of your business says it all

Get to know your surroundings and your future customers.

Researching your surroundings, competitors and future customers is one of the most important processes in interior design. Your goal is to differentiate yourself as much as possible from the gastro entities in the area, but it is also important to fit in with the local color and appeal to local customers who will visit your café or bakery regularly. So always try to adapt your business to a concept that is missing in the area. Should you decide to use professionals for the design, it is definitely worth considering architects from the city or neighborhood where your business will be located. This will ensure that the architect or designer you use can fully empathies with the local area and your future customers. If you decide to approach an architect who comes from another city or location, it is very important to focus more on personal consultations that will help the professional get to know your space and neighborhood better and adapt the design based on the knowledge gained.

You can't do that today without a good concept.

Getting the concept of a business right is the alpha and omega of its success these days, especially in larger cities where the level of competition is much greater. In cafés and design bakeries, customers are looking for a pleasant place to sit and relax. The interior design of your business can therefore often play a much bigger role than the product range itself. In the age of social media, many customers are eager to show off where they‚re enjoying their coffee or where they‚ve just been served an honest piece of artisan pastry. We need to remember that the interior design and identity of a business is linked to its pricing. Simply put, design-led gastro entities can command a little more money for their services. Increasingly, we are seeing businesses using smaller details, such as customized tiles or engraved wooden elements, to emphasis their identity. The functional means of your concept can also be the accompanying identity, where your logo does not speak for you primarily, but rather some functional element, often associated with the motto of the company. A beautiful example of an accompanying identity can be the neon sign “love“ in the 4 Pokoje in Brno. This sign is so distinctive that it can be seen in almost all the photos taken by customers in this establishment. It is definitely worth pushing your branding into materials that have a certain relationship to your concept.

So, if you are working with a branded paterno, you can press it into perforated sheet metal, but also glass or wood. But you need to be careful that this way of branding does not look cheap. Therefore, in most cases, the less the better. Nowadays, however, we can notice that the logo tends to be neglected behind the overall identity, which plays a primary role, can distinguish you from the competition at first glance and attract attention on a wider scale.

Scandinavian minimalism or colorful playfulness?

Minimalist design based on Scandinavia is of course timeless and will probably never get old for many of us. These spaces always have a clean, airy feel and their simplicity will appeal to most of your potential customers. However, we can also see that trends from completely different parts of Europe are starting to make their way into interiors. Many architects and designers today are inspired by Southern playfulness and hotness. More and more often we can find interiors influenced by Italy and Spanish Art Deco. The playfulness of color and the bold contrasts associated with it are once again making their way into modern trends. You don't have to be afraid of garish colors, which are making a comeback in architecture as well as in fashion. Upcycling is also a big concept in modern interiors. The use of various discarded materials, for example to produce lights and interior accessories, is experiencing a really big boom. The demand for sustainable materials and the current attitude towards waste are to some extent responsible for this.

What about the choice of furniture?

Of course, budget is always a factor when choosing furniture and accessories, but even with a smaller budget you can furnish your space in a stylish yet novel way. You don't even have to worry about big retail chains like IKEA. Here, too, you‚ll sometimes find a range of design pieces that beautifully enhance the overall impression of your interior. Of course, if your budget allows, investing in brands that aren't as commercially known and tend to gravitate towards more thoughtful design is a much better choice. Today, interiors in which every piece of furniture is completely different are definitely drawing attention to themselves. This option is one of the cheaper ones, but at the same time it is a very interesting way of choosing equipment. However, it's not easy to create a coherent style and you have to prepare for a really complicated search for all the pieces to match each other. Of course, the best option is furniture that is made to measure. With these pieces, you can work on a whole other level in terms of branding. You are thus able to imprint your identity directly on chairs, tables and counters, i.e., on the equipment of the business with which your customers come into contact most often. You can thus match the furniture to the overall concept of your café or bakery.

Light that you will love to come back to.

Every space is unique, depending on what you use it for. That's why, when it comes to the color of light, it's definitely wiser to choose white light for your workspace. Here you need clear visibility. If, on the other hand, it's a guest area designed to create a relaxed mood, in most cases you can choose a warmer light spectrum. This gives a much more pleasant and cozy impression. But you can also work with different filters to help break up the strong light. If you place colored Perspex or other colored material that is light transmitting in the ceiling, the white light will illuminate it and help create an atmosphere that guests will love to return to again and again, while maintaining sufficient visibility in the space.

Let a little bit of nature into your business.

Natural elements add a sense of comfort to the interior, don't be afraid to use flowers in your establishment. They create a pleasant atmosphere and also influence the air quality in the room. Flowers also work well as a dividing element that can effectively differentiate different rooms or areas. However, it is important to remember that flowers add extra work responsibilities for your employees and need to be cared for regularly, which doesn't just stop at watering. Flowers need to be replanted once in a while, and some species need to be repositioned in the room due to light conditions. Furthermore, you should think about the placement of plants in a broader spectrum. It's definitely a good idea to keep these decorations away from the counter where you prepare food, or brew coffee. This will avoid unpleasant leaf fall that could end up in someone's snack.

What to avoid when designing a café?

A café or bakery should optimally be designed as a bright space with as much natural light as possible. Customers visit these businesses primarily during daylight hours, so you need to keep in mind that your guests will want a light-filled space where they feel comfortable and want to spend as much time as possible. A space with plenty of light, ideally natural light, always feels much cozier. It's easier to work and spend time over a good cup of coffee for this reason, when choosing your future business, you should avoid basements and dark areas, which usually do not have much natural light. At the same time, your café should be highly visible. So always try to find a space that is distinctive at first glance and can be noticed by a glance from the street. This is where public transport stops are a great help, as there are more people in the vicinity and your business is more likely to be noticed by random passers-by.

How do we compare to other countries?

The situation in the field of gastro interiors is improving every day, we are trying to meet foreign trends and the ills, which have long accompanied Czech interiors are gradually receding. Today, people from the industry are getting involved much more and they are able to create a clear identity for gastro spaces. On the other hand, we Czechs are a nation of golden hands and many aspiring entrepreneurs in the catering industry rely on themselves, rather than on the services of architects and designers. However, we cannot say that the presence of professionals is always necessary in interior design. However, the person in question should have a certain amount of taste and vision and should not be afraid to consult a professional in case of an emergency. In this way, the owner's personality is often better written into the interior, and in these cases, professionally created branding is often not even a necessity, because the identity created by the founders of the business speaks sufficiently to customers. Of course, if you approach an architect, you can never go wrong. At the very least, you can then rely on your space being resolved not only in terms of design, but also in terms of functionality.

Be inspired.

One of the cafes you can be inspired by is the flagship café of Rebel Bean, a coffee shop located in the Vlněna office complex in Brno. The space of this café is designed in a creative way, offering several different types of seating. In the company you will find private boxes sized for 4 people, which offers some privacy, you can also sit at a large table, which is designed for about 15 people and can be used for larger meetings and corporate meetings. However, in this café you can also sit in individual seats with a table, which will be appreciated especially by customers who require seclusion and quiet to work. This way, the space can meet the needs of all types of customers, whether they are looking for an airy and open space or their priority is privacy. The entire café is conceived as a space primarily for work and business meetings, which, given the surrounding area, which functions as an office complex, is an ideal concept that simply has to work in this location. Another interesting place to be inspired by is a café connected to a wine bar called The Shed. Located right across from the train station in Benešov near Prague, this restaurant will impress you with its modern take on classic Moravian folklore. The identity of Búda is reflected in elements such as the concrete pillars we know from the vineyards, which have been subtly incorporated into the preparation counter. The signboard of the café is then decorated with Slovak ornaments, which are geometrically processed into a modern spirit. Here, the owners have beautifully incorporated their Moravian roots, breaking away from the classic clichés that usually accompany wine bars.