Most of us know how much Melbournian’s like to eat out… if we could afford it we would gladly café-jump from breakfast to lunch daily! And why not when café culture is truly ingrained in the fabric of existence, especially here in Melbourne. Coffee is that one cheap luxury for Melbournians, and it has become a daily ritual to enjoy a coffee made by a barista in a beautifully designed café.
With designed cafe interiors and just as beautiful and delicious food on what seems like every street corner, the café industry in Melbourne is becoming seriously aggressive. For the newbies on the block, ready to chase their dreams, starting a café seems effortless. But in case you’ve been running a café for 5-10 years it may feel daunting trying to stay relevant with these young entrepreneurs making their mark in the business!
So here are the top 5 interior design guidelines on ways to stay relevant in the café biz by creating some simple updates to refresh your café interior and reach a new found following in Melbourne’s café culture.
Feature Lighting & Panelling
When it comes to lighting design, we are spoilt for choice with so many custom lighting designers in Melbourne. Creating artistic and bespoke light fittings to compliment your café’s style will include a serious wow element and can fit into most budgets.
Exceptional Art
Hospitality design encompasses everything from a personalised mural to big jaw-dropping paintings, and Melbourne has a wealth of talented artists to help elevate your café design to the next level. With artists now increasingly creating limited edition prints they are now more affordable than ever. You could even get a bespoke piece made just for the space.
Colour Palette
You are able to use the services of an interior designer or colour consultant to point you in the ideal direction. However, if you’re up for the challenge, a little trick for picking a colour is to decide on a feature artwork first and then get inspired from the colours in that to move forward. You can always control the hue of the colour to reach the ideal complement to your current colour scheme. And remember to initially trial whatever colour you select by ordering a paintbrush and putting it on walls throughout the day so you can see how the colour looks in all types of daylight.
Greenery, greenery and more greenery
Adding greenery to your interior design is a fantastic way to lighten up the room and you can never have enough. It helps to keep the air quality fresh and it provides a calming link to nature whilst enjoying your favourite lunch. There are plenty of indoor plant pros all around Melbourne, some who offer services to maintain your indoor plants for you – which is great if you are time poor or aren’t particularly good at gardening.
Feature Tiles
Tiles are an excellent addition to any café and interestingly they can also hide structural irregularities; such as concrete columns and dilapidated bricks. Make sure you refer to Step 3 for choosing a colour palette, and then select tiles that naturally work well with the complete colour scheme of the café. It’s important to be mindful of the type of room you are tiling; if it is a larger room it can be beneficial to choose a more subtle tile design however on the contrary, a smaller room can look stunning featured with decorative hand painted tiles.
The hospitality industry in the 21st century is about more than just delicious food; it really pays for business owners to think about an interior refresh for their café in this increasingly competitive sector.