Textures and materials play a pivotal role in shaping the diner’s experience. Beyond mere aesthetics, they engage our tactile senses, influence ambiance, and evoke feelings of comfort or luxury. As business owners and restaurant interior designers embark on the journey of crafting a memorable dining space, understanding the nuanced impact of textures and materials becomes paramount.
Texture offers a way of elevating a space, adding warmth, and making it feel more welcome and homely, while retaining a very minimalist colour palette. What’s more, texture can make a restaurant feel more relaxing, and can add a sense of comfortable luxury which sets your restaurant worlds away from the hard edges and plastic finishes of a fast food joint.
The benefits of considering texture and materials in a restaurant setting
Have you ever noticed how many hard, reflective surfaces there are in quick service restaurants and fast food takeaways? These establishments boast cold and stark surfaces with little in the way of detail and even less attention to what would be considered by guests as warm and welcoming.
Restaurants which use texture and colour as part of both the décor and the furnishing of their space will often find that guests not only feel more welcome and at home but are likely to stay longer – and subsequently spend more!
Material details, be they rugs, wall hangings, comfortable chairs, or different layered florals and decorative accessories, serve to warm up and soften the aesthetic of a restaurant. This ensures that, regardless of how busy the space is, guests always feel like they are somewhere where they can relax.
And that’s not all!
Textures and materials in particular have an exceptionally functional and logistical benefit on top of their aesthetic appeal – and it’s all to do with sound. When your restaurant is packed with cold and clinical surfaces, sound reflects and creates an echoey environment. Materials soak up those reflected noises and help to create a space which is softer and more intimate for guests.
So, how can you use texture and different materials as part of the design of your restaurant?
How to use textures and materials in your restaurant
This is where hospitality interior designers and restaurant design specialists like to get creative. Because adding texture and fabric to your restaurant doesn’t have to be reserved for chairs and table cloths – you can also explore and experiment with wall textures, natural and exposed wood features and furnishings, cushions, and other soft touches which add a little extra homely immersion to the restaurant space.
Consider the areas where guests spend the most time, and where they are most likely to relax, and go from there. The bar and dining spaces are the most obvious, but also pay attention to your reception and arrival space – the part of your restaurant where guests nurture their first impression, and the last thing they see before they leave.
Remember that texture and the right choice of materials can add an opulence and an air of luxury which is incredibly sought after in the hospitality sector, and which elevates your restaurant to new levels. This can be done as a means of injecting personality and visual flair while retaining a neutral colour palette, or as a way of creating seasonal colour which is interchangeable throughout the year.
Finally, take the time to experiment with juxtaposing materials and textures which deliberately offset and balance each other in equal measure. Exposed wood, for example, works seamlessly against a very modern and white aesthetic. Exposed brick creates an industrial vibe alongside metallic detailing or can be made more rustic alongside white finishes – or why not opt for something more opulent like velvet but in a simple and neutral colour to tone down its standout vibe.
For more advice on how to make textures and materials work for your restaurant, embracing the power of juxtaposing and soft textures but without taking it too far, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.