Coffee Shop Interior Design Trends

Coffee shops are notoriously comfortable and welcoming spaces, often offering a selection of indoor and outdoor seating where visitors can work, catch up with friends or colleagues, or simply sit and read a book at their leisure. 

Due to their potential for profitability and the wide variation of ways in which people interact with and use coffee shops, the coffee shop and café industry is considered one of the most popular and the most successful – with new shops opening what seems like every day.

With that said, how can interior design for businesses in the hospitality industry be used to create somewhere that will standout from the competition, especially for independent businesses that want to draw customers away from the bigger chains?

In this blog post, we find out. 

Select a style or theme

This isn’t about painting the walls or buying the furniture – it’s about choosing an overall theme which will frame the way the coffee shop is presented and decorated. It will likely influence who decides to visit and who becomes a regular customer; what kind of drinks you will serve; the entertainment you provide; and it can even impact your pricing strategy.

A modern colour palette tends to very minimal, with hyper modern coffee shops relying on lots of angular lines, clear cut sections, and bland colours. This then allows you to input pops of colour in your preferred way, for example in soft furnishings, in artwork, or in statement chairs and tables. 

Meanwhile a cosy ‘living room’ style of coffee shop is much softer around the edges with a rustic and chaotic combination of styles which immediately makes visitors feel welcome. 

Get your equipment right

Not so much a trend as an integral factor in the design and build of your coffee shop, knowing what equipment you need will start with a decision around the kind of drinks and snacks you want to serve. If you know you want to serve fresh baked goods and even light lunch snacks, then you will need full kitchen facilities; if you want to serve complex drinks then you will need a professional coffee maker; etc. 

Remember, experience is at the heart of the way your coffee shop will be received, so make sure you are giving customers what they want. 

Blend tech and tradition

The truth is that people want old school methods delivered in technologically advanced and modern ways. Creating a coffee shop which uses the old methods to produce the best coffee, while offering 21^st century amenities such as WiFi and immersive experiences, are what will give you an edge and turn your coffee shop from just another branch on the high street to somewhere which regularly shows up on social media feeds and in the recommendations of coffee connoisseurs. 

Keep it natural

From sugar-free to vegan options to a complete culling of artificial ingredients, the more you can do to tick the many boxes of modern dietary trends and preferences, the wider your audience base will be. And this can factor as much into your interior styling as it does into your menu – filling the space with indoor plants, highlighting your mixed menu through signage and menu boards, and creating somewhere where every kind of coffee fan is welcome. 

Aesthetic coffee

If you can find a barista who delivers great latte art, then your social media feed will blow up with tags and likes. If they can train the rest of your team to do the same, great!

Mix up your barware

Interior design isn’t just about the space itself but also about how you fill it and how you accessorise it. Consider the coffee cups and saucers that you use and find little ways of injecting your brand’s personality into the tableware as well as the shop itself. Some of the most popular trends and ideas of the 21^st century coffee shop include using a mismatch of coffee cup designs to create that living room at-home vibe, or even presenting coffee in totally unique and ‘out there’ mugs to create a statement. 

Don’t forget outside!

Finally, whether or not you have outside seating is irrelevant here – the outside space of your coffee shop is how people will notice you and is what will give them that crucial first impression as to whether or not they want to come in and buy from you.

Use your exterior to present the personality of your brand through your signage and your window displays; consider window art if it’s appropriate in your surroundings, and if possible, place a few tables and chairs on the street outside to really highlight the fact that you are a coffee shop.

Any and all of these trends can be used to help elevate an existing coffee shop or create an entirely new brand. However you choose to express your brand, do so with both design and the experience you provide to customers.