Ideas to Add Privacy to Existing Office Furniture

Even before the pandemic, the open office design had faced push back for privacy.  We have ideas to add privacy to existing office furniture. 

In What Happens When We Return to the Workplace, they reference their 2020 survey where the office was people’s preferred place to work, as long as it’s designed to support their work.  Yep, the office beat out home, co-working space, or coffee shop.  

If you are like many companies, your business plan has changed significantly over the last few years.  Purchasing new office furniture wasn’t in your plan.  What is an affordable way to add privacy to existing office furniture? 

Add Freestanding Office Dividers in 3 Heights

There are several freestanding office divider options.  These are easy to assemble, customizable, made in the USA, and ship well.  During the pandemic, they were used in many hospital and medical situations. Our medical clients are still ordering these office room dividers which speak to their versatility for multiple applications.  We have had corporate clients use them at the end of desk runs to provide privacy.  We like that you can customize the panels with sound absorption, dry erase board, wood planks, plexiglass, etc.

As another freestanding office divider option, we like this minimalist design made from acoustic material. Perfect for visual privacy! 

Add Acoustic Hanging Office Room Dividers

Before the pandemic, the big complaint about the open office was noise pollution. Folks hated all the distractions coming at them everyday. These Modern Office Dividers or Office Hanging Panels are made from dense sound absorption felt are a solution for the noise and social distancing. These absorb about 20% of the sound surrounding the area. Much of the material is made from recycled bottles for a sustainability component.

How to make Cubicle Walls Higher

Perhaps, you want your existing cubicles to be more private and you are asking, how to make cubicle walls higher? Yes, there is a way! You can add cubicle height to a cubicle wall. These are add-on panels for just this purpose. They came out as a solution for when folks realized the open office was too open. Then, during the pandemic, the popularity increased due to health concerns. They are a great solution to add visual privacy and absorb some sound.

Office Pod Chair

We love it when you can add privacy to your existing purchases.  Here is an accessory for your existing office chair.  You can make your own office pod chair.  This acoustic piece attaches to your office chair.  BAM! You have an office pod chair! 

Add Cough and Sneeze Desk Guards To Desks 

Whether is it desk dividers, cough or sneeze desk guards, whatever you call them, your team needs something to keep you from droplets of plague courtesy of your co-worker. 

Side Desk Privacy provides Social Distancing Dividers for Offices

New privacy solutions are launching everyday. This is our favorite for side desk privacy without adding cubicle panels. We like that it extends the privacy by and additional 2 feet for your 2 foot worksurface. It is also more than a divider. You can customize with a tack board or dry erase board. A client in Portland, Oregon has ordered this product twice to give more privacy to their sales team. We didn’t want to block the natural light and this dividers were a great solution.

Cubicle Top Planter

There are many benefits to plants in the office. We love combining a cubicle top planter to add privacy. It is a stylish way to get the privacy and improve air quality!

In this post covid install, the client added cubicle partition planters to the top of the cubicle wing panels to extend the height of the cubicle. The panel planters are available in different sizes. This client went with live snake and pothos plants that are low maintenance.

Add Cubicle Panels to Divide Desks

If you have a several desks in an area, you can provide privacy with cubicle panels.  This manager noticed the distraction of an open office when someone would enter the office.  We added panels to wrap the current desks to provide privacy.  The partitions drop down from tall to mid-height to avoid closing in the space.  

Here is a solution made from used Herman Miller Ethospace panels. At 70″ tall, the glass tiles keep the area open. A pass through window was customized to allow paperwork to move between work areas.

Freestanding Desk Partition

We discovered this freestanding desk partition launched at an industry conference. We love that it was pretty and functional. You have 2 sit to stand desks. Then, the freestanding partition can have a marker board or acoustic material as the center piece. On the side for more privacy, you have a paper management or acoustic option.

Tall Cubicles with Doors

We have seen the requests for tall cubicles with doors increase in a post covid office world. As such, our variations for this set-up have increased too. Whatever your cubicle door needs, we can help you. We have solutions for swing doors or sliding doors. The panels can attach to your existing walls or be in the open depending on your needs. The plexiglass is very popular for still keeping the office open and easy to clean. We have done several cubicle private office projects from 82″ to 8′ tall cubicles to even 107″ tall cubicle walls.

We know budgets can be tough.  We had this creative solution sent to us by another dealer.  His client had figured out a clean, cost-effective solution with just the right amount of privacy.  Yes, they added as shower curtain to their cubicle.  If you go this route, you won’t need us.  If you are looking for a different cubicle with doors solution, please reach out to us!  

Sound Masking for Office

One of the best options for privacy is sound masking for office with a commercial office sound masking system. Sound masking is adding background noise to provide voice privacy. By adding an unobtrusive background noise, the voice frequency is covered up by raising up the background sound.

The background sound is installed in the ceiling. You can see in this visual how the acoustics improve for an office after sound masking is introduced.

In terms of the cost of sound masking for office, a sound masking system costs approximately $2-3/sf installed. (non-union, normal business hours). Pricing varies based on site conditions. To discuss sound masking, please e-mail us at nikim@greencleandesigns.com and let us know a bit about your privacy needs.  

Biophilic Dividers

Biophilic design of using more and more natural materials in design is extremely important for productivity and health. We have explored several of these materials. We love the look of moss as truly a living way to do this. A few things with moss though. Use it where it can’t be touched. Also, it does start to slowly become brown over time. This isn’t a problem to keep the green look with some touch up paint. Moss also isn’t an option for an outside environment.

With moss’ limitations in mind, we were on the search for a biophilic product with even less maintenance and something that could stand the kiddo test. Can my kids destroy it quickly? This product checked all the boxes for indoor, outdoor, beautiful, and curious kid an adult proof.

This faux green product can be used on a wall or as a divider. It is UV treated to weather well. One restaurant used it as a wind break. We love this outdoor artificial green wall install just a few miles away. A local architect is specifying it in VA hospital. They always believe it will be a good fit for fire stations where a calming environment is very important for fire men and women that are regularly interrupted during REM sleep. If you want to add privacy, why not have it be beautiful & calming at the same time!

Modular Office Walls

This client is a school in Georgia. They installed cubicle walls as dividers for a privacy solution for an open office. We took 3 large rooms and separated them into smaller spaces by using modular office walls. The modular cubicle panels were anchored on the existing walls. All the panels were 68″ tall with glass windows toward the top of the panel. The finish choices worked well in the area and provided a warmth to the space. To keep the cost down, we did not install doors. At this height, they could have added sliding doors.

Office Furniture Room Dividers

This solution is another post covid creation. It has the look of metal dividers but made of wood. Vinyl is attached to the wood frames to keep the dividers safe. You can divide a room or desk. The panels can attach.

As another use for this cool product, we show it as a desk modesty.  

Soundproof Office Booth

If you want privacy for a conversation, the soundproof office booth is incredible.  The demand really shot up before covid and we see the demand returning.  There are more manufacturing options on the market than 5 years ago and prices are going down.  Plus we are starting to see used office phone booths on the market.  If you want a soundproof office booth, please use the contact form.  We have options.  

As you can see, there are so MANY options to help you with social distancing and keep your office healthy. If you think one of these ideas to add privacy to existing office furniture might work for you, please contact us via email to nikim@greencleandesigns.com or text/call 913-701-4847.