Great Small Restaurant Interior Designs

Did you know that in addition to your food and customer service, your restaurant décor is of utmost importance to your guests?

In fact, it’s so important, that one study found that ratings for food, restaurant interior designs, and service are all associated with a restaurant’s top-40 rating on Zagat’s listings, and it takes a combination of all three to land a restaurant in the top 40.

Because great small restaurant interior designs are so important, let’s look at how you can accomplish design that makes your guests want to return to your restaurant again and again.

Maximize Your Floor Plan

You’re ready to set your restaurant apart from the competition, and one of the ways to do this is with a great floor plan. Why? Before you start picking out paint chips and furniture, you want to decide your setup.

A good rule of thumb is to set aside 60% of your total interior space for dining and 40% for your kitchen and prep area. Count your entrance and your bathroom areas separately.

While you have a blank canvas, you can use large butcher block paper to sketch out the floor plan of your dining area. For example, if you’ve picked out tables, you can take their measurements and account for the chair space and start laying things out.

This helps you when you’re ready to order furniture and allows you to “move” furniture around with ease.

A few suggestions on table spacing include:

• Have 18 inches between chairs.
• Keep 42-62 inches between square tables and 24-30 inches between the corners of tables on a diagonal.

Consider using different seating arrangements such as tables with booths on one side and chairs on the other. Depending on your theme, you can get creative with your tables.

For example, an eclectic restaurant might opt for a bunch of tables that are different sizes, shapes and finishes.

Highlight Your Entrance

First impressions go a long way. Wow your diners with your beautiful entrance.

This might sound like a daunting task especially for the small restaurant, but you can use some design tricks to come up with the perfect entrance.

Consider a few sofas or large arm chairs. Add a lovely chandelier for ambiance. Add a few leaning areas in the way of shelving if you don’t have enough seating so your guests can rest against a bar-like area.

Pull from Your Theme

What is the theme of your restaurant? What are you trying to convey to your guests?

Stay true to your mission and theme when designing your restaurant. As you start thinking about design, color, and fixtures, you want to make sure you keep to your restaurant’s style.

For example, if you serve only locally grown vegetarian food, you might create a modern industrial looking interior with plants for décor. Conversely, if you’re a barbecue joint, you want to use the décor to enhance your menu.

You want to create the right mood for your restaurant, so your guests want to not only return but tell all their friends about your food.

Use Color

One of the easiest and least expensive ways to spruce up your small restaurant is with a fresh coat of paint. You can also experiment with wallpaper if it suits your theme. (tweet this)

Deep rich colors or simple, modern bright colors can affect your restaurant in positive ways.

Paint as well as wallpaper (which is in style again) can add dimension to your small space making it seem bigger. Cool colors such as blue and green can give the illusion of a larger space.

Or, you can even choose paint colors to keep the small scale of your restaurant – do this with darker colors and warmer hues.

Consider the Ceiling

When you have a small restaurant, look to the ceiling. This is an often forgotten area when it comes to interior design, but it can pack a big punch.

You have choices when it comes to the ceiling. You might paint it, put wallpaper on it, or even consider tin tiles, as well as other ceiling tile options.

If you want to make your space seem more expansive, go with a lighter ceiling and even lighter walls.

When choosing darker colors for your ceiling, you visually lower the ceiling height providing for a more intimate setting.

Once you’ve covered the walls and the cleaning, don’t forget the flooring. Everything should work together, and your floors are another great place for color. Again, light flooring opens up the space, while dark flooring makes for a cozier space.

Leverage Mirrors

A secret in the interior design world to making a space look larger is the use of mirrors.

By creatively spacing mirrors throughout your interior, you can make the space look wider or taller. You can sprinkle mirrors throughout your restaurant or go bold and hang one wall with multiple mirrors.

Why do they make your restaurant seem bigger? They reflect the light.

In addition, don’t forget your lighting. The options are many, and by doing a search on Pinterest, you’ll find many clever ideas for lighting your interior.

Final Thoughts

Decorating a small restaurant can indeed be a challenge, but it’s certainly one worth undertaking.

By carefully planning your interior design, you can set the tone and specific vibe of your restaurant. Use your imagination and create the perfect space for comfort and intimacy.

Use your design and décor to create a mood and let your food take the lead as you pick out furniture, table coverings, silverware, glassware, wall décor and floor treatments.

Create a space that you’d like to dine in, and you can bet you’ll attract new and returning customers as well.

Finally, don’t be afraid to push the creative envelope. Many successful restaurants threw caution to the wind to really set the tone for their establishments. Color, texture, and design choices can elevate your food and help spread the word about your incredible restaurant’s food, service, and décor.

Dress up your restaurant so it’s a stunning statement to your community. It will be a place that people remember and return to again and again. (tweet this) 

At Restaurant Engine, not only do we create great, responsive websites, but you can count on us to create a website that drives business to all your restaurants and edges you above the competition by using mobile-friendly design with a terrific user experience. Ready to take the plunge and create a website with an online menu, blog and beautiful photos? Get your free website consultation today!

Image: Jason Leung and Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash

 

3 responses to “Great Small Restaurant Interior Designs”

1. George says:

   February 3, 2020 at 1:53 am

   I want to decorate my small restaurant and create a new website

   Reply
2. Sterling Hardy says:

   October 21, 2019 at 11:09 pm

   Looking to start a small restaurant that would be open from 10 pm to 5am near bars after regular restaurants are closed. No alcohol

   Reply
3. Shivam Manchanda says:

   October 11, 2019 at 2:38 am

   Amazing! Thank you for such crattive ideas for restaurant interior. This is easy and creative which we can try in our restaurant.

   Reply