Café design ideas
A café is a retail counter and a living room in one space. The counter has to work fast, with pastry on show and a clear queue, while the seating has to suit people staying for five minutes or two hours. These concepts show six styles of café interior.
Open any idea in Imagine to make your own version.
Warm natural café interior design · evening
Futuristic café interior design · evening
Industrial café interior design · evening
Scandi café interior design · evening
Minimal café interior design · evening
Luxury café interior design · evening
Scandi café interior design · day
Futuristic café interior design · day
Warm natural café interior design · day
Industrial café interior design · day
Luxury café interior design · day
Minimal café interior design · day
What makes a café work
- Queue along the display
- Line the queue up past the pastry case so the wait sells food. Keep it clear of the door and the seating.
- Mix the seating
- Banquettes, small tables, a shared table and a few window stools suit different visits and make the room look busy at any time of day.
- Light for two moods
- Bright light at the counter for speed, warmer and lower light at the tables for staying. Pendants over tables help zone the room.
- Durable surfaces
- Stone or solid-surface counters and hard-wearing floors handle spills, heat and constant cleaning.
Questions designers ask
- How do you lay out a small café?
- Counter along one wall with the queue running past the display, seating against the opposite wall and windows, and a clear path from door to counter.
- How many seats fit in a café?
- It depends on the floor area, the table mix and local regulations for exits and accessibility. Plan the counter and circulation first, then fit seating around it.
- Which style is best for a café?
- Warm natural and Scandi interiors are the most widely liked; industrial suits high-ceilinged spaces; minimal works for speed-focused coffee bars.