Meeting room furniture buyer’s guide
Buying boardroom office furniture can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
With so many different meeting tables and boardroom chairs on the market, ranging massively in terms of price, quality, function and style, it can be difficult to find what is right for your business.
Learn everything you need to know about choosing the right furniture for your meeting room by following our buying guide below.
Boardroom furniture
The meeting room table basics
Meeting rooms are often the place your visitors spend the most time, so it's important to fit their needs and be visually appealing - here are some things to think about:
Find a shape that fits your needs
Meeting room tables are available in a variety of different shapes with each one having its own advantages.
Rectangular table
Usually, the biggest of sizes, making them suitable for large meeting rooms with free space to work with. These tables can often be found with many extendable options which allows you to react and increase the size for a lot of people.
Round table
These tables are economical and versatile with a simple and functional design to meet any meeting room environment. The main benefit of a semi-circular table is that it can be easily pushed up against a wall when space is at a premium.
Semi-circular table
Round tables can be found in large oval shapes or small compact circles. Each is perfect for its type of use – either for large boardroom spaces needing 6 or more seats, or small gatherings when you only need to sit a few people around the table and for meeting rooms with limited space.
Square table
Slightly more unusual for a meeting room, but a great choice for small to medium-sized meeting rooms. They provide more surface area than a round or semi-circular table, and make can really make a statement.
Trapezoidal Table
These tables are ideal if you want a multi-purpose product which will fit in any meeting room. Often found in conference centres as they usually have folding legs for easy storage and be used to make horseshoe shapes using matching rectangular desks.
Meet in style
Meeting furniture is available in a large range of styles from modern to more classic traditional pieces. Whatever your business’ needs are it is possible to find a style that matches your culture and creates an atmosphere that you desire.
If your business is focused on innovation and the cutting edge then going for a modern style is perfect – whites and greys or bright colours are often found in contemporary offices. This style creates an extremely polished look with minimalist designs and emphasises on straight clean lines.
Or maybe your business would be better suited to a more versatile and transitional style that isn’t too modern or too traditional but instead feels contemporary. This could mean using light woodgrain colours such as maple or natural oak.
A traditional meeting room table can help create an environment of formality that’s often desired in professional settings – dark woodgrains like beech or walnut are often used in traditional style offices.
Take a seat
When it comes to buying chairs for your meeting room there are many different seating options to choose from. Whether it’s executive leather chairs or funky boardroom chairs, there are still many things to consider as you begin the process to find the right chair for your meeting room.
Executive chairs
High-end chairs offering style and comfort with higher backs and quality materials. Great for those all-day management meetings!
Leather chairs
Designed to add a touch of class to your meeting room, usually either big comfy cushions or stylish thin frames.
Task operator chairs
Not often found in boardrooms, but these multi-functional chairs can offer height adjustment options suitable to accommodate many individuals.
Boardroom chairs
These chairs are great looking chairs for the boardroom because they are versatile and you will find multiple uses for them around the office, not just the meeting room. Often with chrome arms or cantilever bases, they are designed specifically to sit around meeting tables.
Meet your every need
There's more than just tables and chairs
Now you’ve got your furniture essentials, it’s important to think about the other items you may need to finish your meeting room.
From storage solutions to accessories, like artificial plants to mobile whiteboards, these details add functionality and style to your meeting room.
Storage solutions
Having some kind of storage solution in your meeting room may not seem like a necessity, but everything needs a place and somewhere to be put away out of sight. You may have a TV on the wall and need a space to hide the PC, keyboard and mouse? Or you may have a coffee machine, but want to store all the mugs and spoons in a cupboard underneath.
Storage options for your meeting room can include; bookcases, filing cabinets, tambour storage units, credenzas and office cupboards.
Presentation facilities
The type of presentations that will be given in your meeting room will decide what items you need things such as whiteboards, projectors and presentation boards for example.
You may wall-mount a TV or a projector screen to make a media area – if you do, remember to put blinds on the windows to stop any unwanted glare from the sun during your important meetings.
Boardroom accessories
Give your meeting room a comfortable atmosphere by adding accessories such as lamps and lighting, real or artificial plants, as well as clocks and countdown timers. Don't forget to think about conference phones too, many boardrooms are used for numerous people to huddle around a phone in a quiet space, so good quality conference facilities are important.
Refreshments are also essential for meetings, so don’t forget about space for teas and coffees, alongside water dispensers.
Working practices
What to consider when choosing your meeting furniture
Available space
The amount of space in your meeting room will obviously have a big impact on the furniture you buy. When it comes to meeting room furniture you really do need to be aware of how much space you have to work with. The idea of a meeting room is to have desk space surrounded by chairs, so make sure the number of chairs reflects the size of the room appropriately. If you don’t have much space in the meeting room then there are handy fold-away tables these are the perfect desk solution for spaces with limited room, folding compactly away when not in use.
Room size
The available space in your meeting room will be a limiting factor when choosing furniture. You need to make sure you allow for enough space around the perimeter of the table to provide a comfortable walkway for people to get up and down for drinks and comfort breaks without distrusting the whole room. Also think about how the room is laid out, for example, is it easy for all chairs to see the projector screen easily?
How many seats?
TOP TIP: If you want to accommodate a certain number of people around your table there is a little tip to help you; the length of the table measured in feet is also the number of people the table can accommodate. For example, a six-foot-long table can usually accommodate six people around it.
Budgeting
Practical thoughts for your office future
Prices for meeting room furniture varies massively from manufacturer to manufacturer. When setting your budget, think about long-term value – with meeting room furniture, you get what you pay for. Pushing the budget to get higher-quality pieces can have significant benefits in terms of the durability and comfort of the furniture you get.
Quick reference: Meeting Tables can start from around £125 to seat 6 people, with boardroom chairs starting from around £90 each.
Meeting room furniture from Bluespot
Find everything you need to kit out a meeting room. We have a great range of fold away tables and permanent boardroom tables. We also have meeting room chairs and storage solutions you’re sure to find something to suit your meeting room.
Customers benefit from top quality furniture that’s built to last in the UK, free delivery, a next day delivery upgrade option and ultra-competitive prices, backed up by a 10-year guarantee.
For further information on any of our products or services, call a friendly member of our experienced sales team on 0800 8044 760, or email help@bluespotfurniture.com today.