Coffee shops tend to be well designed… they are trying to draw you in to sit and drink their product, after all. So today we’re going to talk about ways to translate those ideas into decor for your own home. Here are photos of ten coffee shops I’ve visited paired with real world ways to achieve a similar effect in your own home.
1. Be consistent. Bard Coffee in Portland, Maine does a great job branding their store… they put the same pattern on their wall and their coffee bean packaging. It’s important to be consistent when decorating your home too – you don’t necessarily want to go super matchy-matchy, but you’ll want to be consistent with color and style from room to room. Say you put the wallpaper above in your living room… you’d want to consider putting a few pops of that orange color around the room and even in any other adjacent rooms as well.
2. Customize with typography. Goddess and the Baker in Chicago uses lots of text in different fonts to draw you closer and direct you to buy their food and coffee. Text in the home has the same effect, but you can use it to achieve other goals. You might consider making a sign with your name on it to personalize your space, or get one that says “gather” to inspire your family and friends to enjoy time together.
3. Consider the shapes in the room. The chair and wallpaper at PK Coffee in Stowe, Vermont both have a wonderfully rounded feel to them, giving them a very cohesive feel. This idea translates easily to home decor as well… if you have a modern room with angular lines, you may want to stick to that theme throughout instead of adding in a round coffee table or a paisley rug.
4. Don’t forget to look up. It’s worth visiting the Speckled Ax in Portland, Maine just for the ceiling. The tiles look like painted tin, and the light fixtures are made with bulbs of different shapes and sizes. We should all pay attention to the ceilings in our own homes, as well… you could get a similar look by adding a ceiling medallion to your light fixtures, and replacing regular bulbs with edison bulbs (just check the specifications on the fixture first… we don’t want to create any fire hazards!).
5. Try a bold accent wall. Cupitol in Chicago really went for it with their bold black and white accent wall… and it totally makes the place, doesn’t it? You can do the exact same thing in your home – pick a wallpaper or a painted pattern that picks up the colors in the rest of the space, and only do one wall. Because any more would be overkill with such a strong pattern.
6. Bring the outdoors in. And vice versa. Republique of Coffee in Paris uses chairs that look like they belong on the patio… and they make a big statement. You can do the same thing at home, for a cheeky little detail in your dining room. And conversely, you might also consider buying patio furniture that’s reminiscent of indoor furniture to give it a super cozy and inviting feel.
7. Color distracts the eye. The Equal Exchange Café in Boston had to deal with its industrial ceiling situation somehow, and they chose to wrap a colorful mural around the walls to draw your eye downward. Genius! You can do the exact same thing… if you have an eyesore in your living room, concentrate the color away from that eyesore.
8. Add black and white. Contrast adds drama to a space, and black and white are as contrasty as you can get. So to make a bold statement just like Maison Geney in Marseille has done, combine black and white in the form of accents like pillows, blankets and artwork.
9. Pick a color scheme and stick with it. Neighborhoods Café in Boston chose to go with a dark red color scheme, and they were consistent with it – from the toile wallpaper to the coffee mugs. This would be a nice touch for your kitchen as well… coordinate your dishware with the main color in the room to create a composed feel.
10. Eclectic can be cohesive. Caffè Nero in Andover has no matching furniture in their shop, but they’ve managed to create a cohesive feel by choosing items that all share the same feel. Every piece adds to that cozy vibe that they are famous for. If you’re on the hunt for that eclectic look, take your time choosing what you need from thrift stores and antiques shops… wait until you find pieces that match the feel of the other items in your space.
