How to create a better office environment with furniture, supplies, and products

Ask Annie, a favorite office-minded column of mine is reporting that research has actually been done surrounding personal items at work. What this research says, according to Ask Annie, is:

"Family photos, kids' artwork, and favorite knickknacks help personalize an office work space, but too many personal touches reflect poorly on an employee's professional image." The research further states that about 22% personal items is about right - like we're going to do the math. Lastly, the research found that this rings true in the US, more than other places.

My thoughts:

Well, I'm surprised for one thing, about the issues we waste money researching. Two, I think if they did a real in-depth study, that they'd find differences across the board.

In the non-profit offices I've worked in, people were far more likely to have personal items all over the place, and that includes all the way up to the company presidents or owners. In social work a lot of being one with your clients is coming across as "real" not just some business.

In medical offices the personal touches seem to be slanted in the same direction - to represent health & wellness. Boring, sort of non-personal touches are ok, but I never saw a lot of family photos. Then on the flip side, I spent years working with people involved in holistic, not traditional medicine, and their offices reflected a zen approach, or a natural personalized look.

Lastly, being a writer, I've worked with my fair share of other writers, artists, designers, etc. The theme here seems to be "unique" - a, "Can my office outshine yours" sort of mentality. Often I've seen some very bizarre offices and no one takes the artist as less serious.

It may be ok to generalize this study, say for CEOs of large money-minded companies, but I don't think it's realistic to say you'll be taken less serious for having personal items simply "just because." Offices, in my experience, tend to be sort of niche-based and trends follow that specific niche.

What about your office? What sort of office do you work in, and how many personal items do you feel comfortable displaying?