From mid–century decor to bold and colourful wallpaper, restaurant interior design trends are riding a new wave. This year is no exception with the possibilities. If you think restaurant interiors are no longer only for the diners, they are created for so much more – think social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms are abuzz with images of cosy, exciting and green settings of restaurants and bars from all over the globe, and this, in turn, has offered diners a whole new bottle of dining experience to explore. Let’s start with some of the most exciting restaurant design trends, some of which, no doubt, will become everyday designs of the future.
Gratifying, Graphic Wallpapers:
Jungle–like plans and exquisite flowers are ubiquitous on wallpapers in hotels and restaurants all over the world. This can be partly due to social media feeds buzzing with flower planter ideas, and restaurants taking stock of them. While giving a garden effect to your restaurant’s decor may be an experiment in itself, wallpaper is an innovative way to pull in more looks, particularly when you don’t have a knack for growing and maintaining indoor plants. The experience can be gratifying as if dining outside in a forest or rain garden setting, without having to undergo the vagaries of outdoor weather. Your restaurant’s wallpaper backdrop can be an instant hit with the ‘selfie–queens’ too – Boy they’ll love it!
Comfy Seating Options:
Restaurants, increasingly, are seen swapping out two–seater tables with this alternative – long table seating, especially for larger parties. While it allows one to catch up with friends or family, and grab a quick beer or coffee, it also optimises the restaurant space for lounge and bar use and accommodates more guests for more fun. Another trend that is fast catching up is adding extra rooms outside the usual dining room and stacking the space with comfy couches and sofas for guests to lounge in and chill out. It is important to lend a ‘feel–at–home’ vibe and unique ambiance so that they keep coming back for more.
Retro Finishes:
Chrome and brass are back with a bang this year as they accentuate the restaurant’s furniture and decor, almost anything from tools, tables, countertops to cutlery for a fab retro look. These fine metal touches complement other retro fad that is disrupting flooring: linoleum in place of concrete or wood, which is not only less expensive but easy enough to maintain it and keep looking new. Vintage neon signs are staging a comeback as well.
Lighting:
How often have we struggled reading the menu in a dim lit restaurant room? But it seems like restaurants are heading for a transition to more welcoming and bright lighting, without shining like stadium floodlights on you, for sure. Lighting used to illuminate specific areas or tasks, in addition to remote–controlled lighting fixtures featuring colour and dimming options are all the rage.
Local Handcrafted Pieces:
‘Think local first’ has almost become a philosophy with restaurant owners as they try to localise everything right from local ingredients, including farm–to–table, to design and decor, winning the hearts of locales as well as being appreciated by outsiders. Local design ideas and traditional values are put at the heart of everything that the restaurant does suggesting that it’s all very comfy and homey for their guests when they tune it that way!
