This year sees the opening of Dutch branded vodka Ketel open their new bar in London, Ketel One. When looking at the bar itself, you can’t help but be “wowed” by the bars appearance. The reason is that nearly every single part of the bar and the handmade bar stools are completely covered in copper.
You may think this metal bar look is just another of Christopher Jenner’s unusually crafted pieces; however the use of copper has a reason for being used. During the17th century Ketel used copper stills in order to produce their vodka. Jenner decided to use this in order to represent his design for Ketel.
“Normally we use multiple techniques, materials and manufacturing processes to deliver our work,” says Jenner “but on this occasion we decided to commit to a single material.”
Constructing the actual bar and the barstools was a straight forward design process, however implementing the manufacturing processes was, as Jenner points out, tricky.
“From a manufacturing and realisation point, we were totally in the dark. The way in which we constructed the pieces was unprecedented and this meant we had to develop new manufacturing processes.”
First of all the bar and bar stools had to be made using wood and metal skeletons to create the shape. The copper was then heated to make it malleable and vertical strips were riveted to the wooden skeleton. Finally the stool was finished with a covering sheet of copper, which is then double-riveted to create a seamless copper surface.
To complete this project more than 1000kg of copper was used however looking at the finished project, it seems that this design has set a standard in café furniture, bar furniture and restaurant furniture.

You may be surprised to learn that a lot of customers pick their café of choice merely on the design and layout of it. Of course having decent food and nice tasting coffee are a major contributing factor in this choice, but the décor and café furniture can be the deciding factor. I personally agree with this as the café that I choose to drink in, I have chosen because I like the overall atmosphere. I like the traditional wooden chairs in dark wood and matching wooden tables that fit perfectly with the restored Tudor building.
Simplicity in café furniture is key to attracting customers. You don’t want the furniture to be to pretentious or too bland, and you want it to blend with the rest of the décor in the restaurant or café. Also you don’t want an over complicated design as people from all walks of life will want to use the café chairs including children who need to be able to mount and dismount easily.
Make sure that you café furniture is easy to clean. Your café tables and café chairs are likely to be used by a wide range of people and keeping it clean is hugely important. This is particularly applicable to hospitality furniture where the chairs and tables need to be cleaned regularly. A surprising number of germs and viruses can be spread through dirty café furniture.
Comfort is another factor that affects your cafes success. This is fairly self-explanatory, but you want to have café furniture that is ergonomic as the people that will be seated in the bistro chairs will be of different sizes and shapes , so having furniture that will accommodate this is important.
Finally you need to make sure that your furniture is robust and will last a long time, meaning that it is cost effective and is safe for all users.

Over the last 5 decades Richard Schultz has produced many iconic café furniture pieces that have stood the test of time and the design can still be classed as fashionable in today’s world.
Richard Schultz was born in 1926 and began his career by studying firstly at the Iowa State University as well as the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago. In 1951 Schultz joined office furniture giants Knoll in 1951 and was commissioned to work with Harry Bertoia and his experiments with metal. In his life he has also worked for Stow/Davis to design office furniture systems.
Richard Schulz main work has been designing outdoor café furniture and his first design was a table aptly named the Petal Table. The original design was based on Queen Anne’s Lace that is a common weed and the reason for this design was to accompany Bertoia’s famous wire chairs. This design was recently made part of the permanent design collection in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
It was Florence Knoll that commissioned Schultz to begin making a range a of durable outdoor furniture. The design that Schultz came up with was called the Leisure Line. The idea of this line was simplicity. The seat ad back of the café chairs were made from woven vinyl coated polyester yarn on a simple metal frame. There was also a chaise longue included in this range that was made in much the same way, but included wheels on one end to increase the mobility of the lounger. Matching dining tables were also created to accompany the outdoor furniture collection.
Schultz broke away from Knoll but has never strayed too far from the company. Even the manufacturing plant that was owned by the Schultz family was located not too far from the Knoll headquarters. This month sees the Schultz collection returning to Knoll as Richard Schultz has decided to retire from his business at the age of 86.

The smoking ban has been in effect for a number of years now and most smokers are used to having to sit outside in order to smoke. This is one of the reasons that outdoor heaters are becoming more and more popular. Electrical contractors are now advising pubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels to think about heating there outdoor areas. The reason for this is to try and make use of areas that were once not being used. As well as thinking about the café furniture, for example whether to by rattan chairs or aluminium tables, the area that surrounds them needs to attract customers, and no one wants to sit in the cold!
According to the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) around 400 public houses have been forced to close since the start of the smoking ban. Just before this happened, research showed that 48% of the people that were pub regulars smoked. It is therefore important that in order to maintain business, pub owners need to think about the areas outside, to not only provide a space for smokers to sit in the colder months, but to also expand the amount of space that they can provide in these months as well.
One of the things about outdoor heaters that should be noted is that there has been a significant change in the way that outdoor heaters operate. Until around 2007 and the Energy Saving Trust (EST) urged retailers to stop selling heaters that require gas to run them. The reason for this is that a lot of the heat produced from the gas heaters escapes into the atmosphere without heating the area meaning that the energy efficiency is poor.
It is for this reason that electric heaters have become more and more popular, in particular the Infra-Red heaters. Not only are they energy efficient, converting 95% of electricity into heat, but they have the ability to only heat solid objects and use only a third of the cost. This is the reason that they are becoming more and more popular.

Traditionally Rattan is a form of palm vine. Mainly used for the production of furniture items such as baskets and chairs, and can be found in dense jungle areas such as South America and South East Asia.
This type of furniture is usually very expensive and due to the increasing developments in technology, this type of rattan material can be completely imitated and has proved popular as the latest form of outdoor furniture. Some could even say that it rivals the aluminium outdoor furniture ranges that we see outside many cafes or restaurants. Mainly used outside synthetic rattan furniture is very durable and can withstand even some of the most extreme weather conditions.
The reason that rattan outdoor furniture is popular is that it has a very distinct aesthetic look. Most common furniture sets include dining tables or café tables with wicker outdoor chairs, lounge beds and arm chairs. Rattan can also be used to make garden sofas and coffee tables with some even including glass inserts. All weather foam seat pads are usually placed on the chairs or sofas for comfort and some are even attached to the framework itself.
Another piece of outdoor furniture that is proving popular particularly outside bars, restaurants and cafes is all weather teak furniture. Available with aluminium table bases to complete the look. Synthetic teak is just made from high density polystyrene which is combined with various pigments in order to create a robust and durable aesthetically pleasing set of outdoor furniture.
Outdoor synthetic teak tables and chairs are popular among commercial properties whereas rattan furniture is more common among the domestic market. Both types of outdoor furniture are available for free delivery from Café Reality by clicking the links below:

http://www.cafereality.co.uk/rattan-furniture-1.php

http://www.cafereality.co.uk/outdoor-tables-22.php

This past year has seen a turn for the worse for café owners as many regions up and down the country including some boroughs in London, have decided to charge in some respects a small fortune for them to place outdoor furniture outside their cafe or other establishment. This is not the case in Gloucester however as the proposal for a meeting next week suggests that they will leave the licences for A boards at £50 per year and continue to allow the outdoor café furniture such as café tables and café chairs to be placed in the city centre free of charge.

As you would probably expect, many of the café owners are backing the proposal as it would mean that they may be able to keep their prices the same throughout the summer months. Stanman’s Kitchen owner Nicky Wildin is just one of the business owners that is all for the proposal:

“Keeping the costs as they are is essential. Some of our suppliers have already been forced to up the price of certain products to offset the increasing price of fuel. So if we had to pay for tables and chairs, our customers would ultimately feel the brunt of that as we would have no option but to raise some prices to compensate.”

Licences to place café tables and café chairs including aluminium outdoor furniture outside have been free since 2009 as councillors wanted to encourage the café culture in the city by helping businesses to create an environment outside with café furniture to increase the size of their business and pull in the tourists.

The proposal has not been carried forward yet, however it can be safe to assume that the café culture in Gloucester will remain strong.

This year’s Hotelympia in London’s Excel building saw furniture manufacturers of outdoor furniture, café furniture and a wide range of other products from food items to catering equipment, show there products to the trade and consumers. Being suppliers of café furniture we felt it was imperative to visit and see what these manufacturers had to offer.

One thing that was noticeable when looking around the trade show the amount of synthetic rattan furniture that was on the market. Rattan has always been used as outdoor furniture as it is strong and able to withstand heavy weather conditions, making it perfect for commercial and domestic use.

There was not only the standard synthetic rattan furniture available such as rattan chairs, but there also featured furniture items such as sun loungers, gazebos, sofas even day beds made from rattan furniture.

Other outdoor furniture such as plastic furniture was also on display. Much like rattan furniture, plastic chairs and plastic tables are available in a wide range of colours and can also withstand a wide range of weather conditions. One of the great things about plastic furniture is that it is easy clean and doesn’t fade over time in the sun.

Another product that seemed to be quite popular amongst the ranges of outdoor furniture was the Werzalit table tops. One major advantage to these is that they are suitable for use indoors and outdoors so you can create two spaces that match. Werzalit table tops are scratch and heat resistant to the point that you can stub a cigarette on them and they won’t mark. Available a huge range of colours and designs as well as bespoke logos, these table tops are a fantastic choice for any café or restaurant.

For more information on any of our outdoor products or to purchase, please click here.

Café furniture, not surprisingly is one of the most important purchases that you will make when opening a new café, bar or bistro. You want to make sure that the cafe tables and chairs matches the décor or the ambiance that you want to achieve in your restaurant or café to create a warm and welcoming place for people to eat and drink their coffee. Many people know about café tables and chairs and their functions (I would be very surprised if you didn’t!) however when you mention poseur tables and barstools, they may know what they are, but don’t know why they can be quite useful. This blog aims to outline their function.

First and foremost poseur tables are designed to be a more casual form of furniture. They are usually around 1100mm high so you can have a drink whilst standing and conversing. This is ideal for bar areas where you may not have enough space for chairs so they can help save much needed space.

Barstools are always used with poseur tables, for the simple reason that they are taller. One of the great things about poseur tables when used in conjunction with café tables and chairs and other forms of café furniture, then it can give a unique look to the area by breaking up the environment and creates more dynamic atmosphere.

Just like café tables and chairs, there are many different types of poseur tables and barstools. These include outdoor furniture, including rattan barstools and aluminium barstools as well as solid wood tables and stools. Many of the indoor café tables that feature on Café Reality have a poseur table option, so you should have no problem in trying to match the café tables and chairs to your poseur tables and barstools.

Plastic café furniture is becoming ever more popular as more and more restaurant or café owners are deciding to replace their outdoor furniture with plastic instead of the standard aluminium. Plastic is available in a wide range of colours, very resistant to all types of weather and is usually made as one piece so can last a lot longer over time compared to aluminium furniture.

The design of plastic furniture is more versatile than other materials use and in a saturated industry, this is very important. Furniture design is very important in eateries as this can help create an atmosphere and also a huge part of the look.

There is a new range of café furniture that has been manufactured in Italy and offers a unique take on the plastic bar stool and poseur table. The range is called Armillaria and has been designed by Odorado Fioravanti and manufactured by Plust Collection. These funky plastic furniture items are based around a mushroom style with the table base and base of the chairs fitting together and forming a sprout at the bottom.

The word Armillaria is the scientific name for a common species of fungi. This mushroom can be found in areas such as woods and the project is a reflection on vegetal shapes, in particularly their structure and how they look.

Due to a recent request that I had to try and source a coffee table from a previous blog, I decided to find some other interesting coffee tables to show not only the importance of how they can create character to your office or cafe design but to also show you that there are some very interesting and unique designs out there.

Coffee tables, like reception desks and other reception furniture as well as cafe furniture are very important as the reception area or lounge area in a cafe is the first impression that your potential clients or customers get when coming to your office or cafe. Once you have selected your sofas, tub chairs or beam seating, cafe furniture etc… in your reception area, it is then time to think carefully about what sort of coffee table you are going to buy.

Below are some pictures of some very interesting and unique coffee tables that might appeal to you to either compliment your existing office furniture or new office furniture or perhaps even in your cafe or restaurant and even your own home:

1 Oak veneer coffee table

This has a contemporary design and a rich dark oak veneer finish. The knotted shape adds an elaborate artistic feature and this coffee table is built to last. Designed by Kinoguerin the table has a semi-gloss finish and has white edging to complete the look.

2 Aqua square aquarium coffee table

This aquarium come coffee table and will look great in any reception as there is a 25 gallon fish tank in the base of the table. It can provide an interesting feature to any reception area and as you probably might have guessed, fish are not included.

3 Touch sensitive coffee table

A touch sensitive coffee table that has an underlying LED light system that lights up an area when something is placed on it. This can be turned off however when not in use.