Inspired Café Lighting Ideas

Using Lighting in Cafés

Cafés, nowadays, are the default option for meet-ups, dates, and hangouts. It’s not just coffee and quality food that people flock to cafés for, many people, especially the youth, go for the most Instagram-worthy places that they can find. It can be one of the main reasons why café owners invest in their café interiors.

Like other aspects of the interior design, getting the café lighting right can play a significant role in taking great photos, and therefore, making your café much more appealing, in turn, helping you attract more customers.

Why should you invest in café lighting?

Investing in good lighting is vital for any business, cafés included. Aside from the reasons stated above, there are many other reasons why you should invest in quality café lighting. Some of these are the following:

• Decorative: Lights serve a double purpose. They’re for illuminating and are also great for decorating a room. A unique lighting fixture can form an essential part of the overall design of any living space.
• Functional: They’re functional. Since lights are necessary for any room, you might as well invest in lights that help your brand and customer awareness.
• Sets the mood: A good lighting scheme can set the mood or atmosphere of a room.

The three major types of lighting

In general, there are different types of lighting that you can make use of for great effect in your café. These include:

• Task lighting provides for more concentrated lighting specific to fulfilling certain tasks.
• Ambient lighting provides for the general lighting of an area.
• Accent lighting is a more decorative type of light. It is used for accenting a piece that you want to draw attention to.

Just knowing the types of lighting, of course, isn’t enough. You also have to know how to use them correctly.

How should you be using your lights?

Knowing how to use lights correctly doesn’t seem too difficult but it can get a bit tricky at times, however, if considered in a commercial setting. Here are six tips on how to make the best use of lights in your café.

1.     Create a balance with your café’s interior

You should already have an idea of how you want your café’s interior to be. Make sure that you create a balance between your décor and your lighting. Light-coloured walls, for example, can be balanced out with dimmer lights or accented with bright lights. It’s all about striking the right balance!

2.     Modify your lights based on your target audience

Some cafés are geared more toward casual meet-ups between friends. Others are more equipped for people who want to read or write in peace. You can modify the types of lights that you have in your café based on your audience. A good tip here is to consider the area that your café is in to determine your clientele.

If your café is close to a school or a university, then students will most likely frequent it. Add some task lighting for those that want to study there. If you’re located in a chic area, accent lighting to highlight your décor will work well. Use the lights to your advantage.

3.     Change the café lighting as the day passes

Did you know that the amount of light that enters a person’s eyes can affect their current state? This is why bright lights should be avoided before bedtime. Do the same for your café. Keep the interior bright in the morning and dimmer at night. This will help set the mood for your café.

4.     Sunlight always works

Sunlight is still the best illumination and you should use this to your advantage. You can let some sunlight in along with your lights to give your café a nice effect. It doesn’t just make your lighting nice; it also helps you save on electricity.

5.     Control the light intensity inside your café

A lot of modern lighting options have light intensity adjustment knobs (dimmer switches) for controlling the amount of light available. Dimming options are a quick and easy way to change the ambiance of your café in an instant. You can adjust how bright your lights are according to time, event, or need.

6.     Don’t be afraid to decorate

Plain light bulbs, especially inside cafés, can be a tad boring, so consider going decorative.  It could be as simple as a filament bulb, and there are some great LED filament bulb options, or as fancy as a chandelier!  The right decorative light fitting can accentuate the kind of interior that your café has.

If you’re going for a more classic look, consider wall sconces and hanging lamps. If modern is your style, you may go for a minimalist approach with geometric lamps. Don’t be afraid to explore!

Do you need help with your café lighting?  Or, maybe you want to achieve the look and feel of your favourite café at home?

Let the lighting experts at Rovert Lighting & Electrical help! Give us a call at our Broadmeadow lighting showroom on (02) 4952 5600 or schedule an appointment for a free instore lighting planning session.

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