When a business needs a makeover

The Murdock Family Medicine waiting room now features sage green walls, new carpeting and navy floor molding. The chairs are being reupholstered, with some already done in purple. BARBARA BOXLEITNER/FLORIDA WEEKLY KLY Visitors to area commercial offices don’t often see changes in the décor.

Apparently, they should.

Medical, office and retail spaces typically go too long without makeovers, according to design experts. The wear and tear shows in scuff marks and dings in walls, floor molding and furniture, stains on upholstery and carpeting. Color schemes are want of variety.

Interior designers said the office is a reflection of the medical or law practice or retail establishment and services rendered. As such, it should be a clean, current and professional workplace that leaves a favorable first impression.

Licensed interior designer Nancy Briechle, owner of Nancy Briechle Interior Designer in Punta Gorda, handles commercial projects. She said professionals are so busy tending to clients and maintaining the business that the office’s appearance gets overlooked.

“They don’t see this as a primary expenditure,” Mrs. Briechle said. “You let them know the importance of having an office that is up to date and stylish.”

Perhaps more than other commercial spaces, those in the healthcare industry have to be particularly comforting because many of the people who walk through the door bring health issues. “You want to convey the fact that you have a top doctor,” she said. “They’re not happy in the first place. It calms them a little bit, and they’re more happy being there.”

Some offices are simpler to upgrade than others, though the office traffic often means that designers have to discuss remodels with proprietors before and after business hours and convey plans via e-mail. Projects extend over time because the changes are being made while business continues.

Typical redesigns include a new color scheme, new flooring and new or reupholstered furniture. “They’re not going to be doing this every day,” Mrs. Briechle said. “You want to do something that is up to the minute but transitions over the long haul.”

Medical offices, some of which are quite spacious, are under scrutiny to meet standards by the American National Standards Institute and Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average inpatient healthcare facility is more than twice as large as another commercial building type.

The procedure areas, most notably, should meet high levels. “The type of floorings have to be heat sealed so that you don’t have any kind of bacterial contamination,” said Mrs. Briechle. “They have to be super clean.”

The décor in the waiting rooms has to be equally conforming. For example, drapes need to be fire retardant, and fabrics in the seating must have a fire code rating. Seating has to be durable. “You have to have seating that has arms on it, nothing cushiony,” Mrs. Briechle said, because disabled or elderly patients need to be able to lift themselves out of the chair.

Soft sofas, too, are not the best for people to get up and off. A love seat can accommodate larger people who would have less room in a chair. “You have to have it sit firm but not uncomfortable,” she said.

Seating fabrics need to have a moisture barrier behind them as well to handle stains from patients with incontinence and bleeding issues. The Crypton brand of upholstery textile is resistant to moisture, stains and bacteria.

Older furniture tends to be reupholstered, not replaced, although an option is to place new chairs in the visible area, such as the waiting room, and put the existing upholstered ones in extra rooms. “Chair reupholstery is expensive,” said Mrs. Briechle. “You usually are better off to get a new chair. They get banged up.”

When it comes to the color scheme, designers have more flexibility. “I try to keep the surfaces and things that are going to be more permanent more neutral,” she said.

She referred to an office project anwerese a neutral beiges on the wall and an accent wall of blue, grey and green. A freestanding wall behind the reception area was purple, and purple and teal were in the fabric and carpeting in the waiting area. Ceramic tile in a neutral color was in the traffic areas.

Murdock Family Medicine in Port Charlotte has a new look in its waiting room. Joann Lamberto of Interiors by Joann in Port Charlotte has been overseeing the cosmetic changes.

The décor had not been freshened since December 2000, said Bob Bray, Murdock Family Medicine administrator. “It’s a more contemporary color that’s more in style,” he said. “They’re kind of warm colors . Years ago the stark, sterile white was the kind of thing you did in medical.”

In an ongong  project, the walls have been painted sage green, new carpet and floor molding have been installed and the arm chairs are being reupholstered. The textured carpet is sage green with flecks of purple, the molding navy.

The chairs previously were different colors, including a solid olive, a solid beige and a multicolored pattern that also is on a couch along a wall. Mr. Bray said the 62 chairs will be reupholstered in a deep purple over multiple days, and as of Friday, 15 had been done on the side to the right of the entrance.

Mr. Bray also said a display of the center’s awards and acknowledgements will be changed so that the frames are uniform.

Unlike medical offices, law offices have décor changes more frequently because of turnover in attorneys, said Mrs. Briechle, who has been making changes to a Punta Gorda law firm over the past 10 years. ¦