Commercial Furniture

Contract-grade furniture and commercial furniture are two terms that both refer to furniture made for businesses, where furniture is used more rigorously and needs to be extra durable for the higher traffic.

We test our furniture for commercial use. If it passes, we refer to it as commercial furniture. We refer to some of our fabrics as contract-grade if they pass the performance guidelines set by the Association for Contract Textiles (ACT®). When it comes to Room & Board, contract-grade and commercial mean the same thing: an item can withstand usage in businesses and high-traffic spaces.

The difference between commercial-grade and residential furniture is that commercial-grade furniture is made to withstand more intense use. This can mean many things, from chairs with high weight limits, to tabletop materials that are extra durable, to fabrics that can endure more abrasion over time. Commercial-grade furniture is often made from durable materials like wood, steel and stone, which is what most of our furniture is made from anyway (browse all our materials here). But we still test our furniture to ensure it is commercial grade. All in all, this means our furniture for businesses looks and feels like residential furniture but is durable enough for businesses. You can see all our commercial-grade furniture by shopping the Commercial section of our website (which is the page you’re on).

You should choose commercial-grade furniture if you’re furnishing a business or a very busy home. Our commercial furniture has outstanding durability but still looks and feels like residential furniture, so it works in businesses or homes. If you have a business or hospitality space, our commercial furniture with a residential look is ideal, because it adds a relaxing, homey feel to your space without compromising on durability.

The best commercial furniture options for offices and business spaces are desks with standing functionality, ergonomic office chairs, high-quality task lighting, cabinets with storage and sturdy conference room tables, all of which you will find in our Commercial category.

When selecting commercial office furniture, you should consider its intended function, how its materials coordinate with the surrounding space and how many people will use it. To get inspired, see how we’ve helped other businesses furnish their spaces in our blog posts about commercial furniture.

The best materials for durable and stylish commercial office furniture are contract-grade fabrics and leathers, domestically sourced solid wood and engineered wood, steel and aluminum, wool and PET rugs, high-density polyethylene. We use all of these materials in our commercial furniture, because they are intended to withstand high usage in business and hospitality settings. To clean commercial-grade furniture, browse our detailed Product Care Information, which shows a range of tips like how to clean contract-grade fabrics with diluted bleach.

Browse our Workplace Ideas gallery or our Commercial Office Ideas gallery to see the best type of commercial furniture for modern office spaces, like modern office chairs, sturdy desks and conference tables, beautiful and functional office storage furniture, plus office sofas, chairs and rugs.

The key pieces of modern office furniture for commercial spaces include ergonomic office chairs, standing desks, sturdy cabinets with storage and seating and high-quality task lighting. You’ll also see many special features throughout our modern office furniture that add functionality, like thoughtfully placed cord openings or a range of adjustability in office chairs.

The factors to consider in selecting commercial office furniture include the intended function of the piece (like whether you want a bookcase with open storage or a cabinet with closed storage), what materials are best (like a wood top standing desk versus a stone top stationary desk), your lighting requirements (floor lamps versus task lamps, or both) and much more, which is why we highly recommend using free design services and getting a 3D floor plan.