Sitting for ages in a waiting room can help or hinder your impending appointment. If it’s something you are dreading, like a dentist or doctor, comfort is key. Anxiety can be running on high during that wait.

The waiting room design matters. Harsh lighting and hard chairs do not help put a guest at ease. Here are a few ways to really give your waiting room a boost.

Waiting Room Design Made Better

You provide a service and you want to provide the best service you can. That needs to start when your guests enter the office space, not your office.

1. Comfy Furniture

Sitting on a hard plastic chair is brutal. It’s difficult for ten minutes, double that and the results are ‘ouch’. Get softer chairs, seats or couches. Armrests, leg room, and a nice soft backrest take the pain out of waiting.

2. Visual Appeal

This includes soft or natural lighting. Pick a soft, calming color or combination of colors that will be soothing for guests. Hang art that is local, either bought or on display for a limited time.

Plants make a big difference. If you don’t have great light, use artificial plants, trees and add fresh cut flowers. Even paintings of nature will be calming. Photographs of your travels, your patients or the community are also nice.

3. Spacing

Keep seats away from the entrance and offices. You don’t want people getting jostled or knocked about. They also don’t need to be exposed to a cold blast of air every time the door opens.

Try to keep space between seating, if possible. If people are sick or blaring their phones, people need to get away. it’s uncomfortable to have people stacked up on top of each other, so try grouping seating so everyone isn’t facing each other.

4. Refreshments

No one expects you to set up a wet bar or ‘make your own omelet’, but providing water and coffee or tea is an inexpensive way to show you care. This can be done with a service or an urn you make yourself.

You could have a vending machine, with drinks and healthy snacks.

5. Activities

While the well-thumbed magazines are okay, you need activities for kids. Games, puzzles, and books work well. Try to avoid the noisier types of toys.

The parents want entertaining, as well. Have a few TVs mounted on the walls, provide channels suitable for kids and offer free wifi. A selection of reading material other than movie star mags is nice.

Another Ten Minutes

An uncomfortable waiting room is an uncomfortable guest. In many cases, they spend just as much, if not more time waiting. People get antsy when they are uncomfortable or don’t know where to look.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on waiting room design, but you don’t want the bare bones, either. Making your guests comfortable both physically and mentally is very important.

A happy guest will keep coming back. If you need some ideas or more information, please continue reading here.