Not only the excellent cuisine and impeccable service at your restaurant will impress diners. Along with the culinary experience, diners will be looking for a multi-sensory experience starring the visual component. That is why even the furnishings, design and atmosphere in a restaurant or bar are of fundamental importance. Diners do not just want to feel at ease and comfortable; they also want to be amazed and excited. The more relaxed a diner feels, the more he or she will enjoy the stay, being more inclined to spend and return.
Certainly, each place has its own personality and character that should also reflect the culinary offering. How can you furnish or enrich the environments in an original way in line with current tastes? What styles are dominating restaurants in 2017?
Shabby chic
One of the most popular is undoubtedly shabby chic, which is reflected in a wide variety of possibilities, furniture and accessories. Featuring soft colors (white, ivory, beige) or delicate blue and pink tones, the shabby chic style is recognized by the typical furniture, the counter of a bar, credenzas and glassware, with a patina of age or “worn” with visible wood grain. Other typical complements are chairs with rush seats, vintage items like picture frames, mirrors and vases of flowers always in pastel colors, lanterns and scented candles. You can choose the style even in a part of the premises, for example in the waiting area of a restaurant or a bar.
Hygge
It is not just a style, it is a way of life. The Nordic hygge décor style corresponds to: joy, cheerfulness, lightness and sharing are the key words, and in furnishing, it is a welcoming environment that conveys tranquility and joy. A hygge place is perfect for an aperitif and a dinner, but also for a Sunday brunch with family or friends. Hygge furnishing is recognized by its natural wood furniture, large tables that can be shared with other diners, comfy sofas and armchairs filled with pillows and blankets, soft colors, airy spaces and open-plan kitchens, plants and planters, and scented candles. Diners are invited to linger for a long time, to taste the dishes and “savor” the place. The style is also perfect for a garden because nature is the primary source of hygge decor.
Hipster
This is definitely a very particular style and not easy to adopt. It is a style that must amaze and impress without parallel. A hipster spot is alternative and fashionable, serving each dish, especially organic, in jars and “messy”. But what is the furnishing like? Different styles and combinations; small, low tables perfect for cocktails-dinner, consisting of wooden boxes or barrels that also serve as chairs. Any other strange object can be used as a chair; the important thing is that it is unexpected. Bright colors and combinations of daring and extreme tones.
Industrial
An example of true industrial style is a former factory, with large windows and high ceilings. The watchword of this style is recovery: it looks like a “rough” environment with furniture and accessories made from iron, steel, glass, metal and concrete, but also ultrapattern; that is, extremely chromatic and decorative graphic designs on tables and walls, for daring hot and cold combinations. The most typical furniture consists of old pallets turned into tables and coffee tables, cement and resin bar counters, square lacquer tables, high stools for counters, typical laboratory or suspended lamps hanging from the ceiling of industrial sheds on the tables, decorative iron grilles on the walls and hanging steel cages or sheet metal bottle holders. But the most representative is definitely the “tolix” chair, the typical black or blued steel seat with curved backrest, invented at the beginning of the 1900s, coming from the world of factories and now a true design object.
Natural
Respect for the environment is not just about the food but also the furnishings. Design meets ecology and characterizes the spaces with materials such as wood, stone, eco-friendly fabrics, natural dyes and handcrafted furniture made from organic or untreated materials and accessories created without solvents or pollutants. The watchword in this case is recycling and so even paper, cardboard and plastic are welcome for chairs, couches and tables. Natural style does not distinguish between indoors and outdoors: outdoor furniture can be used inside and vice versa because everything takes its inspiration and impetus from the environment and nature.