Opening a bar: bar design

At the request of the reader, I continue the epic on how to open a bar. Today I would like to talk about the interior of the institution, namely, the design of the halls and other rooms in our bar (I will consider the bar space, that is, the bar counter, separately). – this is the first thing a person pays attention to when entering an institution, and the first opinion, as you know, is the strongest and determines the guest’s further relationship with the bar. What to pay attention to? What scheme to follow when designing a room for a bar? Let’s look at these points in more detail.

Bar design starts with a concept

As I said in the previous article in this series, the concept for a drinking establishment is very important. Only when you have an idea about your future institution, only when you understand how it should look like, then and only then can you work on the design. In the first article of the “Opening a Bar” series, I already gave you examples of how a successful concept of an institution brings a lot of money. In principle, in a narrow sense, the concept is an extensive brand book, where you need to focus on the marketing side of your business.

It is necessary to calculate everything: determine the target audience, dress employees appropriately, make the right bar map, menu and, of course, develop the right and original bar design, which includes all of the above components. Again, if this is a pub, then the atmosphere should be appropriate: a small cozy room, with solid wooden furniture, a huge variety of various paraphernalia (posters, flags, paintings, photographs, etc.). In the coffee shop: comfortable upholstered furniture, bright, memorable design and more.

How to design a good bar

I would advise you to contact a good designer or even a design studio, or better, several at once – to arrange a tender. In this case, after a certain amount of time, several sketches will fall into your hands at once, from which you can choose the most attractive and suitable ones. In principle, the terms of reference for designers can be a concept, from which they themselves must isolate the most important points and implement them in the right direction. It is only worth notifying all designers about the number of bidders so as not to get into an unpleasant situation.

Even if you yourself understand something in design, you should not take everything on your shoulders, because you will get a lot of work anyway. It’s better to let professionals work on such things. In Caffeine, where I worked, the design was developed by a young and very promising designer who created a really cool coffee house project, for which he also received quite good awards. In general, choose, try, experiment.

Bar style

Here you need to focus primarily on your target audience. If the bar is designed for a prestigious audience, then it is worth focusing on the classics: expensive wooden furniture, mirrors, glass, leather furniture, beautiful antique wallpapers, etc. It is better to design youth institutions in an urban style or hi-tech (I’m really not a designer, but there are considerations on this score). When choosing a style, you should also think about unique features, for example, you can design an institution in the form of a submarine hold, as is done in the Kharkov institution Yellow Submarine (I really like it).

The choice of materials for the bar

Here, of course, it is worth considering the budget. Of course, it is best to use natural materials: wood, metal, stone, glass, etc. If the institution is youth, you can use plastic, but within reasonable limits. Since we are claiming a certain style, then bar decoration should be at the right level. I also want to offer several options for how I see some types of establishments:

• A pub. Bar counter, tables and chairs made of durable and rough wood, for example, oak. Half of the wall is also lined with wood, and the other half is painted or wallpapered. It is better to decorate everything in brown colors – practical and attractive. Shelves for alcoholic beverages should be made of glass or wood. The lighting is a bit subdued, warm (yellow). All walls are hung with paintings, drawings and other decorative inserts that would illuminate the life of the pub itself, its history and concept (an Irish pub with clovers and Irish flags, a football pub with symbols of different football teams, etc.).
• Coffee house. Bar counter made of wood or metal. Tables and chairs can also be ordered from these two materials, leather sofas and armchairs are also welcome. Tables can also be made of glass. The main thing here is comfort, so that visitors can sit comfortably and talk, so it is better to delimit the space between the tables with screens or other partitions. The walls are in warm colors, as is the lighting.
• Bar. This is precisely a separate category, which I understand as a place where you can come with friends, drink good spirits in a calm atmosphere and simply relax. There are, of course, a lot of design options and I can’t say anything about the materials. I like it when an establishment has a feature in the form of some object, for example, a pool table, a darts board, table football, a jukebox, and so on. Such things catch and talk about them.

Of course, the information is vague, but it is very difficult to operate with specifics. Such things are determined only at the stage of developing a business plan, and, as you know, there are millions of establishments and it is difficult to adjust your articles to everything. Further I will try not to touch on such delicate topics in which I have little to brag about =). This concludes today’s story, below, see several design options for establishments. Read the Rum Diary, subscribe to updates (the form at the very bottom of the article) and, of course, comment – it’s interesting to know your opinion.