Owning a bistro café means making sure of high traffic and keeping your customers happy with the service and menu you offer. Having expansive space for your vibey bistro café is every restaurateur’s dream but renting larger spots comes with a high price tag. This doesn’t mean your small bistro café still can’t make a good profit though!
There are creative and practical ways of creating spaciousness in a smaller dining area. Installing features such as outdoor blinds with clear PVC and giving your customers uninterrupted views is one technique used by café owners. Clever use of décor, furniture and layout are other tricks used by interior designers to expand the potential of a small space. So, keep reading!
3 Ways to Increase Space in Your Small Bistro Cafe
1. Install Outdoor Blinds
If you’re fortunate enough to have outdoor space adjoining your café, it makes sense to use it for seating more customers. Installing bistro outdoor blinds allows you to enhance this space further.
Outdoor blinds come in different materials and designs and you can select either manual or automated operation. They’re easy to keep clean and require minimal maintenance. Here are some other advantages of installing this type of blind:
- Protection from the elements: Top-quality blinds are durable and designed to keep harsh weather out! Your customers can continue enjoying their meal on your patio while it rains, hails, snows or blows a gusty gale.
- Blocks out harmful UV rays: While sunshine adds to the enjoyment of eating outdoors, exposure to harmful UV rays must be avoided. Picking bistro blinds with tinted PVC materials protects your customers from UV radiation while decreasing glare at the same time.
- Protects furniture and flooring: Outdoor blinds help protect your café furniture and floor cover from sun fade, while offering protection against wet conditions.
Picking the right design in outdoor roller blinds improves the aesthetics of your café, be it contemporary, minimalist or traditional style. Don’t discount the possibility of using outdoor space to increase the size of your small bistro café. It’s an effective way of maximising outside space while increasing customer numbers.
2. Get the Layout Right
Being creative and practical with your layout can increase clientele even in the smallest bistro. Before moving furniture into your café, spend time identifying potential seating spots. Some ideas include:
- Using counter-side seating: Placing comfortable stools at the counter encourages customer-staff engagement while allowing more diners into your restaurant.
- Sitting near the kitchen: While some customers may find the kitchen noisy, others enjoy watching the action! Placing tables and chairs close to the kitchen uses up otherwise wasted space.
- Placing single seating: If your café has little nooks, use them for a single seating. If the nooks are sizeable, you can position smaller tables with two chairs to accommodate couples.
It’s important to not overcrowd your café, as most customers appreciate some personal space. Be strategic and innovative with your layout and you’ll be able to accommodate more customers without compromising their comfort or dining experience.
3. Use Clever Decor Techniques
You can instantly expand the experience of the space of your small bistro café by using clever décor techniques used by interior designers worldwide! Simple tricks such as painting the interior walls in a calming white colour will create the impression of spaciousness while brightening up the space instantly.
Floor-to-ceiling windows increase indoor lighting while opening up your inside space and giving your customers expansive views of the landscape outside. Installing skylights or using lighting fixtures also increases brightness while enhancing a smaller space. Avoid swathes of curtains and instead install blinds or shutters to open up space by the windows.
Hanging floating shelves and large pictures above the customers’ eye level forces them to look upwards, taking their focus off the compactness of your room.
Bonus Tips for Expanding Smaller Spaces
- Use a variety of tables and chairs: Create an eclectic atmosphere with different-sized tables and chairs. Smaller tables and chairs or bench seating in booths makes good use of this kind of space while couches and low tables work well in narrow spaces. Larger tables and chairs can be used in wider, open areas.
- Offer leaning areas: Pop-in customers seeking a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat may be happier to be seated at leaning areas similar to the bar counter.
- Don’t forget the ceiling: Painting the ceiling with a lighter colour creates the feeling of expansiveness.
- Hang large mirrors: Big mirrors hung around the café interior is an old trick used by décor experts to create the illusion of space in small rooms.
Final Thoughts
Creating an inviting but expansive atmosphere in your small bistro café is possible once you know the tricks of the trade! Using design features such as outdoor blinds and being strategic with your floor plan empowers you to do much more than you think.
Get creative and watch the numbers grow – both in the bank and your list of loyal customers!