Sometimes you need a morale boost for office employees, and the working environment is a great place to start. Office decorating contests can make employees feel more at home and offer a sense of ownership in the day-to-day business being conducted.

Holidays

Holidays can supply excellent themes for office decorating contests, particularly if you're trying a contest for the first time. Christmas, Halloween, and Easter are popular holidays, but you could plan for a different holiday decor contest each month. It is important to remember this is a business atmosphere, however, and attempts should be made to include and accommodate a variety of religious and/or political views with certain holidays.

Awareness Themes

Certain businesses may wish to promote awareness through office decorating contests of certain social issues such as AIDS or breast cancer, Black history or Jewish heritage. Alternatively, you could keep things light by observing the nationally designated days or weeks of hobbies and cultural events such as National Gardening Month and National Cookie Cutter Week.

Party Themes

Party themes are also popular for office decorating contests, especially if you plan to hold a small office party along with the contest. Hawaiian luaus, retro parties, western hoe-downs, or Mexican fiestas are all good options that can translate easily from decorating contests to parties.

Locations

Have employees select a favorite location on which to base their decor. It could be their hometown or a place they have always dreamed of visiting. Decorate offices to reflect the feel or look of chosen locations.

Pop Culture

One alternative is to allow employees to select their favorite movie, musical style, band or television show. Have them decorate their space to represent their chosen theme. You could also choose a particular theme and have everyone select from within that genre. For example, 80s movies or musicals.

Personal Hobbies

Let your office decorating contest help employees get to know one another better by having them decorate using their favorite hobby as a theme. If an employee loves golfing, they could decorate their space as a putting green. There could be an amateur musician on your team that could add entertainment to the contest. This can be an excellent team building option, as well as allow employees to personalize their space.