If you’re looking to beautify your outdoor space, we can help. Whether you are a restaurant who needs to dress up some outdoor seating or simply looking to create an elegant dining experience in your own backyard, we’ve got you covered.
Inspired by the elegant design elements of an outdoor cafe, we’ve compiled a few tips and tricks that can help elevate your outdoor patio seating.
Tip 1: Focus On Space
When it comes to dining outdoors, utilize the space you have wisely. Coffee shops with outdoor seating usually have a limited amount of tables and chairs available to their patrons. This not only allows for a more intimate and personalized dining experience, but for your wait staff to move around the outdoor space with ease. If you’re a restaurant looking to create a welcoming outdoor environment, consider the amount of space necessary for both your customers and your wait staff to move, eat, and feel comfortable.
Tip 2: Simplicity Is Key
The beauty of an outdoor cafe is that it is simple and relaxed. To mimic this relaxed approach for your home or business, focus on the necessities first. To help prioritize your necessities, think about where you are currently.
If you’re an individual who is looking to dress their home patio or backyard for dining outdoors, you may want to focus on furniture or statement pieces that are long term. Try creating a dedicated, outdoor Lazy Susan to help keep your dining essentials neat or putting together a beautiful living garden.
If outdoor dining is merely a temporary solution for your business, then your priorities may be a little different. Invest in restaurant patio furniture and decor that is sturdy enough to eat off of but lightweight enough to move around or store. Think about foldable, plastic dining furniture that can be easily dressed up with a disposable table cover or one-time-use tableware.
Tip 3: Decorate With Small Decorative Touches
Once you’ve gotten your necessities prioritized, don’t be afraid to make the space your own and embellish it with small, decorative touches that are easy to make and store. Cafes and restaurants are known to personalize their dining tables with a simple glass jar filled with small flowers or a one-time-use candle. It’s small details like this that help infuse the overall outdoor dining experience with charm and romance.
Easy Upgrade Idea: Reusable Glass Marble Lantern
Here, we’ve created our own reusable table lantern using a few easy-to-find, eco-friendly materials. This can be made both for restaurants or the home to help enhance the outdoor dining experience.
You’ll Need
- Glass Mason Jars (With Fruit Print or Wide Mouth)
- Flat Glass Marbles
- Brown Twisted Paper Cord
- Sparkling LED Lights (4.5 ft. – 6 ft.)
- Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
- Scissors
- Small weight (We used a drawstring muslin bag filled with marbles!)
How To Make Your Own Glass Marble Lantern For Your Restaurant Patio
- To help keep your mason jar steady, remove the jar lid and add your small weight to it. Once your weight is added, turn your mason jar on it’s side.
- Next, use your glue gun to apply a small amount of hot glue to the flat side of your marble. Firmly press the marble onto the glass jar surface. Repeat until the exterior is fully covered.
- After your jar is fully covered, create your lantern handle. Trim a piece of brown twisted paper cord and use your hot glue gun to adhere one end to your jar opening. Repeat with the opposite end of your cord. To help reinforce your handle edges, use your cord to cover and wrap the top edge of your jar.
Note: The length of your lantern handle is a personal preference. We wanted our blue lantern in the video example to have a tall handle so we trimmed the length of our cord to 16”. Our smaller lantern depicted in our photos has a handle made from 12” natural floral wire.