Restaurants, cafe’s and businesses alike make the most of Australia’s beautiful weather year-round by creating outdoor seating areas for customers. Whether it’s a large garden, a converted driveway or a tiny sliver of sidewalk – outdoor seating areas hold lots of potential for an enhanced customer experience.
In this article, we uncover six tips to help you enhance the outdoor seating area of your business so your customers can enjoy it year-round.
Consider the layout
For many hospitality venues, the layout of the outdoor seating area needs to strike a balance between comfort for customers, enough seating and room for staff to move comfortably. When you plan the layout of your outdoor seating area, consider where your customers will feel most comfortable.
Whether there are spots that you install a folding arm awning to provide better shade and shelter. The type of business will also help determine the layout. For example, diners at a high-end restaurant may want more privacy, while brunch-goers at a cafe may want a more wholesome atmosphere.
Keep style and aesthetic consistent
Most restaurants and venues have personalities and style that’s reflected in the ambience and aesthetic. These details are essential in creating satisfied and happy customers. Your business’s outdoor area should reflect this.
Strive to use similar furniture, décor and lighting that will complement the atmosphere inside. Products such as roof to fence blinds will help create a natural flow between the inside and outside areas and protect against different types of weather like wind and rain.
Leverage the view
If you are fortunate enough to have an outdoor seating area with a good view, like a mountain, river, horizon or skyline, then you should design your outdoor area around this vantage point. You can emphasize this by framing it with plants and decor.
You can also position outdoor searing towards the view or offering a select one or two tables that get the best view in the house to create a memorable experience.
Make it unique
A well-designed outdoor seating can increase the floor space of a business, enabling you to grow and increase foot traffic. For example, a restaurant with an outdoor area that typically would have no coverage from the sun, making it unusable during the Summer.
To open it up all year, consider installing the right outdoor blinds and serve a smaller menu like drinks and snacks. By working with the space you have, you can offer new experiences for your customers that you never thought possible.
Similarly, if you want to make the space more pet-friendly, consider doggy bowls, shade and rings to attach doggy leads.
Perfect lighting
Good lighting plays a significant role in setting the mood of an outdoor area. Most businesses would want to avoid harsh lights and opt for soft, dimmed lights such as recessed, landscape, and elegant pendant lights.
Stair riser lights create a wonderful atmosphere but also prevent potential falls. If your venue hosts different events and occasions, consider installing a dimmer that will allow you to control the brightness of the lights.
Provide shelter
When designing your outdoor seating area, make sure that you consider protection from the elements. Weather can change quickly and what you don’t want is a patio packed full of customers, and rain suddenly hits.
Products like outdoor blinds, awnings and retractable roof systems provide shelter from harsh sunshine, rain and strong winds. You can have them installed to provide permanent protection or install them to have the option to open and close according to the weather conditions.
Wrap Up
These six tips will help you enhance your outdoor seating area so your customers can use it year-round. To protect your customers from Australian weather, All About Shade offers a range of versatile blinds available in various materials to create the perfect atmosphere.
To arrange a free quote, fill out the “Free Measure & Quote” form, and one of our friendly team members will get in touch.
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