |
| Furniture Elegance Ltd | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery ✔ Warranty ✔ Overseas shipping ✔ Free interior design | Ground Floor, Paramount Plaza, Off Murang’a Road |
| Copyrite Furnitures Ltd | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ Curbside pickup ✔ Delivery | 1st Floor, The Center Point, Parklands Road (Next to Shell Service Station which was formerly Engen Petrol Station) |
| Fairdeal Furniture | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery | Sarit Center, Pio Gama Pinto Road / Karuna Road, Nairobi |
| Furniture Palace | ✔ In-store shopping ✔ In-store pickup ✔ Delivery | DTB Centre, Mombasa Road (Opposite Parkside Towers) The Hub Mall, Karen-Dagoretti Road Allianz Plaza, 96 Riverside Drive Ground Floor, Thika Road Mall (TRM), Thika Road Avenue 19, Musa Gitau Road (Off Waiyaki Way) |
Should you fail to find great office furniture that fits your unique needs in local stores. Thankfully, it’s far much easier in today’s global village to import modular and flatpack furniture from any part of the world directly into Kenya.
If you’re looking for more variety, make a point to peruse our more comprehensive list of 25 of the best places to buy furniture in Nairobi.
How to Set Up Office Furniture
Once your delivery is made, ask yourself if you want to send in some of your great office furniture for repairs due to improper installation before you’ve even had a chance to use it.
Don’t risk it. Call on a reliable furniture installation provider if your furniture dealer doesn’t provide you with the experts you need to properly handle your spanking new furniture, or when you need to clear out your old furniture to make room for the new.
Make sure to involve professional moving companies that will not only help you through the shipping process but also competently install the furniture for you, especially since it’ll most likely come flat-packed. Don’t hesitate to get a free quote today.
