Designing and opening a successful restaurant requires a lot more than a great menu and a friendly team. With modern diners and consumers seeking experiences rather than simple meals, and looking for memorable settings which delight and amaze, bringing a restaurant business to life means focussing as much on the setting and dining environment as on the food and the way you plate each dish up.
In this blog post, we’re sharing just some of the key things to consider when it comes to restaurant interior design, with the aim of helping restaurant owners to transform their setting into a dining experience for guests to remember.
1. Consider layout and navigation
This first point is one of the most critical when it comes to restaurant interior design considerations, because it deals with the way you fill the restaurant floor for the benefit of diners and your team members.
Wait staff need to be able to move seamlessly around the tables to deliver food, while guests and diners need to easily be able to identify the best route from the door to their table, and from there to the bar and bathrooms.
As well as this, use interior design to mark out different dining areas for different occasions – from intimate couple dinners to family meals and group settings. Some of the best ways to achieve these different dining areas within a single restaurant include the use of booth seating, standalone glass compartment walls or floor to ceiling wine racks, and different light settings.
2. Colour schemes
The best colour scheme is one which taps into the cuisine and theme of your restaurant, but in a way which also feels welcoming and relaxing for diners. If you’re concerned about using too much colour and creating a space which feels too chaotic for diners, then look to tone down the walls and structural details and add pops of colour in the form of accessories and decorations instead.
3. Facilities – for guests and staff
We’ve already looked at the importance of layout and navigation for staff and diners, but your restaurant interior design also needs to pay close attention to the design of the kitchen and bathrooms – namely the key facilities within your restaurant space.
Both areas needs to be functional and extremely clean, with easy to clean surfaces throughout. While the kitchen is a largely functional space designed to facilitate the creation of the dishes you serve in your restaurant, the bathroom can afford to be a little creative – with some of the most popular restaurant businesses leaning on bathroom details to make their businesses stand out. Consider ways to integrate photo-opportunities in the bathroom, inviting guests to take a quick selfie on their way back to the table and share it online for free marketing.
4. Lighting solutions
Lighting can make or break a restaurant environment, whether you are creating a light and airy vibe or a more intimate setting. It is important to think about and pay attention to the way your restaurant is lit at different times of the day and night, using natural light in the daytime and transitioning to candles and electric light solutions for evening diners.
Some of the best restaurants actually use and lean on a selection of different lighting types to create the right atmosphere, boasting large ceiling lights to create a consistent flow of light across the restaurant floor, with added individual table lights to optimise and elevate that intimacy of each table’s experience.
5. Creating the right atmosphere
This is where all of the details that give your restaurant its personality come into effect – allowing you to bring your restaurant to life and create a unique ambience.
While a “less is more” approach is often a safe go-to when it comes to accessorising the space, the way you factor your restaurant theme into the interior design will help your guests to enjoy a well-rounded experience. For example, consider making the bar and your drink selection part of the decoration around your dining space, and look for tables and chairs which match the type of dining experience you want your guests to enjoy within your restaurant.
The fact is interior design is what elevates your restaurant and turns it from a simple meal out to a full-blown dining experience.
For more advice and tailored support for your own restaurant, get in touch with the team at Carroll Design – and let us bring our experience and industry know-how to you and your customers.