13 Restaurant Decoration Ideas for 2025
Get inspired for your restaurant decor project with these 13 fresh design ideas.
Tyler MartinezAuthor
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| Built for RestaurantsKey takeaways
Lead with a clear brand vision: Start your restaurant decor journey with a well-defined theme that carries through every detail, from your floor plan to your online experience.
Design walls that speak: Use curated art, murals, and local pieces to reflect your restaurant’s character and make the space feel distinct and memorable.
Use color and lighting with purpose: Tap into color psychology and thoughtful lighting placement to set the mood, enhance functionality, and influence how long guests linger.
Create spaces that flow and connect: Open layouts, mirrors, natural light, and cozy booths work together to build energy, community, and comfort throughout the dining experience.
Show the heart of the kitchen: An open kitchen concept highlights your culinary process, adds transparency, and reinforces a modern, minimalist aesthetic.
Furnish with both style and function: Choose tables, chairs, and bar setups that align with your vibe while ensuring durability, comfort, and flexibility for different guest needs.
Don’t overlook the details: From bathroom design to patio decor and lush greenery, it’s the little touches—well-lit signage, stylish restrooms, fresh plants—that elevate the guest experience and keep them coming back.
Your restaurant brings people together over great meals. So design a unique dining space where customers feel invited to stay. Consider the overall ambiance you want to create, as it significantly impacts the dining experience. Start by imagining decor as you write your restaurant’s business plan. Integrate a consistent aesthetic throughout, that creates a focused experience for your guests.
Make design choices that are smart for your business. Use the vibe of your new restaurant, as well as the location, the building’s history, and the community as inspiration for creating a unique and memorable space. Smart design elements should reflect not only your brand but also the functionality required for a smooth operation.
The best decor is authentic to your brand and vision. To fully realize your eatery's potential, consider these decor ideas for restaurants.
13 restaurant decor ideas for 2025
1. Choose a brand and theme
Establish an overall vision for your restaurant. What makes it unique from the eatery down the block? Build on the experience you created with your restaurant’s floor plan and carry that vision into the digital experience as well. Toast’s POS and online ordering system can be customized to match your brand look and feel, creating a seamless customer journey from dine-in to digital.
2. Find unique wall decor
Choose accent wall decor that accents the character of your restaurant. Find art from local artists or commission someone to paint an original mural in the space. A carefully curated selection of modern pieces can help to elevate and define the brand. Spend some time at local thrift stores, pawnshops, and estate sales to find unique pieces with local flare. Melbourne Artist Rowena Martknch showcases these pieces that brighten the entire restaurant without pulling too much focus.
3. Use basic color psychology
Colors trigger emotional responses in people. Since different people have different emotional responses to colors based on their culture, brands use color communication to get customers in the right mood. Choose a cool color palette that will relax your customers and entice them to stay awhile.
People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. About 62‐90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone. So, prudent use of colors can contribute not only to differentiating products from competitors, but also to influencing moods and feelings — positively or negatively — and therefore, to attitude towards certain products.
Satyendra Singh
Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Windsor
4. Keep up the energy in the room
It’s tempting to divvy up large spaces, but the Chinese art of feng shui can help you make intuitive use of your restaurant space. Keep everything open, so everyone feels like a part of the same community when they’re in your restaurant. Use mirrors to enhance small spaces and use windows to welcome in as much natural light as possible.
5. Let your customers experience the kitchen
Opt for an open-plan kitchen that allows guests a window into the process. Let your customers witness the care and creativity your staff puts into their service. Vestal in Lafayette, Louisiana has perfected the open kitchen – the wood-burning hearth that’s the restaurant’s namesake is also a feature of the design. An open kitchen also aligns with minimalist restaurant concepts that focus on transparency and simplicity.
6. Pay attention to lightning
Lighting can make or break a restaurant. Place lighting strategically so that your guests can see each other and navigate the space with ease. Light fixtures have a lot of character – choose fixtures that play into the overall design styles , and consider the impact of chandeliers or even a strategically placed neon sign to enhance the visual appeal. A funky assortment of overhead fixtures lights the space with style, like at Good Eats Emporium in Sterling, VA.
7. Select tables, chairs, and stools
Furniture is a powerful driver of the guest experience– choose pieces that are sturdy and safe and match the look of the space. The pattern on tabletops is a chance for you to infuse your brand into the customer experience. Vibrant colors on chairs and stools make them inviting and easy to find. Seating options should cater to different group sizes and preferences, contributing to a comfortable dining experience.
8. Install cozy booths
Create intimate spaces with booth seating. Some guests like to be seen, but others are looking for a quiet place to have a conversation over great food. Your guests will appreciate the opportunity to keep conversations private and intimate.
9. Highlight the bar
If you have a full bar in your restaurant, make it shine. Lots of modern restaurants place their bars front and center so guests can enjoy a cocktail while waiting for a table in the dining area. Choose bar stools, glassware displays, and lighting that are true to the style of your restaurant. Consider this open-plan restaurant bar at Boulevard American Bistro in Metairie, Louisiana. Everyone sitting around this bar feels like part of the group. The restaurant interior design of the bar area can serve as a focal point, drawing guests in.
10. Party on the patio
Extend the vision of the interior of your restaurant into any patio or outdoor space you have. Choose lighting, wall art, and tables that are suited for exposure. This restaurant patio at Coastal Flats in Fairfax, VA makes perfect use of the outdoors.
11. Realize the risks and rewards of vintage decor
Buying vintage decor can be a great way to infuse character into your restaurant. But buy vintage decor strategically – wall art and other aesthetic pieces are fine, but vintage furniture or light fixtures can cause more problems than they’re worth. Blending modern elements with vintage finds can give you one of the best restaurant interiors in town.
12. Imagine beautiful bathrooms
Bathrooms might not seem like a big deal, but they can be the reason customers decide to return to your restaurant (or not). Bathrooms should be well-lit and accessible for all your guests. Even the typography on your bathroom signage can make a subtle yet stylish impression. This fun, bold print is reflected in the mirrors at The Friendly Society in Elora, Ontario.
13. Go fresh and green
Keeping live plants in or around your restaurant brings light and color into the space. Vining plants, pothos, philodendrons, and snake plants are easy to maintain and infuse life into any area. This wall of plants at The Juice Smith is the perfect vibrant centerpiece. Greenery not only adds a touch of freshness but can also contribute to the overall space feel.
Restaurant decoration inspiration
Your restaurant provides a third space for friends, family, and the community to gather and share meals. Make them feel at home with comfortable furniture, colors, and lighting that combine to make the experience – and your brand – memorable.
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