Avish 
A restaurant brings people together over a great meal. So, having a unique space or restaurant look where your customers feel invited to stay is crucial. When choosing your design aesthetic for your restaurant look, make sure that the style you choose goes with your menu. A vintage look is a good way to make your restaurant feel comfortable and homey. If you have been thinking about giving your restaurant a vintage look, we have put together this list with our top ten ideas to help you get started.
Design tips before you start decorating your restaurant interior.
When you start planning out the design for your restaurant, there are a few things to keep in mind. Let’s take a look.
Take time to plan your layout.
Before you start choosing paint colors, furniture, and decor, take time to plan out the layout of your restaurant look. Think about the flow from the front to the back of the house to the front to make sure that there is enough space for your employees and customers alike to walk around. Think about where the kitchen and restrooms are positioned, too, when planning out your layout.
Pay attention to the lighting of the restaurant.
You need the right lighting in your restaurant to create a mood, and you should aim to have a good blend of natural and artificial light. Try to choose ways to set up your lighting to be easily adjusted depending on the time of day.
How does sound travel?
What is the soundproofing in your restaurant? If there is not much and there will be too much background chatter for your customers to listen to while dining with you, they may not want to come back. Take time to try to break up the way sound travels in your designs. This can include adding some sort of soundproofing to walls, adding little dividers to break up patrons’ seating, or even looking into getting some acoustical panels on your walls or ceilings to help with soundproofing.
Choose a theme for your brand.
You know you want your restaurant to have a vintage look, but there are many more options than just choosing the red vinyl booths and the counter serving milkshakes. This is about what is going to make your restaurant look unique and what era or vibe you are choosing for your aesthetic.
Is it vintage or retro?
When planning out the decoration to improve your restaurant look, you might be wondering if you should go with a retro or vintage look. Retro and vintage are actually quite similar. A retro item is a copy of an original item or aesthetic, but it is not the original item itself. A vintage item is one that has been around for at least twenty years. Basically, if you buy a brand-new item that looks exactly like an item that emerged in the 80s, it is retro. If you find an item that actually was made in the 80s, it is vintage. So, while you are looking for a vintage-looking restaurant, you may end up purchasing more retro items.
How can I tell if something is vintage?
It can sometimes be tricky to determine if something you are buying is vintage or retro, but there are a few things to look at that can help:
● Check the tag or label.
● Does it look a little dated?
● What country was it manufactured in?
● Is there a lot number you can check?
● Who created the product?
1. Think about the atmosphere you want to create.
What kind of restaurant do you want to be? Is this a romantic place for couples? A family-friendly restaurant for all ages? What about a fun place for friends to gather and eat?
Depending on the vibe you are looking for, you will need to pick the lighting accordingly. You can look for some vintage looking lighting to help you design the atmosphere. If you are putting little lamps on the tables, you can get unique vintage lamps for each table instead of making everything uniform. Look for light fixtures that give off that vintage vibe. Have fun shopping for some vintage-style lighting options.
2. Incorporate vintage wall art in your restaurant design.
There are a lot of ways that you can go about using your wall art to give your restaurant a vintage look.
Try typography and vintage signage.
Adding typography to your restaurant design can be a great way to give it a vintage look. You can add some vintage metal signs to your decor or some decals in vintage-looking fonts that you can change out.
The old school neon signs are also a great vintage look that you can add to your restaurant look. You can even get a custom neon sign with a saying that reflects the overall vibe of your restaurant look.
You can also hang old road signs, classic posters, framed movie posters from whatever era you are trying to replicate, framed vinyl records, and travel memorabilia.
Get Art from Local Artists
If you have a lot of open wall space in your restaurant, you can try reaching out to some local artists in your area who have a vintage style. You can then offer this art to your patrons for sale or just showcase your local artists with a way for someone to reach out to them to see more of their work. A rotating collection is always a good idea, so you can change up what work you are showcasing every once in a while.
Another fun way to showcase your local artists is to hire local artists to create large murals in your restaurant. You can get something vintage looking or even graffiti style artwork. By showcasing some big, possibly graffiti art, you are making your wall more Instagram worthy, which can generate word of mouth and user-generated content. If you love the idea of a mural or graffiti art but there is just not enough wall space, you can get this on your building’s exterior, as long as you own the building or have permission from the owner to do this.
3. Try patterned wallpaper for a vintage look.
Hanging up some patterned wallpaper is a great way to add a vintage look to your restaurant look. You can set up some old-fashioned floral patterns or something funky and geometric. The walls could become a conversation piece for your customers. This is also a good way for you to customize the walls in your restrooms.
4. Get vintage seating for your restaurant.
Vintage seating can be a fun inclusion in any restaurant’s decor. You can get beautiful vinyl booths for people to sit in with bright colors that draw the eye.
Another way to add some vintage seating to your restaurant look is to have a counter that customers can sit at with brightly colored bar stools. You can also paint wooden chairs to give them a retro or vintage style.
5. Install some faux stone or brick for an old school look.
When you think of a vintage look, brick may not come to mind, but it can help elevate the aesthetic of your restaurant look and make it feel more vintage. While getting real brick is expensive, you can try brick veneer for your restaurant decor instead; it has the look and feel of natural brick, but it is DIY-friendly.
If you offer patio dining, the brick can give the space a touch of elegance. For the interior, you can go for an industrial vintage look with the brick on the walls or even in the restrooms.
6. Install a fun, retro looking floor.
Your flooring does not need to be boring. To give the restaurant look a more retro look, choose a fun pattern for your flooring. Just make sure that whatever flooring pattern you choose fits with the overall theme and aesthetic of your restaurant.
7. Bring your patio to life.
Offering patio dining is a great way to set your restaurant apart from your competition. You can find outdoor furniture that matches your vintage aesthetic for the patio; just make sure that whatever you choose is definitely durable. You will need some vintage tables and chairs, and consider trying some string lights to finish off the look. You can also have a local artist paint the part of your building that customers dining on the patio will be on to help keep your atmosphere going.
8. Incorporate your ceilings in your design.
Ceilings are often ignored in interior design, but they really should be included when your customers do look up. You can paint the ceiling something bold that stands out and even hang some old posters or signs up there to continue with your vintage look.
9. Use color psychology for your restaurant look.
Colors tend to trigger an emotional response from people, which is why brands use colors to put their customers in the desired mood. If you want to be a fun and bright restaurant, choosing some bright colors is a good way to make people feel that. For a calm, romantic restaurant, you may want to add a touch of elegance with white tablecloths and some vintage seating in calm or romantic colors.
10. Hang some long mirrors on the walls.
A classic retro look for a restaurant is hanging up some long mirrors on the walls. This will make your restaurant feel bigger to your customers, and they will be able to interact with your walls since eyes are typically drawn toward mirrors.
If you do not like the idea of hanging one long mirror, you can always choose to get some smaller mirrors to hang up in different shapes and styles that fit in with your aesthetic.
About Author
