Essential Café Interior Design Tips in 2023

Cafés are frequently visited not only to grab a cup of coffee or a bite to eat, but also for their pleasant ambiance. This is also a perfect place for a social gathering spot, a workspace, or a place to relax and unwind. Thus, a cafe's interior design is essential to attracting potential customers.

A cafe's interior should make a positive first impression. Providing your customers with a pleasant environment promotes a sense of accessibility, appeal, and warmth. By doing so, more people will come to your place and receive the best coffee experience possible.

What are the Current Interior Design Trends for Cafés?

While coffee and food are usually the main draws of a café, keeping up with interior trends is a key factor to help boost sales and encourage customers to come back again. Some café interior design trends for 2023 are:

• Lush Greenery

  
  

  In Manila, interior designers often incorporate leafy wall installations, herb plant gardens or flower arrangements to design a relaxing outdoor space for local café.

• A Mix of Texture

  
  

  Some interior designers adopt minimalist designs and emphasize texture contrasts over patterns and colors.

• Multipurpose Space

  
  

  Multipurpose spaces are becoming increasingly popular in café layouts to improve coffee service while offering a cozy and relaxing atmosphere.

• Go For a Theme

  
  

  Many customers enjoy their coffee experience more when they visit cafés with unique themes, like quirky, cool, or eclectic designs.

• Open Kitchen

  
  

  Today, an interior designer is adopting open kitchens into their café designs, allowing customers to see how baristas prepare their coffee.

• Mixed Use

  
  

  This interior design in the Philippines blends retail and coffee experiences, where customers can enjoy their coffees and buy their favorite books or vinyl recordings in one place.

What Should Be Considered When Designing a Café?

Designing a café is an exciting and fulfilling project, but it's important to remember that there are several factors to consider before jumping into the design process. These include:

• Distance Between Tables

  
  

  Consider the space's usability and the table distance to ensure customers can move around the café easily.

• Placement of Serving Counter

  
  

  Placing your serving counter near the entrance can attract walk-by, while a location near the back will encourage people to stay and dine.

• Flooring

  
  

  Most interior designers in Manila prefer timber, vinyl planks, and timber-look tiles for flooring due to their durability and resistance to scratching.

• Lighting

  
  

  Lighting is crucial to creating a pleasant atmosphere and enhancing your café's overall appearance and brand identity.

• Colors

  
  

  The color scheme of a café can have an impact on its customers. Vibrant colors such as orange and yellow create a lively atmosphere, while white and neutral colors create a relaxing setting.

What are the Steps to Designing Café Layouts?

The layout of a café is crucial to maximize seating and table space while still maintaining a relaxed and inviting atmosphere. If you are planning to design a café layout, you should consider the following:

• Equipment-Friendly Layouts

  
  

  A café's equipment should be easily accessible for installation, maintenance, or replacement. Ensure all furniture and equipment fit through the doorways, walls, and counters.

• Optimal Workspace for Employees

  
  

  To maximize efficiency and safety, arrange the workspace so that each worker has their workstation and has the freedom to move around.

• Storage in Vertical Spaces

  
  

  Installing shelves in the vertical spaces of cafés helps provide additional storage space for paper products, coffee, and other items.

• Furniture Choice

  
  

  The café layout should not be based on the design of a living room. You must consider investing in smaller two-top tables and large work tables instead of big couches.

• Organize Customer Lines

  
  

  Think about how a queue of customers will affect the user experience at your café. Create a circular customer flow instead of a linear one to avoid long lines of customers at the same time.

• Streamline Café Maintenance

  
  

  Ensure the surfaces in your workspace, such as the ceilings and countertops, are non-porous and wipeable, and the materials can endure regular cleaning that involves strong sanitizing and cleaning solutions.

• Post-Pandemic Café Floor Plans

  
  

  Adapt to the changing ways in which customers engage with cafés after COVID-19. In Manila, interior design should accommodate innovative ways of serving customers, such as drive-throughs, self-service windows, pick-up points for delivery services, and outdoor seating areas.

Tips for Designing a Café's Interior

Here are some coffee shop interior design ideas to keep in mind:

• Branding

  
  

  Café interiors should reflect your brand identity, including the color palette, logo placement, and overall design.

• Comfort

  
  

  Creating an inviting atmosphere for your customers requires a spacious seating area, warm lighting, and a comfortable setting.

• Functionality

  
  

  The café design must be functional and efficient, including bar and counter placements, seating arrangements, and traffic flow patterns.

• Materials and Textures

  
  

  Materials and textures can enhance the aesthetic of your café. Using natural materials like wood and greenery creates a calming environment, while metal or concrete adds an industrial flair.

• Sound

  
  

  For a more tranquil setting, consider playing calming music or utilizing sound-absorbing materials.

• Accessibility

  
  

  Cafés should be designed to be accessible for all customers, providing adequate space for wheelchair users, convenient restrooms, and easy-to-navigate layouts.

Designing Café Interiors to Attract More Customers

There is a strong correlation between the interior design of a café and the number of customers that it attracts. Authenticity, an inviting environment, and a priority placed on comfort are all factors that encourage customers to stay longer and return.

Rock Robin Design Co.’s Project

In a recent project by Rock Robin Design Co., the team transformed 1020 Coffee Co. into a simple, minimalist cafe that draws attention to the space's beauty. This design features clean lines, neutral colors, and functional elements to highlight the coffee counter. The café sticks to sleek and refined furnishings, soft lighting, greenery, and natural materials, such as wood, to create a calm and serene ambiance so customers can enjoy their coffee or pastries.

Source: 1020 Coffee Co.

An appealing interior design enhances the coffee experience for customers. Additionally, an aesthetically pleasing interior design helps highlight the menu and brand identity and provides a competitive advantage over its competitors. Well-planned interior design can help cafés create a loyal customer base and support their long-term success.

If you are looking for the best interior designer who can create a unique and visually appealing layout for your café, then Rock Robins Design Studio Co. can help. Our team of skilled designers specializes in creating interior design solutions that enhance your brand identity and customer experience. Contact us today at (02) 8663 0365 to learn more about our range of services.