Office Furniture ‘Comfortable Enough for Big Thinking’

“It’s just comfortable enough for big thinking,” says Will Ketchum. [Photo: Amy Ploss]

“In our business, sometimes you just have to sit and think with a legal pad in your hand,” says Will Ketchum, founder and principal of Burdette Ketchum, a marketing and communications firm in Jacksonville. For that he has a red leather barber’s chair in his office.

The Art Deco-styled 1943 Belmont chair cost him $175 nearly 10 years ago. It was a purchase based on philosophy
not style, he says.

“We pride ourselves on being the anti-slick agency. There’s nothing less slick than a barbershop,” he says. “There couldn’t be a better lab for human behavior than in a barbershop on a Saturday.”

The popular “thinking chair,” as it’s called, gets pulled up to the table for client as well as team meetings.

Ketchum found it at the Murray Hill barbershop he goes to regularly near Avondale. Ketchum’s barber decided to sell it after the hydraulic pump stopped working.

Ketchum likes to sit in the chair when he wants to get away from his desk for a while. “It’s just comfortable enough for big thinking,” he says. “It doesn’t lull you to sleep, and you can smell the barbershop.”

“I love beautiful things around me,” says Elizabeth Dvorak.

Elizabeth Dvorak has had the same office furniture for almost 10 years — a surprise given her business. She is owner and CEO of Workscapes, an office furnishings company with locations in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Dvorak has the pick of the 18,000-sq.-ft. Orlando showroom, where the corporate offices are located. And with more than 250 manufacturers and thousands of product lines, she has plenty to choose from. She sticks with pieces that “bring good architecture inside the office” — which is why she likes Florence Knoll, founder of the Knoll office furniture business, who is widely praised for her contemporary designs and for revolutionizing interior space planning.

The centerpiece in Dvorak’s office is a Florence Knoll table desk. The Knoll table desk was first introduced in 1961. Dvorak’s has a white marble top that sits on a simple pedestal base. She also has a Knoll credenza and Saarinen chairs. Everything is in soothing, neutral colors.

Kathy Peterson paid $175 for the 1800s sideboard, which serves as her desk. [Photo: Matt Dean]

Kathy Peterson works from her Tequesta home. A TV producer and writer, as well as published author, Peterson’s latest venture is as a guest host on a recently launched Lifetime TV show called “The Balancing Act” produced by Five Star Productions in Boca Raton. Her home office has an eclectic mix of furniture, items she’s bought at yard sales and thrift stores.

Her desk is an 1800s sideboard. She paid $175 for the seven-foot-long oak piece with an iron burn mark on it. Ten years ago, it was appraised for $1,000; today it would likely be closer to $1,700. “It’s an unusual piece to have in your office as a work desk,” Peterson says, but she won’t part with it.

A vintage 1940s file cabinet that she bought at a thrift store for $30 was appraised at $850 about six years ago.

Michael Sullivan’s chest-high work table takes pressure off his back. [Photo: Jeff Secrease]

Back surgery in the early ’90s left Michael Sullivan, managing shareholder of law firm Greenberg Traurig’s Orlando office, unable to sit for extended periods, so he stands a lot. For a desk, he uses a chest-high work table.

Sullivan stands on a rubber mat. As his legs tire, he rotates putting one foot at a time on a 6-inch-high stool. His phone has a 15-foot cord, allowing him to walk around when he’s on a call.

Sullivan got the idea for his setup after he got to know the owner of a custom cabinetry shop in Orlando six years ago. Months later, he had a custom-made “standing” office. The cherry-stained mahogany furniture cost about $12,000 — a bargain, he says, considering the craftsmanship.

“It’s really a more efficient way to work,” he says. “You can pace when you’re on the phone, burn calories; it’s a healthier lifestyle.”