Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Opening A Small Town Restaurant

Posted by Anonymous on 8/16/2009 at 10:26 AM ET 125 Points
i am needing ideas for my restaurant that is in a very small downstate illinois town. it has 2 kitchens,1 is grill and salad area and the other is pizza.i need to repaint the walls of the dinning room. i am going to use pictures of the towns history and also sell small antiques. what color should i paint the walls?
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  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 8/16/2009 at 6:36 PM Accepted
    Dear Akersw,

    People don't eat decor.

    Blunt? Yes. But realistic.

    Seriously, the colour of your eatery's walls are really neither
    here nor there.

    What matters more is your cheery wait staff your outstanding food; the value-driven prices; the daily special; the fresh, whole wheat bread and glasses of ice water delivered to every table within seconds of a patron's backside hitting their chair; and your family charm.

    But if wall colour is really that important, just go with plain white. No other colour anchors elements of art and the rustic charm of antiques better than a plain white background.

    Trust me on this: I've installed and positioned more antiques and artistic elements in spaces than you've had hot dinners and nothing, but NOTHING brings out the charm, grace, and beauty of anything quite like a plain white ground.

    It's for this reason that all the best restaurants serve their food mostly on plain white plates: it brings out the beauty and colour of the food.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA


  • Posted by marketbase on 8/16/2009 at 9:57 PM Member
    With all due deference to Gary (who, by the way, I think consistently gives incrediblly helpful answers). I will argue that color is indeed an tremendously helpful ingredient when it comes to marketing...check out:
    https://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=19382&ca=29 or
    https://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20171&ca=10

    Color originates in light and inspires human psychology in every facet of life. To that end, consider painting at least one of the walls burnt sienna (orange hue) which, according to the Pantone Color Institue inspires social activity, enthusiasm and can improve mood and appetite. You want patrons to be Hungry and Happy... go for it! With fall just around the corner, it will also give an inviting glow to passers-by.

    Best,
    jag
    MarketBase
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 8/17/2009 at 11:28 AM Member
    Dear Jag,

    I'm glad you like my comments.Thank you for saying so. It's much appreciated.

    Burnt sienna inspires social activity, enthusiasm, and can improve mood and appetite? I didn't know this and I humbly stand corrected.

    Now, let us turn our attention to Akersw's question.

    I realize colour in marketing is astonishingly important, a point I do not deny. And to a certain degree, were I eating in a restaurant that had black walls, black floors, black ceiling, black plates, and black liveried wait staff, I'd feel a little ... uncomfortable, as would anyone ... unless they were a vampire.

    The people at Pantone know their stuff, of that, there's no doubt. I've been using their products for 25 years and swear by them.

    As you're opening your eatery in a small town, I'd add (having been born in a tiny town) that simple colours might be the best way to go.

    Personally, I like white. But that's just me. Bland and boring? Perhaps. But it goes with pretty much everything and it can make a compact space appear larger. Likewise, darker colours can bring spaces "in", so to speak.

    Jag is right, one key colour can make a striking statement.

    But BEFORE you daub ANY colour here or there, figure out which way the natural and artificial light falls in your space, get a few cardboard boxes, paint the insides of THEM with your chosen colours, and move the boxes around as the light changes, throughout the day, and in numerous weather conditions (cloudy skies make colours seem darker, sunny skies make them lighter).

    And also bear in mind what you're going to put ON your walls, and where people's sight lines might be.

    Few people want to sit facing a wall when it's covered with migraine inducing colours or a plethora of visual odds and ends.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
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