Learn simple design and aesthetic tips and find the art that best fits your dental office decor, including art from local artists, ready-to-hang prints from online shops, and even frames of your own photography.
Going to the dentist can be an anxiety-inducing experience for many people. So when patients walk into your office, you want them to feel as relaxed as possible. Many studies show how interiors really do affect our mood, mental health, and even our healing process. As you maximize your space for modern times keep our simple dental office decor and style tips in mind. Read on to find out where to buy art, choose wall colors—and make it your own.
Tips for dental office decor:
- Add your own aesthetic, and don’t be afraid of color. This may be a clinical office, but that doesn’t mean it has to be overly sterile. White, spotless walls and sharp, firm furniture can heighten patients’ discomfort. Choose a color scheme or point of view that you love and incorporate it into the design of your office, from the carpet to the walls to the art you buy to decorate your space. Seats should be comfortable and accommodate a wide variety of body types.
- Find calm in the color scheme. Blue-green spaces, or views of natural landscapes, have been proven to improve mental health. So keep in mind that patients will benefit from window views with plants and trees in sight. But if your office doesn’t have many windows, you can bring some nature inside by painting your walls in calming colors (light creams, blues, greens, and even grays—see above); framing stunning photographs of nature scapes; and filling your space with hardy (but beautiful) indoor plants.
- You don’t have to be too on the nose — or gnashers. While we all appreciate a great smile, teeth themselves aren’t chic or aesthetically pleasing, and they can even be a little scary. Teeth may be your thing, but they are universally jarring. Consider skipping the framed photos of cartoon canines or perfectly posed, close-up grins; we already know this is a dental office.
- Make it personal. Many people spend more time with their coworkers in the office than they do with their families at home, so do your best to make everyone feel more at home while they’re at work. Your office is made up of a team of people who all do their part to welcome and care for patients, and it’s a great idea to recognize them in the decor of your office. Make it a point to take a staff photo (make sure everyone knows when this photo will be taken so they can look and feel their best) and hang it on the wall where both patients and office staff can see it. It’s a small but meaningful token of appreciation. You could even hang up individual staff photos with names and titles so patients could get to know their smiling faces a bit more since they’re so often hidden behind masks during office visits.
- Have an area just for kids, even if you don’t have a pediatric office. Everybody knows that parents are juggling a lot, and it can be hard to get out of the house to take care of a biannual dental appointment. Make it just a bit easier on them: set up a play area just for kids filled with toys, coloring books and crayons, picture books, and maybe even a wall they can draw all over. Make sure the toys don’t have individual pieces (think less Legos and puzzles, more sensory toys that stay connected and in one place), and keep it easy to clean up at the end of a busy day.
Where to buy art for your dental office:
- Buy prints online. There are many online art sites to choose from that cater to every aesthetic, and some of them will frame the art so it’s ready to hang when it arrives.
- Society6 has a wide range of art, photographs, collage, and other mediums both from artists you may know as well as indie artists from around the world. They also sell custom clothing, pillows, rugs, and other decor so you can really make your office your own.
- Artfinder has art from more than 7,000 independent artists located in 108 countries around the world. You can shop by category (printmaking, sculptures, portraits, and more), look through popular artists’ work, or check out editors’ picks or featured artists.
- Shop from varied, talented artists for one-of-a-kind pieces at Minted. Browse special decor and original art, from paintings to sculptures to wall hangings, and the artist will ship you the piece directly from their studio.
- Shop handmade art and decor of all kinds from Etsy. Etsy is a great place to search for more specific items or styles that may be hard to find elsewhere and will make your dental office decor unique. Plus, you can search for local artists in your area by entering your zip code into the search bar, or by filtering your search by “shop location.”
- Shop thousands of well-known pieces large and small from art.com. Take your pick from framed to canvas to wood-mounted; from famous names like van Gogh and Georgia O’Keefe; and from every price range, including large canvas pieces from $109 that could look great on that naked wall you want to fill.
- Print and frame your own photographs. Maybe you’re a photographer (or someone on your staff is) and you want to bring your vibrant images to life. You can get them custom printed, mounted, and framed through Artmill. Or, if you want to keep it simple and buy ready-to-hang office art from a library of half a million images suitable for any vibe, Artmill can handle that for you too. Gather inspiration from how they’re decorated other offices here.
- Shop local, or hire a local muralist. One meaningful way to connect to your community is to buy art from local artists. You can ask your artsy friends for some recommendations, talk to the owner of a small gallery in town, or even stop into that coffee shop you love and ask who painted the colorful mural on the wall outside. If you love a specific artist on Instagram, you can always ask them if they’re open to commissions. We bet that being asked to contribute to dental office decor would unlock creative parts of their brain.
- Set up a rotating art gallery from local artists to decorate your office. This option may take a little extra work on your part, but if you’re an art lover, it’s a small price to pay to routinely refresh your space and support local artists. As you connect with local artists and gallerists in your area, work with artists to borrow their art to display in your office for a month, three months, or even a year. You can feature each piece’s title and price so your patients can take a piece of art home with them, if they’re so moved. It’s a great way to get hundreds of eyes on a local artist’s work and to make your space that much cooler. Plus there is the bonus of contributing to the community past dental care that will instill a sense of pride in your patients while uplifting your neighbors.
