Working in hospitality means that every element of your business needs to be geared towards meeting the needs of your customers. This includes intangible factors such as how you greet customers and the background music you play. It’s also physical elements like the colours you use in your business’s branding and the kind of hospitality furniture a customer can expect to find when they walk into your venue.
If you are scouting for chairs, ottomans, sofas, stools or tables for your space, take note of the following interior designer approved trends that could impact your restaurant or conference venue in a few years.
- ‘Smart Furniture’
While the world is a long way away from creating robotic furniture, current hospitality furniture design realises the importance of connectivity with smart devices. Expect to see more furniture options that integrate discreet charging and internet outlets and ports to allow for both wired and wireless charging of laptops, smartphones and tablets. It’s the logical next step for venues currently offering Wi-Fi access and is a functional update all customers will appreciate. In fact, this one simple thing could make you the toast of the town.
We would love to help you design updated furniture for your venue and no doubt will expand our range of smart device charging furniture pieces.
- Eco-Friendly Furniture
Disposable fashion, furniture and packaging have fallen out of favour with customers. While materials such as wood are still popular, there is an increased emphasis on investing in signature pieces that will last a lifetime, instead of disposable and seasonal fad items.
Commercial furniture is designed to be durable, washable and some fabrics are specifically tested with the Martindale rub test for long lasting wear. Furniture that takes the Martindale fabric durability test into account make for a long-lasting investment requiring less frequent maintenance and replacement.
- Proudly Local Furniture
Local job creation is a priority for many customers, and a business that can show how it’s improving the community in its day to day operations adds a point of interest to the object in question. An Australian-based restaurant, café or hotel that uses hospitality furniture sourced and manufactured with local labour and resources is one that has an advantage. While we cater for overseas and locally manufactured pieces, we love to support the Australian manufacturing industry wherever possible.
While these trends might not all come to fruition immediately, being aware of what customers might want in the future can only benefit your hospitality business. It will help you choose a furniture manufacturer that is forward thinking and willing to customise their hospitality furniture to your business’s demands.
If you think of anything else in interior design that inspires you and you would love to see created, please drop us a line or call 1300 4STRAND.
