With our laptops, tablets, and phones we now carry our work (and our entertainment) with us wherever we go. With all those devices, there are already more than enough distractions to potentially lower our productivity or stifle our creativity. The workplace shouldn’t be one of them.
I like to keep things simple. I give people a view of the outside and clean walls.
I love art and visit museums whenever I travel, but a workspace isn’t a museum. Too much artwork is distracting. If it’s curated, it can work. Oh, and don’t ever do those inspirational quotes–they are so 1991.
I do have one exception to my artwork rule: I put it in meeting rooms, because you might be bored in there. Just saying.