Colour evokes emotion and has the ability to encourage or dissuade specific actions and behaviours, making it a potent interior design tool. Choosing the right colours for restaurant or cafe interiors can be the difference between a mediocre design and one that achieves the intended function of the space. The key to a thriving cafe interior design is a cohesive blend of spatial orientation, decorative elements, and soft furnishings that collectively express the owner’s vision. Choosing the colours of your setup is unquestionably one of the most challenging tasks. Therefore, unless you are an interior designer, it isn’t easy to visualise how your design ideas will manifest in reality until they do. This is especially vital since colour mistakes can make or break how your customers view your cafe.
In this article, we will be covering what’s the best colour scheme and design for a cafe business, so you may apply it to your own establishment to help improve its personality and overall aesthetic.
Why is the Colour Palette of your Cafe so Important?
Before we discuss the colours you should be using in your cafe, we need to go over why choosing the right colour is essential in the first place. The brain interprets colours and then sends signals to various parts of the body to perform the appropriate action. Colours have been shown to influence thirst and appetite and elicit a wide range of emotional responses. Colours have been shown to subtly affect both the types of food that customers choose and the amounts that they spend. What this means is that the colour scheme of a restaurant or cafe is the initial point of contact with potential customers. Due to this, it’s more crucial than ever to put some thought into the colours you use when decorating a cafe or restaurant. In the context of food and beverage interior design, there are three categories of colours:
- Potent Appetite Stimulants
We are willing to bet that the majority of your favourite fast-food restaurants make extensive use of red, orange, and yellow. Don’t believe us? Take a quick look at their logos and restaurant colour palettes. This is due to the fact that these hues are known to increase heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in a feeling of excitement. Red encourages impulsive purchasing and consumption. Yellow is associated with citrusy, refreshing flavours, while orange evokes a positive atmosphere in the space. Together, these hues encourage customers to eat quickly and then depart.
- Mellow Appetite Stimulants
Since green is the closest colour to nature, many believe it is a potent appetite stimulant. However, natural green vegetables and fruits are more fibrous and contain fewer natural sugars than their counterparts with brighter colours. Green is associated with health, while turquoise is attributed to being fresh. Together, these hues are ideal for restaurants and cafes with a health and fitness theme, as customers will be more inclined to consume balanced meals.
- Effective Appetite Suppressants
There are numerous reasons why blue and purple are known to suppress hunger. To begin with, both hues are incredibly uncommon in nature as food. However, blue stimulates the kidneys and can stimulate thirst, making it the perfect primary colour for beverage shops.
What Colours Should You Use In Your Cafe or restaurant?
Picking out a colour scheme for a cafe or restaurant, whether you’re redecorating or building from scratch, can be intimidating at first. Here we have listed down the best colours you can use for you establishment,as well as how each of these colours influences your customers mood:
- Red
According to studies, the colour red increases your heart rate, blood pressure, and propensity for compulsive eating. However, red can also provoke irritation and claustrophobia in your customers. Red is said to have a more significant effect on stimulating the individual and creating an upbeat environment. This is why you’ll often find red tablecloths and other touches of red decor in eateries.
- Orange
This colour also belongs to the family of warmer tones and gives off a friendly vibe. Orange is a colour that stimulates the brain, boosts brain activity, and frequently makes people feel hungry. It is a welcoming, inviting hue, and when people feel comfortable, they are more likely to crave food. It may not make the interior of your cafe appear larger on its own, but when combined with contrasting or cooler hues such as white, it can do wonders for your atmosphere and your customers’ mood. The best part is that you can incorporate orange into your modern cafe’s interior design by incorporating a fireplace that exudes warmth and cosiness.
- Yellow
This colour is third among the warmer shades and injects an energetic vibe into the room. Yellow is a happy, upbeat colour that has the power to lift one’s spirits. People have a greater appetite for food when they are in a good mood than when they feel down. That’s why yellow is such a great accent colour. It has been shown to make the place lively and pleasant when paired with green, white, or even red, inviting customers to feel snug and warm.
- Green
Green has always been the colour associated with nature, and its presence in a cafe or restaurant creates a calm atmosphere. It makes the customers feel at ease and encourages them to linger. Customers’ desire for healthy, well-balanced food is an essential aspect of painting a restaurant green. The walls of health-oriented restaurants should be painted in a calming shade of green with a hint of woody brown. It can also be integrated into your decors, such as potted plants or miniature trees.
- Blue
Blue is commonly associated with calmness. Therefore, if you own a coffee shop where you want customers to relax and enjoy their beverages, you should choose blue as the interior restaurant colour. In addition, the best colour for your restaurant’s ceiling may still be lighter so as not to make the space appear garish.
- Purple
Purple is an eccentric colour to work with and can give your coffee shop a bohemian vibe, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, your place can end up looking dark, cramped, and claustrophobic. Purple is not an everyday food colour, and purple foods, such as aubergines, red onions, and red cabbage, are not necessarily all that well-liked. Since not that many people find these foods appetising, purple is not a colour that induces salivation in everyone.
- Brown
Brown is yet another colour that does not stimulate a person’s hunger in any significant way. If too much brown is used, it can throw off the restaurant’s overall look and give it a rustic vibe, but not in the intended way. Brown looks excellent in small doses and in sparse applications. The trick is to strike a balance between your chosen colours for the restaurant’s interior.
- Black
According to experts, the colour black can suppress an individual’s appetite. It is an excellent colour for making people appear slimmer, but it is not likely to stimulate anyone’s appetite when used on cafe walls. If you are unconventional and willing to experiment, designing your modern cafe’s interior in total darkness can break stereotypes. In conjunction with white, black can make your cafe appear simple, sophisticated, and elegant.
- White
You can’t go wrong with white unless you apply it thoughtlessly to resemble a hospital. This colour imparts tranquillity and makes your café’s atmosphere airy and spacious. If you have a small restaurant space, painting the interior walls with bright colours will make your restaurant appear larger. It has also been demonstrated that colours such as white and beige induce a sense of relaxation in customers, encouraging them to stay longer because they feel welcome.
Bottom Line
Choosing a colour scheme for your coffee shop is crucial because your shade card will inevitably have an effect on your customers and, ultimately, you. The most important consideration when choosing interior restaurant colours is the restaurant type, and food served. When opening a new restaurant or redecorating an existing one, it is a good idea to paint the walls according to the kind of restaurant or cafe you own to ensure that the colours you chose complement your food.
If you or a fellow cafe owner is in need of a trustworthy shop fitting professional in Melbourne, then 360 Shopfitters are the team you need! With a keen emphasis on providing excellent service levels to all our clients, 360 Shopfitters Melbourne will manage and implement your project from initial contact to completion. As one of the shopfitting specialists in Melbourne, we’re confident in our experience and our eye for detail.
