Even if you’re having some in-laws over or critiques who will look at every small detail of your restaurant, it’s always a logical choice to provide the best experience to guests. In almost every culture around the world, offering hospitality to guests has always been engrained in our ethics. But other than hospitality, creating a good first impression is a cornerstone in building a good relationship with guests. Hotels and restaurants are quite familiar with this, which is why they are willing to spend a good percentage of their budget on interior design and hospitality management.
Naturally, all of us want to create a good impression of our home or business. However, what we might be imagining as aesthetically pleasing is subjective to our target audience. Whether we want our establishment to look minimalistic, retro, or classical, it’s all about getting the point through.
First Impression Matters
When we have guests over, the first few details that will catch their attention will give them an impression of your home. Even though it’s nice to hear compliments from your guests about the features of your home or business, hospitality is more than giving your guests a place to sit down and offering them a glass of water. It’s all about their overall experience.
Another crucial factor in providing a good impression is giving them a memorable experience through particular details of your business. Will they be able to remember a sculpture that’s at the centre of your garden? How about those exotic plants that you have right outside of your restaurant? That particular detail or feature will usually be what gets people back to your place.
Wide Open Spaces
Let’s be honest: we don’t want any cramped hallways and lobbies. Not only will tight spaces make some people feel uncomfortable, but if there are too many people in the same room, it might also seem a bit crowded. Furniture, such as couches and chairs, is a suitable way of putting a bit of distance between guests.
Another way of adding grandeur into these open spaces is through different forms of artwork. Consider placing a sculpture in the centre of these spaces and maybe a few paintings to catch the attention of your guests.
Lighting Is Crucial
There are different ways of conveying good lighting, but it ultimately boils down to what you are trying to highlight with that lighting. If you want to light up a room, white walls are a great way of amplifying light since they reflect light off to other surfaces. Neutral colours such as grey are also a great way of highlighting furniture and items in a room as light contrasts the neutral colours.
For modern interior designs, hanging pendant lights are a great way of highlighting your main hallway. Hanging lights are also great for outdoor events and if you want to make a vertical impression on stairwells. Excellent lighting is a guaranteed way of getting a good reaction from your guests.
If there are multiple windows in your lobby, you can utilize them by letting natural ambient lighting into your home. Doing so works well with environmentally-friendly modern designs that focus on green sceneries.
A Bit of Greens on the Side
If it seems like your lobby, balcony, and patio seem devoid of furniture, placing large potted plants near corners and pillars are a great way of keeping your guests busy. Not only are plants a cost-effective way of bringing any room to life, but they can also purify the air and set the mood.
If you haven’t noticed yet, most potted houseplants are tropical. Since these plants are accustomed to indirect sunlight, you won’t need to place them directly under the sun. For a tropical city like Singapore, potted plants are cheap and abundant!
Whether you’re a gardening enthusiast or not, plants are a great way of adding a homely organic style to your home or your commercial space. Everyone can appreciate a bit of green in their life.
Hospitality and creating an excellent first impression aren’t only about greeting guests, showing them around your place, and hoping for the best when they taste your food. It’s also about building a good relationship with them. If you’re in doubt with which furniture will harmonize with which potted plant, you can always contact your interior designer.
Remember that you should have fun! We understand that investing in your home or commercial space is a serious business, but you should sit back, relax, and let your interior designer work their magic in your home. This way, you can still have a place that can give a good impression.
