Consider, if you will, the humble breakroom. 

We’ve all seen them, we’ve all spent time in them, and we’ve all been glad to find one after a long shift. And yet, for all the time spent in them, we don’t tend to put much thought into their design or quality other than making sure it has a few chairs and a coffee machine. 

The idea of the understocked, unloved breakroom has become something of a figurehead for warehouses, fulfillment centers, and factories over the years – but it doesn’t always have to be like this! There’s a lot that can be done to easily spruce up a breakroom, even if you don’t have the time, resources, or energy to turn it into one of those super-fancy spaces you see in the big tech companies. And if your breakroom becomes a place that staff want to spend time in, they’ll be that much more refreshed and recharged when it’s time to get back to it!

Starting to sound like a good plan? Here’s a few of our favorite ideas for improving a breakroom:

How to Make a Better Breakroom

Different modes of sitting

An idea that’s taken root in a lot of workplaces lately is the idea of ‘sitting styles’. Long gone are the days of interchangeable, uncomfortable side chairs lining the walls of a breakroom, like you’re in the waiting area at an auto mechanic. 

Give your team a few different options for how they can sit and interact with both the space and each other, as available room allows. Set out a table with dining-style chairs for anyone who uses the breakroom for lunch, and provide a variety of options for sitting elsewhere (bar stools, shorter task chairs, etc) to meet different comfort and posture needs for anyone who wants to use the breakroom. Not only will it make your team more comfortable while they’re in there, it might even encourage more people to use the breakroom in the first place.

Personal storage

Workers have a lot of stuff they need to bring, both as personal effects and as tools they need to get through the workday. By providing both short-term and long-term storage for personal goods in the breakroom, you can make the space more inviting and comfortable, as well as convenient!

Set up some corner wire shelves, and work lockers as space allows, to give your teams a place to rest their belongings and take a proverbial load off throughout the day.

Amenities

We don’t mean “amenities” in the hotel sense (unless you really want to offer monogrammed towels), but simply in a more practical, quality-of-life kind of way.

Think about the things you’d like to do in a breakroom – charge your phone or devices, catch up on some things, maybe get some reading done. By adding things like USB chargers, better Wifi access, and just some old-fashioned reading materials into your breakroom, you’ll create a more inviting space that can help people get ready for the rest of their day, whatever form that takes.

Fun stuff!

This next tip won’t quite work for every workplace, but there’s no harm in having a little fun sometimes, right?

A lot of workplaces these days have started to incorporate things like ping-pong tables, air hockey, chess boards, or even video game consoles (no kidding!) into their breakrooms. Sure, it might lead to a little increased competition among the staff as to who the best table tennis player is, but the idea of getting to take their mind off their duties and unwind a little more will do a lot for team motivation and morale in the long run.

Not every breakroom needs to be extravagant, but with a few of these improvements, you can make your space even more comfortable for your team.