For restaurants, interior design is everything. The first impression only comes from a stunning and inspiring design that immediately catches the attention of your customers. Much emphasis is given to the interior decor, color scheme, accents, and tidiness. Amid this grand scheme of things, some essentials go unnoticed by many designers.
While designers may unintentionally overlook them, your customers don’t. Things like restaurant furniture style and setting, acoustics, and overall design consistency are among the things that may not seem so straightforward to interior designers. But they’re important subliminal factors that could make or break the deal.
If you’re a restaurant owner, make sure these 5 things never go unnoticed by your interior designer. And if you’re a designer yourself, well, then just put these things up your checklist, and you’re good to go.
Color schemes are important, and yes, every designer has an in-depth understanding of color contrast. But do they really care about the “consistency” in the color scheme and overall design? Suppose you go for a darker color for an executive interior design. Are you sure such an executive level of design is reflected on the restaurant’s exterior as well?
And not just the exterior, what about the hallways? What about the notorious backrooms, the lavatory? These areas often get overlooked by the designers, so much so, that the color and design scheme appear totally different than the interior.
I’ve been to several upscale restaurants and left disappointed, not because of the food, but how a nook under the stairs and the facing wall above the stairs could be designed coherently with the interior theme. Don’t let your restaurant be one such disappointment, and ensure every corner reflects as much design consistency as the main interior and seating area.
Marketing isn’t just about the mouthwatering offer you put on a fancy standee or a delicious “new arrival” you display on a massive billboard in the city downtown. It’s also hidden in those tiny branding elements many designers fail to incorporate in a restaurant’s interior design.
Now, branding doesn’t necessarily have to be an intricate logo or complex messaging. It could be anything that represents your restaurant’s brand identity, value, mission, vision, or purpose. Make the color scheme coherent with the ones used in your restaurant’s logo.
If there are taglines and messages fired around the restaurant’s walls or nooks, make sure the font style is similar to that of the logo. Even the decor and accent items should complement the branding elements, such as voice, tone, typography, and imagery.
You can have your interior designer create a brand identity document before they implement designing. This would help them align the decor and styling elements with your brand to give out a design as catchy as a model on the runway.
Caught you by surprise, didn’t it? I mean the furniture would be the last thing you could expect an interior designer to miss out on. Yet, many would fail to follow the “trends” in restaurant furniture styles.
I understand that restaurant furniture trends hardly ever evolve over the years, and that’s one of the best things about them. But they do evolve! For instance, since 2020, the world of design has shifted its focus to minimalist styling. Gone are the days when architectural design used to have intricate details. These days, new structures and buildings boast smooth, seamless, and geometric designs that justify minimalism.
The same goes for modern furniture. No matter if it’s residential, commercial, or industrial-use furniture, minimalism is represented in every room, lounge, compartment, hallway, and lobby. Your restaurant’s interior shouldn’t be an exception.
Go for the mid-century modern furniture for chairs, sofas, and restaurant booths. Choose a laid-back restaurant chair style where rails and legs are exposed. As for the restaurant table top, go for sustainable wood table top options such as bamboo and reclaimed wood.
Yet another factor that you might think no restaurant designer will miss, but sadly they do! Sure, hygiene is something you should constantly care about. You need to take stringent measures, especially in the vicinity of the cooking area and restrooms to ensure good hygiene. But what about cleanability?
What if the design itself is so complex that regular cleaning seems like an uphill battle? That’s where the creative, and more importantly, the farseeing mind of a designer comes into play. A good restaurant interior designer must suggest a “cleanable” design.
The overall interior should easily incorporate all the styling and decor elements yet it shouldn’t be so detailed or intricate that maintaining regular hygiene looks like a tough nut to crack. One easy way out is the good old “minimalist” style. Simple, smooth on eyes, perfect for a seamless visual flow, and easy to clean.
Sounds like a tough one, doesn’t it? Well, interestingly, it is about the sounds! Acoustics management is all about creating spaces that easily balance the soft background music with quieter spaces for easy conversations. Now, that’s tricky, and let me tell you why!
Your customers on a date night don’t want a quiet and boring experience with too low or monotonous background music (or no music at all). They want something soft and romantic to make the experience memorable. In contrast, some would want a quieter atmosphere to have a fun time conversing with their groups and create enjoyment on their own. So, which way should you go?
Don’t worry, you’ll have an interior designer to take care of that. A good designer would allocate spaces according to customer preferences. Intimate and romantic seating should remain relatively closer to the audio source for a better. The group seating should be at quieter spots to allow them to have fun just the way they want. Overall audio should be soft and smooth.
Even a good designer can miss out on the tiny details. It all boils down to the way you manage them. Make sure you mark these 5 important things in your checklist.
Create a brand identity document to maintain consistent, coherent, and clean design throughout your restaurant interior. Follow the latest trends in restaurant furniture and create versatile settings for a smooth visual flow and perfect acoustics for everyone.
