There are so many ranges of café furniture including café tables and café chairs that you can be easily confused as to what type to buy. Café furniture is often the biggest investment you can make and you will always want some that will look great in your café/bistro as well as stand the test of time. A question that you firstly need to ask yourself is how you make use of the space you have. If you don’t include enough café tables and café chars then your business might suffer and you won’t get as many covers as you might be able to get. Have too many café tables and you will find that your restaurant is too crowded and the ambiance will be compromised.

If you have an outdoor area this can be equally challenging as you may find it not only hard to get the quantities of the café furniture right, but finding outdoor furniture that suits the décor of your café may be just as hard. We at Online Reality Ltd would recommend that you take a look at Werzalit table tops for your outdoor and indoor needs. The advantage of this is that you can match the tables inside your café with the outside without having to worry about your café table tops getting damaged by the outdoor elements.

Werzalit table tops are available in a wide range of finishes from solid colours and wood effect finishes to picture and custom made designs that can include your company logo. Werzalit table tops are not only built to withstand all weather conditions, they also have a joint less surface that is bonded to the core. The table tops are also scratch and heat resistant and are insensitive to hot cigarette ash. The tops are easy to clean and very hygienic as well as very robust, so if you are looking to furnish your café then we would recommend you take a look at these.

The title of this blog may seem odd to your but in North America during the 19^th century, they actually did. Over the course of several years, trees were shaped until the shape resembled a chair then it was used, usually as a dining chair. Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec were fascinated by this concept and that’s how they came up with the Vegetal chair. Much like the plants and trees that it was originally designed on, the chair itself to a long time from the idea to manufacturing, 4 years to be precise.

The cafe chair itself is made from fibre-reinforced polyamide and has an irregular circle shape for the seat. The seat is made up of interweaving branches that are asymmetrical and random like the branches of a tree.

The chair can be an outdoor chair as it is made from polyamide; however will still look great as a café chair or dining chair. Not only this but the chairs are light weight so can be moved around easily and they are stackable chairs so they can be efficiently stored away.

It may seem like these chairs are actually made from a single mould, but you would be wrong. They have been carefully construct because due to its asymmetrical shape, it is very hard to judge how much weight it can take and the chairs true strength.

In the making process the brothers had a hard time creating the dining chair, firstly there were problems the structure, but once this was overcome, they then had problems with the comfort of the chair. The legs to the outdoor chair where also a problem as they needed to be integrated into the design of the chair as well as being strong. However after 4 years, the Vegetal chair was born.

When you think of a nest, when I say this I mean bird’s nests, I am pretty sure that you wouldn’t think of a café. There is a designer who has and newly opened this year is a café based on it in Kiev Ukraine. Designer Sergey Makhno created the café called Twister is based on a nest in a rainy tree. The café is unique right down to the café furniture. The sofas and armchairs present although look uncomfortable due to the odd pyramid style texture, are actually very comfy and helps to give the impression of a cosy birds nest.

To further enhance the look of the restaurant the walls have been covered in sticks which give an impression of the interior of a nest. The restaurant also has a bar area as well with bar furniture, much like the restaurant furniture has been made to suit the rest of the cafes look and appeal.

The restaurant is on two levels with the second level having separate pod like areas that you can dine in that is supposed to represent ponds and lakes that further add to this café and restaurants unique design. Just above this are the lights that have been shaped like drops to represent the rain that is falling from the sky. The colours have all been chosen to help the diner feel more relaxed whilst seated in the restaurant where as the bar has little natural light which also emphasizes the feeling of a cosy surrounding.

It was the Eames brothers that first began experimenting with ply wood, and in particular how they can manipulate the wood to follow the contours of the body. You can see how successful they were with this by looking at some of the chairs that they designed over 50 years ago, that are still sold on the market today. A typical example of this is the Lounge chair originally crafted in 1956 and is a design that can still be seen around the world today. Even though this chair is heavily padded, you can see that detail of the frame and that it has been moulded into its unique design. It is not just domestic furniture that the Eames brothers were interested in. They also made café furniture and office furniture also.

It is no wonder then that these to extraordinary designers help to shape the way that we design furniture today. Designer Alfredo Haberli has obviously been inspired by the Eames brothers and you can see this in his latest creation, the Jill chair.

Is it a café chair or dining chair? The answer is both, the Jill chair has been designed to appeal to both commercial and domestic environments. The chair itself can be put alongside café tables or other restaurant furniture or can be used in a dining room; it will not look out of place. The chair comes in 3 different wood finishes, black beech, oak and walnut and also 5 different coloured frames as well. The frame itself has an intricate wire detail that can be resembled to the Wire chair by the Eames brothers. Not only has this but Alfredo has made use of state of the art plywood moulding technology to produce a contemporary and flexible wooden seat. All in all, this chair is a great modern piece of furniture inspired by the great Charles and Ray Eames.

I don’t know about you, but when I think about canteen furniture, I think back to when I was at school and everyone piled into the assembly hall for lunch. We had bog standard polypropylene chairs that were dark grey in colour and standard folding tables with a metal rim that I am sure everyone will remember. The furniture didn’t match or have anything to do with the décor. Nowadays you really can buy canteen furniture that looks great without spending a fortune.

Cafe Reality has a huge range of canteen chairs that will appeal to any environment, whether it be a school hall, exam hall, office canteen or even in a prison canteen, there will be something to suit everyone. Plastic chairs are the most common form of chair that is used within canteens. The reason for this are that they are easy to clean as you just need to wipe them, tamper proof and hard wearing as the chances are they will get a lot of use. A further requirement is that they stack; the reason for this is that usually the canteen space is sometimes used for other things so need to be stored away efficiently. There are huge ranges of bright colours available with these chairs, from orange to blue and yellow to white, so the aesthetics of the room do not need to be compromised.

Tables are also the other main piece of café furniture in a canteen. These tables are usually light weight and can fold away in order to be stored more efficiently. There are now wide ranges of folding tables that are suitable for the canteen. Not only are there a wide range of finish options with different coloured frames as well, but you can actually use a lot of them outdoors for outdoor events and fetes.

For all your canteen furniture needs click here

Whenever there is a party or an event, furniture is needed. Now you could go down the route of buying or hiring some café tables and café chairs, or if the event is outdoors perhaps some aluminium furniture or some rattan chairs and tables. There is another option however that will definitely get your guests talking and will almost certainly be the highlight of the party and that is illuminated furniture.

The most sophisticated furniture currently available in this department is manufactured by Illuminated Event Hire in Australia. They offer a huge range of furniture that has 16 different colour options along with 4 different strobe settings all controlled by an infrared remote. Battery powered that lasts up to anywhere between 12 and 20 hours, these items range from modular bar units, ottomans, cubes, bench seats, even café tables and banquet tables.

Unfortunately this is manufactured in Australia and only available for hire in Australia. As the technology progresses I am sure that such complex and technical furniture will be available in the UK soon and we at Café Reality will be there to welcome this with open arms.

For those that are looking for something similar but can’t afford to spend a small fortune on this type of party piece furniture, we do have some budget cubes that cantain led technology available to you.

The first are the light up stools. These are powered by mains electricity and available in white, red, blue or green. These are for use indoors or outdoors and are available for delivery within 7-10 working days from order.

The second option is the multi coloured light up stools. These are battery powered and include a remote control and has 4 different colour options.

The hotel and hospitality industry isn’t the easiest of sectors to ‘make it’ in. There is a lot of competition in this area and in order to stand out you have to provide a service and area that gives the customer a positive lasting memory and ensures that their stay is pleasurable as you want them to return in future.

First impressions can be a deciding factor on this, as in some cases bad first impressions can cause a customer to cancel or perhaps cut short their stay. It is for this reason that the décor is up to standard in the reception and bar areas. Purchasing the right furniture is hugely important as it is just as important as the service

The reception area is the first place your customers will see and having a professional reception counter or reception desk will give your customers the right impression. Not only this but the bar and restaurant area should be well planned out and by spending a little bit extra on aesthetically pleasing comfortable café chairs and tables or restaurant furniture will help the customers to relax as you will want them to stay within the hotel, that way they will spend more money.

Space planning is important as you want to make sure your diners are not too close together but still provide an area that maximises on space. You also want to make sure that your staff can move freely around the restaurant area so make sure that the restaurant tables are at the safe distance away from each other in order to do this.

Finally the colour scheme even down to the colours of the chairs is important. You want to make sure that everything works well together and complements each other. Planning all of this, can be very tricky and there are furniture dealers that will be willing to help you for a small fee, however there are others such as Café Reality that will provide a 3D design and advise you on the right type of furniture for you, for free.

When looking at refurbishing your café, a factor that most people think of when considering the furniture is how it will appear to their customers. It is important that the customers will be in a relaxed environment, with a soothing ambiance and a lot of this can be replicated by the type of furniture you choose. It is not only the décor that can affect the mood of the restaurant, but equally it is the furniture so obviously it is of the upmost importance that they work together. This may not mean that they have to necessarily match, they could contrast, but they must work well together.

Another factor that not many people may not of considered, is when planning their café environment is asking their employees about what they think. Most managers would be inclined to agree that keeping their staff content is one of the biggest factors in a successful business. It is almost if not as important as keeping your customers happy, as more often than not these are your customer’s first contact with the establishment and getting the right impression is key.

It can be quite beneficial in asking your staff what they think as they will and do spend most of the time on the front of house and know the place just as well as you do. They may be able to help advise you on what café tables and café chairs maybe best to suit your environment. They may also be able to help with the design and configuration of the restaurant, not only with the furniture indoors, but also outdoor furniture. They will be able to give you a good 2^nd opinion as this is the place they work. Not only this but it will help your staff to feel appreciated and feel like they are actually putting input into the place and which will give the a morale boost.

Weston-Super-Mare has always relied heavily on tourism with the area boasting a range of tourist activities. There is a rather vibrant café culture in the area, however new plans issued by the council may damage this. The proposed changes include, all food eaten outside is served by waiters, all outdoor furniture such as aluminium tables and outdoor chairs must be removed from Regent Street and food or drink cannot be served to anyone sitting down.

Businesses in the area currently holding street café licences were outraged by the proposals with one of the owners calling the new rules completely “gibberish”.

Café/bistro owners are worried that if they do not stick to these rules, they could have their licences revoked by North Somerset Council, whereas others, who own businesses on the Regent Street are more concerned with the business that they will lose particularly in the peak summer months.

A meeting held by the council’s licencing department, saw the discussion of the new rules, speaking at the meeting was Grand Pier and Waterfront Fish Bar owner Kerry Michael. He stood up for the café and business owners in the area saying that the new rules made no sense.

He added: “These plans are gibberish. That is possibly the widest thoroughfare in Weston, so if we cannot have tables and chairs there, how can they be allowed elsewhere?

“We want to be able to sell what we want to our customers, when they want and we don’t want the local authority telling us what we can and can’t do.”

It seems it was not only Mr Michael that was concerned over the new plans, Andreas Macrides, co-owner of La Costa bar and restaurant said that if the outdoor café furniture was taken away, there will not be enough space for people along Regent Street and more litter will accumulate as a consequence.

Following the meeting that was held on 8/11/11, officers will be having a consultation that ends on the 25^th of November where they may amend the proposal, however as it stands at the moment the changes will be implemented at the beginning of next year.

The world has changed (for better or worse, I can’t decide) since the invention of social media networks. Not only can you get in contact with people that you have not seen for years, but you can actually follow them and see what they are doing in their day to day lives. Not only has this but it been a good chance for business to advertise themselves with some even being able to contact their customers through networks such as Facebook.

There is one craze that has come from these the creations of such social media networks is pop-up restaurants. The idea is that groups are set up on Facebook or Twitter that potential diners can follow to find out the restaurants next location and make online reservations. When the spot is picked, the restaurant is set up with outdoor furniture whether it is folding aluminium chairs and café tables or just plain café chairs or café tables and then the area functions like a normal restaurant. After the diners have left, all the furniture is packed up and the area is cleared as if nothing had been there.

This type of “fine dining” is actually a great way of young chefs to show off their skills in the hospitality field. The reason for this is that the young professionals are given the opportunity to show off their skills to potential investors in the hope of securing some kind of restaurant in the future. It is not just open areas that pop up restaurants are using. It’s underused or abandoned warehouses and former factories as well as private homes. This is also a great opportunity for young chefs to get to use professional equipment giving them practice before using the real thing. It looks like this type of dining is here to stay so look out for one in a town near you!