Lighting Considerations for Your Restaurant
When you think about lighting your restaurant, there are some considerations to keep in mind. It’s important to be able to have the restaurant lit appropriately, but your target demographic and the kind of furniture you have should play a role.
Look at Your Demographic
Who you cater to in your restaurant is going to have a major impact on the lighting. How dark do you want it to be? If there will be a lot of children in the restaurant, make sure you have relatively bright lighting.
Older crowds may want more light over the table for the simple fact that they may have poor eyesight.
If you are catering predominantly to couples, you’ll want to make it more intimate. Lower the lighting.
You may also have a demographic that changes based upon the time of day or even time of year – and that’s when you may want to have dimmers installed on your lights so you can change it up as needed to be able to cater to the crowd that is currently inside the restaurant.
Consider Your Furniture
The furniture you have in your restaurant should have an impact on your lighting choices, too. Think about this. If you have a high gloss finish on the furniture, bright lights are going to bounce off of that finish and make it hard for people to see at certain angles. The same can be said about too much metal furniture, such as with metal chairs.
Wood can be a better option in general because it is neutral. You can go as bright or as dim as you want and it’s not going to impact the overall feel. Should you decide to go really bright, the furniture won’t bounce light. And if you do go really dark, the wood can help to embrace that atmosphere that you are trying to create.
Make a Decision
There are plenty of options to create whatever atmosphere you want. It can be done entirely with overhead lighting or you can choose to use a candle on the table to create a romantic environment. Flameless candles are gaining in popularity because they stay lit and you don’t have to worry about fire.
Take tours of restaurants and look at what is being used for the lighting. Pay attention to the restaurant’s demographic and what kind of furniture they have inside. This will give you a better idea of what works and what doesn’t work. Only then can you feel confident about choosing the best lighting for your restaurant so that it works well for your demographic and the mood you are trying to create.