Ask “how much to furnish an office?” and you’ll get useless answers. Here’s why: the honest answer is per employee, not per office.
Think per seat and everything gets simpler. A 6-person suite and a 60-person floor become comparable. Vendor quotes become checkable. Let’s break it down.
The three tiers, per seat
Functional. A task chair, a desk, basic storage. Gets people working. This is where startups and temporary spaces usually land — and that’s fine.
Professional. Real ergonomic seating, height-adjustable desks, mobile storage, a look that holds together across the floor. This is the mainstream corporate buy — the tier where furniture starts affecting recruiting, retention, and how clients read the room.
Executive. Premium seating, private-office casegoods, custom conference and reception. Here design intent drives the budget as much as function does.
What moves you between tiers isn’t vanity. It’s two questions: how many hours a day do people sit in this space, and who walks through it?
The line items everyone forgets
Delivery and installation. Commercial furniture arrives as a project, not a parcel. Receiving, staging, assembly, placement, haul-away. Budget it from the start — don’t discover it in the final quote.
The shared spaces. Per-seat math covers workstations. Conference, reception, and break areas are their own budget. And reception is the one room every single visitor sees.
Power. Height-adjustable desks live or die on power access. Planning it with the furniture is cheap. Retrofitting it after is not.
Lead times. Commercial furniture is built to order. Order too late and you’re welcoming clients from folding tables. It happens more than you’d think.
If you have to choose, spend on the chair
Simple rule. The chair is the one piece each employee touches for thousands of hours a year. The difference between a bargain chair and a real task chair shows up fast — in comfort complaints and replacement cycles. Desks and storage forgive a value buy. Chairs don’t.
Getting a real number for your project
Per-seat math gets you a planning budget. A real number comes from a walkthrough of your actual space and needs. That’s how we work at Eggleston Office — a family-owned office furniture practice since 1981. Design, sales, and service, with the furniture coming to you: assessed, quoted, delivered, installed. One project, start to finish.
FAQ
Is used or refurbished furniture worth it?
Often — for desking and storage. Be careful with used seating. Chair mechanisms wear where you can’t see, and the chair is the piece your people feel every day.
How far ahead should we order?
Start the furniture conversation when you sign the lease, not when the paint dries. Built-to-order lines need weeks, and installation has to hit your move date.
Can we furnish in phases?
Absolutely. A common play: seat everyone at the professional tier first, then phase in conference and reception. A good dealer plans the phases with you.