All your hard work has paid off and you are now ready to choose the furniture for your restaurant. But how do you know you are choosing the correct pieces when there are so many choices to choose from ou there?

1. Tie It All Up

Does your restaurant have a theme? Maybe your planning on opening a sustainable vegan joint, in which case your furniture should reflect your theme and the story your telling. Use your furniture to emerge your customers in the experience you are trying to create. Industrial raw restaurant? Fill the space with furniture that will enhance the experience.

2. Remember The Point

When shopping for furniture, ask yourself two questions.

1. Is this going to be comfortable for my customers to use?
2. Why do I need this piece?

The point of furniture in your establishment is to comfortably allow your customers to sit and enjoy their meals. Function and practicality should be a top priority. If you fill an entire restaurant space with heavy, chunky furniture you may be restricting your profit. However, if you buy more practical pieces with the number of customers you can seat in mind, your restaurant becomes more profitable.

3. Time & Cost

You may be spending a lot of time cleaning this piece of furniture. Are you really prepared to wipe AND polish a glass table after each meal enjoyed there? Think about suitable materials that will last. Your investing in these pieces and it’s important they last you a while and do not take too long to clean properly. Some seating distresses more quickly than others, you want to ensure your furniture doesn’t look old before it’s time. Yes, you can buy white chairs if they are made from a cleanable, resilient material!

Psst, if you’re thinking of making your restaurant more sustainable, it may be worth switching to eco-friendly products. Here are some great brands that offer commercial sizes. Ecover, Clover Eco and Delphis Eco.

4. Get Creative

You can use furniture to create different sectors in your restaurant. Think about comfy sofas near the window for those who want to chat over a coffee, and grand tables further inside for families to sit and each brunch. You can even distinguish between bar areas and eating areas using furniture alone, helping customers recognise where they need to go for what they want.

5. Plan Plan Plan

Create a plan before you hit the shops. We’ve even heard of restaurants drawing their furniture on the floor with chalk before purchasing so they can move around the space while it’s ‘full’ of furniture and highlight any potential problems before spending any cash. Think about things like servers carrying food, narrow spaces causing bottlenecks and squashing customers too close to the toilets or kitchen. Basically, your goal is to seat as many customers as possible without compromising on people’s ability to move around the space. When you have your plan, note down your desired dimensions and hit the shops!

If you could do with a hand designing your restaurant, give our expert team a call today.