Getting your office space right can help the smooth running of your business and can help attract and retain staff, while keeping them happier.

One mortgage company, based in London, refurbished its presentation room for pennies rather than splurging thousands on interior designers and builders.

Mortgage broker Trussle, a relatively small and growing business, may have received millions in funding from Goldman Sachs but still retains its bootstrapping roots.

‘When I was quoted £40,000 from an interior design guy to design us a new seating area for presentations I thought, ‘I can do this myself for a fraction of the price,’ said Charlotte Bergman, Trussle’s office and community manager (pictured above).

‘I hauled 50 pallets, which I found from a local guy, in stages up the stairs from the street at 6am  (passers-by helped me out), I sanded them down and painted on a layer of primer and two layers of regular white paint (it’s important to use primer first as the paint is basically see through).

‘Then I made sure to put down a small plastic film down so the rough pallets didn’t mark our nice new wooden floor. After I’d stapled them all together and placed some pillows on top we now use them every week for presentations and events. It was all done in four days.’

Bergman says the boxes, which form a sitting area for company presentations, fit in well with the company ethos and inject personality into their office.

‘We don’t want to be like HSBC, we want to inject some fun into our office while keeping costs down.’

Trussle, headquartered in East London co-working Craftwork office, has also created a few nifty rooms which pay homage to its humble beginnings in co-working spaces such as Second Home. The rooms feature themes such as a Scandinavian design and a 60’s LA style. The company started with around four people, growing into other co-working offices Tileyard and Networks as well as a short stint at hospitality firm OneFineStay’s offices. The company has grown from around four to 70 since December 2015.

The firm also has a chill-out room used by employees who need to relax or work in a quiet space.

See also: Office Design Trends – An office interior specialist speaks to designers, trendsetters and industry experts about workplace interiors.