Christmas Opening Hours

We are closed from Fri 20th Dec at 4pm until Thur 2nd Jan 2025 for the festive break.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Raising the Bar: Top Tips to Improve the Look & Feel of Your Pub

Who doesn’t love a pub with a distinctive décor and style?
Whether your pub is a cosy, country getaway or a chic modern bar, getting the ambiance right is key. You want to keep your customers coming back regularly, and aside from the beer, the inviting feeling they get when entering is vital.

From furniture to lighting and much more, here are some things to consider when revamping your pub:

Overall Theme, Feel & Style

Start with a theme or concept to guide your design choices. Think about the clientele you want to attract. What décor will be most inviting to them? For example, Is it a fun pub for students? Try some bold artwork focus features and go for a rustic look. Incorporate local art or decor to give your pub a unique character.

If your pub or bar is going for a chic, classy feel, choose colours and fabrics to exude opulence and extravagance. Attracting well dressed customers will require some exquisite design choices for them to be enticed to come in for drinks.

Classic pub styles, are also very inviting. A traditional style pub will bring back warm memories, reminding your punters of good old days spent in their local.

Layout & Available Space

You will need to work cleverly with the space you have available to ensure you utilise it to its full potential. If your space is small, it would be unwise to fill it with large pieces of furniture. Draw a plan of the area and think about the flow of traffic from the kitchen (if you serve food). Screening tables near to the entrance is also a nice touch so people sitting there don’t get blasted with cold air every time someone coming in.

If your pub or bar is going for a chic, classy feel, choose colours and fabrics to exude opulence and extravagance. Attracting well dressed customers will require some exquisite design choices for them to be enticed to come in for drinks.

Classic pub styles, are also very inviting. A traditional style pub will bring back warm memories, reminding your punters of good old days spent in their local.

Pub Furniture

What could be more important than the furniture and seating arrangements for your pub or bar? It would be a missed opportunity to just get standard chairs and tables arranged in rows. Hard chairs will not entice people to stay for very long. 

If your pub or bar is going for a chic, classy feel, choose colours and fabrics to exude opulence and extravagance. Attracting well dressed customers will require some exquisite design choices for them to be enticed to come in for drinks.

Classic pub styles, are also very inviting. A traditional style pub will bring back warm memories, reminding your punters of good old days spent in their local.

Create cosy nooks for groups of friends or couples with booths or banquette style seats. Choose interesting designs and fabrics for the bar stools. From a practical perspective, use fabrics and materials which are durable and easy to clean. It is very easy to reupholster pub seating that you already have. Not only is this environmentally friendly to reuse existing furniture, but it will save you money. With so many styles and fabrics to choose from, it is easy to revamp your furniture to create a whole new look.

Lighting

Getting the lighting right in a pub, bar or restaurant is also key to setting the mood. Harsh strip lights or bright, downward spotlights are a big mistake. No one wants to be seen in a bad light! To create ambiance and set the mood, choose soft, warm lighting effects. Choose upward pointing lights mounted on walls or as standing lamps to also create the illusion of space.

Consider adding edison bulbs for a vintage or rustic feel or perhaps some neon signs to highlight to your customers where the toilets are or perhaps to illuminate when Happy Hour is on.

Pub Gardens

If your pub has an outside area, don’t forget that this can also be spruced up to be more inviting for guests. Rather then just having standard wooden picnic benches you could create some areas with outside weather proof sofas. These can be placed under cover so people can enjoy the space all year round.

Design the area in an interesting way and ensure that plants, shrubs and hanging baskets are kept in great condition to keep the area appealing. If you are a family pub and have the space, you can add swings and slides to keep your little guests happy too.

Pub Toilets

Toilets in pubs are often overlooked as an area to update, but having shabby or tired looking toilet facilities is an oversight to be avoided. Continue the theme and style of your pub into these areas too. 

Invest in unique and stylish fixtures for your sinks and faucets to match your pub’s aesthetic. You could choose ecofriendly and water saving plumbing fixtures to promote sustainability. 

Add customized mirrors with reclaimed wood or metal and use backlighting to emphasise them as features. Add bright patterned wall paper as theme walls to bring some colour into the space. Choose high quality and unique tiling for the walls and floors for a chic look and feel.

If the bathroom area is quite large you may have space to put some interesting furniture or sofas to fill the space and add some interest with soft furnishings.

Southwest Upholstery For All your Pub Seating & Reupholstery Projects

Here at Southwest Upholstery, we are very experienced in the design and build of pub furniture which includes banquette seating as well as the reupholstery of bar stools, sofas and armchairs. We have access to hundreds of fabrics including leather and vinyl, we will assist you in the best choice for your project. We will support you with recommending sizes, producing drawings, CAD modelling and any other aspects that you require.

More Case Studies