The secret to turning a normal bar into a successful lounge bar is to create a comfortable and attractive environment, with an elegant atmosphere, suitable to entertain a select and demanding clientele.
Therefore, a lounge bar must first of all offer a wide selection of coffee products, savoury aperitifs, cocktails, beers and top quality national and international wines. In addition, it is essential that every aspect of the furniture, lighting and music make the time spent in the room a moment of comfort and relaxation.
The spaces
The beating heart of any bar is the counter.
If you want your room to be a real lounge, make sure that the counter is spacious and well located, so that both the service and the waiting are equally relaxing experiences for your customers.
Also imagine a living area, away from the bathroom or the kitchen, where your customers can sip their cocktail in peace while socializing with friends or making new acquaintances.
If you plan to serve dishes prepared in the kitchen, provide an area with a number of tables and chairs appropriate to the space available. In case of doubt, round down. Keep in mind that lounge is synonymous with comfort and relaxation.
The shapes and colors
The watchword of a lounge bar is always welcome, so take care to create harmonious combinations.
For example, wood-paneled floors and walls with exposed grain are perfectly matched with classic or country furniture. You can combine these furnishings with warm and relaxing shades of yellow-orange, or dark green.
Instead, if the structure is designed in a more modern way, you can dare with chairs and tables of more original materials, shapes and colors. An increasingly popular and appreciated solution are the bright seats and tables, lighted with fixed or changing colors.
In any case, the plants are excellent allies in any context: climbing, cascading, small shrubs or tall, choose the one that best suits your environment.
Read also: Greenery at Home, at Work and on Holiday - The Best Ally for Psychophysical Well-being
The lighting
Whether you have designed a sophisticated, modern and dynamic environment, or classic, lighting will play a key role in the mood of your lounge bar: remember that it is not enough to keep the lights low to create the right atmosphere.
A very popular trick is to direct the light towards the walls or the ceiling to illuminate the environment in an indirect way, making sure that no customer has ever visual contact with the light point.
Equally important is the choice of the right white or colored lights, depending on the style of the place, always paying attention to the overall chromatic harmony.
Read also: Five tips for decorating with light
The music
Selecting the right music can really make a difference. Once again, keep in mind that the main expectations of the customers of your lounge bar are relaxation and socialization.
So the music must be a pleasant and quiet instrumental background, easy to listen to, that facilitates the conduct of a conversation without forcing your customers to raise their voice to be understood by the interlocutor.
In this way it will help to extend the feeling of relaxation created by the environments and lighting that, together with the quality of the food and drink you will serve, will give your customers a multisensory wellness experience.
Cover: Photo by Jose Fernandez from Pixabay