Interior Design for Hotels – 8 Tips You Need To Know
Quality accommodation is about making the guest feel comfortable and at home. And in order to achieve that, hotel owners must understand the value of well-decorated interiors and implement them in their hotels. This isn’t always easy to pull off, which is why I’ve compiled a list of key tips that will help you create a welcoming environment for your guests.
1. Create a Unique Theme
Creating something that’s considered unique relies on several apects. All of us humans are different. We have different interests and sources of inspiration. We shouldn’t be afraid to let our personality and style be apparent in our designs. Our quirks are what make us unique, so don’t try to copy anyone else’s style, although you can often use others as inspiration.
Find out what gives you your inspiration, be it places, people, books, or even the internet. You also have to play off of the hotel’s surroundings. For instance, if your hotel is close to a beach, it should have a relaxing beach vibe throughout its rooms. The colour blue can help you pull that off beautifully. Maybe some natural earthy colours as well.
You can also play off space planning to create something different. Regardless of size, you have the ability to play around with the distribution of the room’s facilities. But remember to keep all of the related facilities connected. For example, it is important to have an easy flow between everything you could need in the bedroom suite.
Another way you can achieve a unique theme is to just mix things up. Take elements that you’re fond of from a bunch of different designs and implement them all together. Mix up some textures and patterns together. Mix up classic with contemporary. Small things like that will help show off the uniqueness of your design. To put it simply, just do you!
2. Add Art to the Dining Area
The dining room is a perfect place to hang a few art pieces. We’re usually calm and quiet when we’re seated at the dining table, so why not admire a few pieces of art while enjoying our meal?
This isn’t only limited to dining areas with enclosed layouts. On the contrary, you can create an admirable dining area in rooms that have an open layout.
Positioning the artwork is really the tricky part of this whole process. You must identify a number of vantage points that allow your guests to enjoy the view while they’re seated. If it’s hard to find that vantage point you’re looking for, you can always change the layout of the furniture to have it guide where the art piece should be positioned on the wall.
Now, let’s talk about the choice of art itself. Like I’ve just mentioned, people are often quiet while dining, which isn’t really something you want in your hotel. You want them to talk, laugh, or even cry tears of joy. The way to do that is to add art pieces that spark conversations in a way that the guests, or even you, are not accustomed to.
3. Make a Statement with Lighting
Personally, I think of lighting as cherry on the cake, and also the icing and gooey middle. With the aid of proper lighting, you can highlight all the intricate details in your design and focus attention on some of the architectural features that you’re most proud of. Lighting can also help you connect those seemingly disconnected elements in the room. Lighting makes the interior come to life.
When it comes to hanging light fixtures, a general design standard dictates that they are to be 30 inches above the highest table in the room. Now, rules are made to be broken anyway, so base that distance on the visual weight and proportion of the fixture itself. Also, consider the intensity of the light. You don’t want a blindingly-bright light fixture to be too close to the guests’ faces.
In a lot of the designs that I’ve seen, there seems to be a recurring mistake. People often focus primarily on how the light fixture will look when it’s turned on, but how about when it’s off? You’re going to have to consider its appearance in broad daylight. Will it add to the room’s aesthetics or will it take away from it? Also, will the fixture cast inconvenient shadows when it’s turned on?
In order to make a bold statement with your lighting, you need to put the architectural features of the room into consideration when you’re in the market for lighting fixtures. The proportions of the room are also extremely important. You don’t want to hang a big chandelier in a small room. I’ve found that hanging light fixtures in unexpected places can work really well too.
4. Include Some Cosy Corners
Putting those empty corners to work takes some thought and skill, but I’ve got some pretty cool ideas for you. The first thing you can do with an empty corner is to place a statement chair in there. You can find vintage styles and have them covered in an unusual print. Alternatively, you can use that space to build a gallery wall. This will help add a strong focal point in the room.
Another thing you can do is add a shelving unit that you can use to display art. I personally love handcrafted models because they give out that homey feeling we all love. Speaking of shelves, how about LED-lighted floating shelves? I’m sure you can tell that I’m a fan of making the most of wall space when it comes to creative storage.
There are plenty of other things you can do to utilise an empty corner like adding a desk, extra seating, or you can fill it with n antique. Also, don’t forget about plants. Sometimes a simple plant pot is all you really need in a corner. Everyone loves greenery, and I’m sure your hotel guests do too.
5. Use a 5-Tone Colour Palette
Everything falls into place once you find the perfect colour palette. The reason I love 5-tone colour palettes is that they make the whole decoration process easier and much more enjoyable. Also, the fact that you’re using colours that share a certain gradation in common creates a great flow in the design. Okay, so how exactly do you pick the right colour palette?
Assuming you’ve got your colour theory laid down, the first thing you need to do is pluck some of your favourite colours from the largest pattern in the room like a piece of artwork or colourful rug. You could possibly start with the one main colour and select another four from the colour wheel. Two of the four being two shades lighter and the other two being two shades darker. This is just one of the ways to create a 5 tone colour palette.
You might also want to add a bit of black in every room to accentuate the rest of the colours in your colour palette. Greys are also great because they have the ability to give out a warm or cool vibe, based on the rest of the design. You can use the 60-30-10 rule, but rules are made to be broken so just let your eyes guide you.
When laying down your colour palette, I highly recommend you contrast warm and cold. Depending on one extreme will result in a very boring view. The contrast between warm and cold helps give the room more dynamics. You can use a monochromatic look in small spaces like bathrooms or kitchens. You can use it as a chance to showcase your personality and rock your favourite colour.
6. Create Talking Points with Accessories
Accessories are all about making impressions, which is something that you can use to create a homey environment for your guests. Don’t just think of accessories as a means of improving the layout of the room, try to make them as practical as possible. Choosing accessories plays off of the colour palette that you’ve chosen, so make sure that both elements are harmonious.
Accessories should be placed in main focal points around the room and should be used to tie all elements in the room together. Now, I’m not saying that everything should be the same colour, it’s more about sticking to the same tones. Contrast also applies here. For example, if there’s a big, colourful centre piece, try to add accessories that have neutral colour tones to make things pop.
Want to know my favourite type of accessories to bring into a room? Mother Nature! Incorporating plants and flowers helps add life to any design. And when you think about it, bringing plants into the room is like bringing the outside in, which in my opinion gives a feeling of freedom. There’s a wide range of flowers with an even wider range of colours, so don’t tell me it won’t work.
7. Use Mirrors to Reflect Light Around Corridors
There’s a million ways that you can use mirrors to your advantage, but let’s tackle how they can help with lighting first, especially in corridors. Now, positioning the mirror correctly in the right place is going to help you utilise natural light to light up corridors, rooms, etc. How do you do that? You’ll need to position the mirror adjacently to a window so that light bounces off into the rooms.
What else can you do with mirrors? Well, you can use it to add texture to a certain place. This is done by position the mirror in a way that allows it to reflect a textured accessory in the room. It’s also pulled off if the mirror itself features cool textures that can give the wall a three-dimensional effect. Remember, everything is a chance to show personality and style, so capture it.
Another way of taking advantage of mirrors is to treat them as if they’re an empty canvas that’s patiently waiting to reflect art. What do I mean by this? Let’s assume that you can see the beach from the room’s window, why not position the mirror in a way that reflects the blue in the sky and water? The same applies if the hotel is surrounded by a sort of beautiful scenery.
Now onto the grandest trick of them all, the illusion of space! A lot of interior designers use large mirrors in order to create a seemingly larger space. It’s hard to imagine this illusion if you didn’t try it first hand. As per usual when it comes to mirrors, angles are everything. I just love mirrors!
8. Hire Claire Davies Interiors
How’s Claire Davies Interiors Ltd different from other services? Well, you’re probably aware that a lot of interior designers tend to be one-trick ponies, which I don’t think anything has to do with their abilities as artists, but it’s because they’re not really paying attention to what clients want.
Every client is different, and like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, those differences are to be embraced in order to create something unique. I help you implement your personal tastes and styles into your design, and this is something that I take pride in more than my ability as an interior designer. I treat each new project as an opportunity to grow and change.
So how exactly does this work? Well, my process is comprised of two phases: Concept Design & Consultancy and Design Management and Installation. The former is a strategic process that I use to take an idea and transform it into a comprehensive design, whereas the latter is where all of the moving parts work together in unison to bring your design to life.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s all about you, your preferences, and your needs. My job here is to bring what you, as my employer, to life. If you’re interested, send us your information here and we’ll contact you as soon as possible.
That’s All She Wrote
Hopefully, you’ve found the information I shared with you today helpful. And I’ll say it again, your uniqueness is what’s going to help you create a design that’s second to none, so do your guests a favour and let your personality shine.
Don’t forget to check out our interior design Manchester page as well as some of our recent posts: