The truth is, no one likes waiting for their appointment. Despite that fact, waiting is an unavoidable part of receiving care, and whether it be for 2 minutes or 20, there are ways to make even those first moments of the appointment more exciting.

To add a bit of fun to a reception area, you can start from the very chairs your patients are sitting on.

Everyone can take advantage of updated seating, whether it be a simple space needing a pop of color, or a fully themed office wanting to immerse their patients even further in their custom decor. Your guests won’t want to sit on a boring office chair when they’re surrounded by an underwater pirate adventure, so why not make patients feel like a part of the action by letting them sit in the scenery?

To help you bring some creativity to an unexpected place like your waiting room chairs, we’ve assembled a collection of our favorite seating projects for dental and medical offices that maximize your seating space and maximize fun!

Bench Seating

Circular Seating

Stools

BENCH SEATING

Bench seating is both space and patient efficient and doesn’t require a ton of square footage to fit a whole lot of guests. Plus it allows families or groups to sit together more comfortably than a row of chairs.

In this fun barnyard themed kids’ playroom, we created hay bales benches to transport kids to the farm while they enjoy a movie or play on a wall-mounted gaming station. Subtle rope ties space off the individual seats while still making visitors feel like they’re home on the range.

Adding a photo op character is another great way to make your bench seating fun (and great for some interactive marketing). Patients will love sitting next to this friendly elephant and maybe take a look over his shoulder to see what he’s reading.

Adding a logo or a sign to a seating area with a photo op creates a great opportunity for organic marketing. Parents will want to show off pictures of their “Cavity Free” kids sitting with a friendly octopus to their friends and family and as a result, your logo will be posted all over their social feeds.

Building seating into your themed sculptures is a must for any fully themed office. This bench seating looks right at home with matching log supports and a cute sculpted leopard head peeking out of the trunk. Kids can make themselves comfortable and play on the mounted gaming stations while sitting right next to their parents.

For a larger space, bench seating can take on a life of its own as the centerpiece of your office. This client incorporated both an exciting jungle adventure scene and a live fish tank into their bench seating. It’s like peering through a rushing waterfall. Practical and entertaining!

CIRCULAR SEATING

Circular benches are a beautiful and immersive way to incorporate your theme into your seating while creating a memorable centerpiece. Adding centerpiece seating to an existing area invigorates the space effortlessly.

There is a reason the tree is a classic centerpiece to circular seating. They evoke feelings of calm and relaxation. Who hasn’t lounged under lush tree cover in a park or a forest? Your patients have it made in the shade while in your waiting room. One focal point tree is a great and simple way to keep up the illusion of the forest without sacrificing practical seating area if you are low on floor space. 

For an extra interactive bonus, you can add a tunnel feature for kids to keep themselves busy while they wait for their appointment.

But it’s not all about trees. There are so many ways to incorporate other themes, like ocean or beach, into your seating area! Whether it be a breezy beachside scene with a lighthouse centerpiece or an elaborate deep-sea coral sculpture, you can incorporate the ocean easily into your circular seating.

Above or below the waves, patients will be able to enjoy a day at the beach right in your waiting room.

If you have high ceilings, circular centerpiece seating is one of the best options to accentuate that open area. Seating doesn’t have to be a huge statement piece to be impressive, a small touch can be just as impactful, like this adorable squirrel corner bench.

Create that wow piece that takes your reception area from just a waiting room to a “wow” room! 

STOOLS

Stools are the perfect seating addition for children waiting in your reception area. Easy to move around and incredibly space-efficient, stools are a simple and cost-effective way to dress up your office.

Log sculpted stools fit in woodland settings with their simple, rustic design – they’re certainly a favorite of ours.

Stools are also an incredible asset when immersing guests in a fully themed space. These colorful aliens look like they’re popping right out of craters in an asteroid while offering comfort and support for each kid’s gaming station. What a blast!

Talk about functional decor! Stools are perfect for any gaming area where you want children to sit back and relax while they are waiting.

Who knew stools could have so much character? This springtime waiting area utilized their rolly polly worm character as comfortable seating that blends in perfectly with their theme.

Updating your office can be as easy as bringing in new and fun seating for your patients to enjoy. Whether it be a simple sculpted bench or a custom centerpiece with surrounding circular seating, updated seating can transform your existing office decor or immerse your guests in an overall theme.

Check out more inspiring seating and decor ideas for your office:

Unique Bench and Stool Seating Ideas for Dental and Medical Offices

Dental Office Interior Design and Decor Tips

Ready to stand out from the competition? Don’t hesitate to reach out and one of our Creative Consultants will be happy to help you choose the most eye-catching seating that works with your unique space!

Be honest – would you rather your patients say they booked with your practice just because it’s closest to their house or because their kids can’t stop talking about the giant octopus on the roof and they had to come? The answer is obvious.

Transforming your office from a regular building to a legendary local landmark can be as simple as adding incredible external decor that parents and kids won’t be able to drive past without stopping for photos.

Whether it be subtle window decals that make your office seem like it’s hidden deep in the jungle, or a 20-foot tall elephant busting through the wall and into the street, nothing says “fun” quite like well themed exterior signage.

Our clients can’t stop talking about how their external creations changed their practice for the better, so we wanted to showcase a few of our favorite examples to get your ideas flowing!

Why External Signage?

It’s the ultimate tried and true advertising technique.

If you want to attract new business and become the #1 choice in your community, your community needs to know about you first! Sure, a sign is fine but to stand out from the competition and truly use your brand as a tool, you need to think outside the box.

Think of your exterior design as a silent sales person. Themed windows or photo op sculptures are constantly working day and night to differentiate your practice from others, letting everyone know that what you’re doing is new and exciting.

Not only is it making your commitment to fun and high quality obvious to anyone driving by, but it also helps potential patients locate your business.

“Telling patients it is the clinic with the giraffe and alligator is an easy visual landmark to help them find us. This has helped get new patients through the doors.”

– Sheryl Wright, family nurse practitioner 

A strong impression will stick like glue, and with the right amount of intrigue in your design, a new guest might not even need to navigate on their phone to your location. They already know where your office is since they’ve passed by your adorable bear sculpture a hundred times, and maybe even stopped to take a picture.

There’s no other way to say it: Attention-grabbing exterior decor makes your business stand out!

ROOFTOP LANDMARKS

The ultimate in external decor, your practice will be seen for miles around with a powerful and fun rooftop landmark! If you have the space (meaning no upstairs neighbors) or your building-mates are ready to be injected with some professional whimsy too, there is no better choice than a rooftop landmark to stand apart from the competition.

Creative multi-character sculptures can stay on theme, like this adorable cast of jungle characters helping each other brush and floss: 

Smiling faces peering down from the rooftops are both fun and also more inviting for nervous kids on their way to the dentist:

“I had my staff track every new customer for six months by asking them what it was that brought them to our practice. At the time, I had been spending as much as six thousand dollars per month on newspaper ads, TV commercials and even radio spots. I would have been happy had my new investment been responsible for 50% of the new patients tracked. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the results came in… a full 94% cited the theming above my entrance!”

– Dr. Chuck Hughes, dentist

Or what about this eye-catching octopus that is easy to see from miles around? Both the interior and exterior are underwater themed in this show-stopping clinic, and the cherry on top is no doubt their curious rooftop cephalopod.

“When we opened after installing the octopus on our roof we were seeing up to 59 new patients a day.”

– Dr. Derek Thompson, dentist and owner of 7 themed iffices

GROUND LEVEL LANDMARK

Like rooftop landmarks, ground level landmarks can be seen for miles around and really define your practice in the community. They also act as a great way to bring your guests in on the action, encouraging them to take photos with incredible sculptures they can reach and pose with.

Ground level landmarks can be built right into the wall, alluding to the theme inside or placed close to the road to draw potential patients. Create a visual story like this high-octane barnyard chase:

Or a smashing vignette like this jungle trio in a Jeep:

See more showstopping decor, inside and out, in this undersea office.

PHOTO OPS

Fun meets function in any photo op! Not only is a photo op sculpture perfect as a centerpiece to your external decor, it’s a great way for your guests to do the marketing for you. Encourage online photo competitions by giving incentives to patients for posing with your sculpture. Or, take advantage of social media obsessed parents who would love a cute shot of their kid smiling and cavity free after their check up, arm and arm with a grinning turtle.

Photo ops can be placed at the front door of your office as a friendly greeting:

Or a whimsical addition to practical outdoor bench seating:

Show off your theme before guests walk through the door with a fun exterior photo op!

WINDOW DECALS

If you’ve decided to theme your office interior, exterior window decals are the perfect finishing touch to really bring the environment together. You’re literally wrapping your office in your theme! It’s also a sneaky way to create some intrigue in the minds of potential patients. If the outside looks like a sunny day at the beach:

Or a safari adventure:

– it’s literally a window into another world.

Window decals on their own are great as an exciting and eye-catching addition, advertising to anyone driving by that there’s tons of fun to be had inside.

Exterior Office Decor

External office decor is the perfect way to start telling your brand story before your patients even walk through the door. It’s eye-catching, innovative, and memorable in a way that few other marketing tactics are.

As they say, “if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it” and businesses have been utilizing fun signage and external decor as long as business has existed. It works for a reason! Externally theming your practice with playful and fun characters is a striking and effective way to tell onlookers just how special and incredible your office is. Needless to say, it was hard to choose our favorites. Which one is yours?

Ready to become a local legend in your community? Landmarks are a great part of an IDS Environment™. One of our Creative Consultants would love to help you transform your environment. Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started.

It’s the first and last thing your patients see when they walk through the door of your office, so why not make it exciting? Your reception desk is the first point of contact for any visitor to your practice, new and returning. It acts as the focal point of your office space, drawing the eye to the administration team and guiding anxious new patients who may not know where to check-in.

For these reasons, if you want to bring some fresh new excitement to your office, the obvious first place to start is the reception desk! We’ve created hundreds over the years, but let’s narrow down some of our favorites.

OUR TOP 11 PICKS FOR THE MOST FUN RECEPTION DESKS TO LIVEN UP YOUR SPACE

1. Frigid and Fun Front Reception

The immersive sculptures and murals in this desk design will make you feel like you’re part of the action! By utilizing the desk space itself, it looks like the reception was carved right out of a glacier with snowy overhang still intact. Even the floor is exciting, allowing guests to follow the bear paw prints and penguin flippers directly from check-in to their appointment. Not only is it fun, but also a great distraction for kids who may be nervous.

The treatment area in this office is as cool as the desk.

2. Under the Sea Welcome Desk

This reception desk is the ultimate example of a show-stopping entrance to your office. From the vibrant colors to the life-sized whale, be prepared to have pictures of your front desk plastered all over social media!

Immersive, colorful, and fun, this beautiful front desk has it all. Sculpted seaweed pillars are built right into a beautiful coral reef desk that incorporates both custom 3D fish and vibrant mural work – never mind the giant 3D whale suspended from the ceiling! While not only acting as a dazzling greeting to patients, nervous children will instantly forget their fears of the doctor or dentist the moment they see the friendly whale smiling at them when they come inside.

There’s a lot more underwater decor to see in this office.

3. Zoom Around the World Reception Desk

This globetrotting reception desk has no lack of exciting features to look at! Remember at the beginning how we discussed the front desk as the focal point that sets up the entire office experience?

This jet-setting design sets the theme for the rest of the office, which features a wide variety of exotic environments – will patients prefer the treatment room set in the pyramids of Egypt or the busy streets of London? What a great way to theme your space! This unique build incorporates 3D sculptures on a 2D mural, making each piece stand out even more.

Explore the rest of the world in this dental office.

4. A Sophisticated Woodland Scene

What could be better than walking through the door of your local doctor’s office and being greeted with a serene forest setting? This sophisticated silhouette combines soft greens and browns to create a beautiful and soothing environment while still feeling fun. Done entirely in a 2D mural, the depth of this inviting forest will have patients coming back again and again.

We love this reception desk mural for more teen and adult-oriented environments that still want a unique design.

5. A Simple Seaside Desk

You don’t have to dive too deep with theming to make a huge impact! The adorable dolphin mural covers the entire front wall, and 3D sculpted dock supports transport any guest to a beachy seaside vacation upon arrival.

Check out the rest of this beach themed reception area.

6. A Fantastical Castle Adventure

This reception desk is like entering a portal into a magical world! From floor to ceiling, the inquisitive dragon and stacks of books will keep kids entertained while their parents schedule their next appointment. For this build, we incorporated 3D characters everywhere possible, utilizing not only desk and wall space, but ceiling tiles as well! The extra book sculpts on the counter really bring the theme to life, allowing staff and patients alike to get in on the adventure. 

Tip: can you find the Dental Care for Dragons book? 

Like this desk? Check out the entire magical office here.

7. Pirates in the Bayou

Visual storytelling is a great way to decorate your front reception. In this exciting pirate themed example, kids and parents alike will love the eager crocodile gazing at the eye-patch clad turtle – a great character to grab a photo with while waiting for their appointment. In the background mural, we see a pirate ship silhouette. Is it a pirate ship full of pirate turtles? Who knows! It leaves enough to the imagination to excite any child waiting for their checkup.

Not only is this desk ideal for storytelling, the incorporation of 3D characters both to the side and on the desk itself really brings it to life. Plus, a convenient “welcome” sign guides new patients effortlessly!

There’s more to see in this bayou office.

8. Tropical and Technicolor Desks

Ocean themed desks are one of our most popular designs, and it’s easy to see why! This bright and fun reception desk area is filled with fantastical 2D murals and 3D elements that liven the space instantly. We even themed the dividing walls to look like ocean waves! Can you spot the baby fish?

Explore the rest of this deep sea office decor here.

9. Explore Shipwreck Cove Desk and Play Area

This bright and colorful reception desk also doubles as the entrance to the kids play area, the perfect example of an IDS Space™! Utilizing the combined reception desk and play area spaces, this entirely 3D shipwreck themed archway makes it feel like you’re entering a whole new world of undersea adventure, while keeping the rest of the waiting area geared towards adults. Not only is this fun for your guests, but your staff will also love feeling like they’re part of the undersea action too.

10. Welcome to the Savannah

We love the way playful animals are used as functional supports in this safari themed reception area. It also acts as a great example that not all custom theming has to be an entire overhaul – the original tile design on the front of the desk was kept while the new design elements were created to surround it.  The tall giraffe also acts as a playful photo op, while the thatched roof makes the entire experience feel more immersive.

Click here to tour the rest of this safari office.

11. A Dino-mite Desk

This desk will make your guests feel like they’re part of an exciting archaeological dig! Dinosaurs are a favorite for young and old, so the combination of partially excavated fossils and hanging pterodactyls are both fun and visually engaging. Bonus? The 3D fossils create an exciting sensory experience for children to touch while they wait. This client opted to incorporate their business name into their front desk, and this was seamlessly done by painting each letter to look like the ancient rocks surrounding it.

There’s more to uncover at this dino dig, check out the rest of the dinosaur-themed office here.

Transforming your space is as easy as theming your front desk with a magically creative touch. New patients will instantly know they made the right choice when they see the effort that you have put into your office, while existing patients will recommend your practice to all their friends. Before you know it, referrals will sound like “I go to the doctor with the giraffe at the front desk”!

Interested in more decor and interior design ideas for your office? Check out these resources:

Amazing Reception Desks by IDS 

Create a Memorable Patient Experience through Dental Office Interior Design and Decor

Alleviating Patient Anxiety Through Office Theming