Visitor Chairs and Waiting Room Chairs

When it comes to seating, comfort is still the key. However, there are other things to consider such as:

• Accessibility

Consider the available space in your waiting area of reception. It is important to understand the dimensions of your space in detail and know the flow of visitors to ensure that you get the right chairs to accommodate your visitors throughout the day.

• Flow and Waiting Time

Depending on the type of service your business provides, the flow of visitors and average waiting time will vary significantly. If your business often has visitors that spend a fair bit of time in the waiting room, it is important to invest in comfortable seating that supports their posture as well as their back and neck. For businesses with a high flow of visitors who don’t spend much time there, it might be worth looking into multiple seating options that maximise the available space in the waiting room.

• Brand and Interior Design

Although not a major consideration, ensuring that the elements in your office and visitor spaces are cohesive is important. Some offices are designed and styled with a specific brand guideline in mind, which means that visitor chairs should fit the space and not stand out as odd pieces.

• Freestanding Chairs

The standard seating options that are often referred to as side chairs. They are designed with four legs for stability and may come with or without arms. Similar chair styles include bariatric chairs and tandem seating.

• Sofas

These are commercial-grade couches available in various configurations, with the typical accommodation of three average-sized people. They are plush and commonly used in a lounge type setting where visitors may be seated for longer periods of time. Loveseats also fall under this category.

• Benches

Similar to sofas, they can seat multiple people in one area, although they are often not as plush. They also usually have a lower profile and typically do not have a back or arms. Single-user benches such as ottomans borrow a lot of their design from benches, although they often have shorter legs and better upholstery.

Depending on the brand and style of the waiting room chairs you choose, they may have one or more of the following features:Motion back chairs

Some visitor chairs have a backrest that allows the user to move or recline the chair to suit their preference. This provides additional comfort during extended sitting periods.

• Mobile chairs

Some waiting room chairs can have two or four wheels that allow for easy movement and repositioning. The wheels are often fixed, but some brands engineer the wheels to be removable.

• Arms

Although visitor chairs commonly come without arms, some designs incorporate arms to provide visitors with additional support. Do note that visitor chairs with arms take up more space because they cannot be placed too closely with each other in the room.