We gave interior designers Laura Hodges, Patrick Mele, and Xavier Donnelly a photo of the same empty NYC café—then asked each of them to transform the space in their particular style, however they pleased with no restrictions. Three artists, one canvas, each bringing something different to the space. Which coffee shop do you see yourself cozying up in with a hot drink this fall?
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00:00 These three interior designers have been given a photograph of an empty cafe.
00:05 They have free reign to design it in any way they please.
00:08 My name is Laura and my design style is modern, tailored, and classic.
00:13 My name is Patrick and my design style is layered, colorful, and charismatic.
00:19 I'm Xavier and my design style is narrative, purposeful, and lively.
00:24 No clients, no restrictions, just blank space.
00:29 This is the cafe space.
00:31 When I first look at this space, if I'm looking at this from a guest perspective, I don't
00:35 know how to use this space.
00:36 If I'm looking at it from an employee perspective, I also don't know how to use this space and
00:41 I think I'd probably quit.
00:42 It feels like there's not a lot of flow to it and there also doesn't seem to be enough
00:45 space behind the back counter and the front counter for employees to move around and kind
00:50 of interact.
00:51 I like to think through how you want your guest to experience the space.
00:56 They need to walk in and feel a sense that they know where to go and who to talk to and
01:01 what to do and there's no confusion.
01:07 My idea for this space is to create a French-inspired cafe where you can come in and feel like you
01:15 can just hang out.
01:16 When designing for a commercial space, I really love to be transported.
01:20 This space is transporting me to my first sad rental apartment.
01:24 I would love to be transported to perhaps the south of France or Rome or Milan.
01:31 I think if we create a space that is able to be activated all day, it's going to be
01:36 the best way to serve the neighborhood.
01:38 It's going to reach the most amount of people and it's also going to allow us to be open
01:42 and making money from sunup to sundown.
01:45 The type of place that I can get a cup of coffee, stop by for lunch, get a nice drink,
01:50 glass of wine, a cocktail.
01:51 I just want to be able to use this at all times of the day.
01:57 A floor is a great place to start in terms of bringing in a really specific aesthetic
02:02 and a checkered board floor is perfect for that sort of Parisian feel.
02:06 I'd like to do this gray Bardiglio marble and then a Carrara marble, which those two
02:11 together you can just see how lovely they are.
02:13 There's been marble in Italy and France for a zillion years.
02:17 It's super durable.
02:18 It's going to last a really long time and I don't mind what we call the patina that
02:21 happens with marble over time.
02:23 Somebody spills something, it gets etched or scratched.
02:26 I just think that adds to the character of the space.
02:28 This looks like blonde parquet flooring and it's not really durable.
02:31 I would love to introduce a beautiful antique terracotta.
02:36 Terracotta is great because it hides a lot of dirt.
02:39 There's beautiful deep tones to the red and light.
02:41 It's tumbled, already has a sort of worn quality to it, which I think is great for high traffic
02:47 cafe.
02:48 So, when I look at the floor, I see this sort of wood parquet.
02:52 It's looking a little faux to me.
02:53 That's not going to fly here because it's going to get pretty dirty.
02:56 It's going to get pretty worn down.
02:57 I need something that's going to be a little bit more durable and cleanable for a high
03:01 traffic environment like this.
03:03 I'm looking at this very beautiful broken stone tile look and I think that that would
03:09 be a really incredible way to make a varied, unusual floor, but it's also a stone material.
03:17 So you're going to be able to mop it and it's very durable in that way.
03:23 Cities are notoriously lacking for green space and I would love this space to feel like a
03:28 respite from your city life.
03:30 So I want to bring in a really indulgent dark green and that's going to just make this space
03:35 feel really warm and welcoming.
03:38 If we bring that dark green up onto the ceiling, it's also going to help the walls recede a
03:42 little bit and that makes the space feel bigger.
03:44 In addition to bringing in this really dark color though, I actually wanted to think about
03:49 what that texture could be.
03:50 I think a Roman clay in that really dark green would be beautiful.
03:54 It's going to add a lot of texture and interest to the wall.
03:57 And then on top of that, we can do a beautiful picture panel molding, which again will kind
04:01 of break up the space and give it some more unique texture.
04:04 The brick on the background feels a little bit dirty and I don't like the fact that it's
04:09 also not the same texture as the rest of the walls.
04:12 I love plaster paint and lime paint finishes.
04:15 They give a real nuance to the wall and bring in lights and darks and create something really
04:21 beautiful.
04:22 For sure, I would cover over the brick and make it all one.
04:26 From like a customer perspective, a cafe or a bar, we see it in only one of its cycles
04:32 or day parts.
04:33 But actually, there's a whole life that happens in these spaces before they open.
04:37 Prep work, cleanup, you have to think about the materials you're using.
04:41 They need to be really durable because you're going to see a lot of traffic.
04:44 When I look at the walls, the first thing I'm going to do is get rid of the exposed
04:48 brick.
04:49 I don't love exposed brick in a restaurant setting.
04:52 It's a very textured, very rough surface that tends to collect a lot of dust.
04:56 It's very, very hard to clean.
04:58 So when I think about the walls in a high traffic place like a cafe or a bar, anything
05:02 below countertop level, it's going to get kicked, it's going to get bumped, spillage
05:06 will happen on the floors and that will splash up onto the walls.
05:09 I want to make sure that anything that happens below the countertop is very wipeable, very
05:14 cleanable, but is kind of a piece of art in and of itself.
05:17 So I'm going to do an enamel wainscoting below the wall, but I'm going to do it in a sort
05:24 of like trompe l'oeil painted pattern so that it has this sort of beautiful architectural
05:28 detailing.
05:30 And then above that, I'm going to use this really beautiful Roman plaster to coat the
05:36 walls.
05:37 I'm going to use the Rosso Levanto marble to create the crown molding.
05:41 I'm going to use the same red marble to create a chair rail that will go around the perimeter
05:46 of the space and then again for the baseboard.
05:52 So when you're using a really dark color like this dark green that we're going to bring
05:55 in, when you've got it across the ceiling and across the walls, the corners sort of
05:59 recede.
06:00 You can't tell where the wall ends and the ceiling begins and that just immediately makes
06:04 it feel even bigger.
06:05 Looking at the ceiling, it's plain and white and cold.
06:08 So I think what would be really nice to do is bring in some reclaimed beams, which would
06:13 only add to the feeling of romantic old world atmosphere that I'm hoping to achieve.
06:19 So for the ceiling, I'm also going to do an enamel treatment because I want it to be cleanable.
06:24 I'm not going to stop harping on about that.
06:26 The worst feeling when you walk into a restaurant and it doesn't feel clean.
06:34 Right now, I do love that there is a window and I love that it's this bypass window so
06:38 that people can come up and order from outside the restaurant.
06:41 However, this could be better laid out.
06:43 So what I'd like to do is actually move this bypass window further into the service space
06:48 so that when you're actually behind the counter in the cafe serving, that you could also just
06:52 turn to your right and help somebody who happens to be at the window.
06:55 And then we can add an even bigger window into the seating area as well.
06:59 That way we can have tons of natural light, functionality and beauty at the same time.
07:04 In a small space, you're really always looking for more opportunities to have more sales
07:07 and being able to access the restaurant from two different spots is really ideal.
07:12 This window feels like a small takeout window or something like a drive-thru window.
07:17 Not in love with that.
07:18 I hate those handles.
07:19 I hate that it's a sliding window.
07:22 We could really use something that has a lot more character and beauty to it.
07:25 I'd love to see some more light coming into this space.
07:28 So I'm going to create a French style window casement, nearly floor to ceiling with beautiful
07:33 wood panel detail below.
07:35 And I'd also love to see that classic French mullion window with different panes.
07:41 I think that could bring a real residential feeling to this otherwise pretty banal commercial
07:46 window.
07:47 So this window here is not that interesting to me.
07:50 I don't like its functionality.
07:52 It's kind of like this slider pass-through window that is not the vibe I'm trying to
07:56 go for.
07:57 So what I'm going to do is increase the size of the window almost all the way up to the
08:01 ceiling and come almost all the way down to the floor.
08:03 I'm also not going to try to make it an operable window or a door or anything like that.
08:07 So I'm just going to do a flat plane of glass.
08:10 It's going to let in a lot more light and perhaps we can explore maybe a little curtain
08:13 treatment on that window as well.
08:15 Part of what I want to accomplish with changing this window is I just want to let people see
08:19 into the space.
08:20 A big beautiful glass showcase to show off what I'm going to do inside this cafe to the
08:26 rest of the world.
08:30 So what I do think is working here is this peninsula of cabinetry.
08:36 It creates a nice space for the guests to come up across this front area.
08:40 We should really bring in a cool design with the cabinetry.
08:44 So I'd like to do an inset panel with some reeded detail.
08:48 We should get an industrial fridge.
08:50 It's going to have better storage and it can actually sit underneath the countertop.
08:54 Maybe we're going to need a tea maker of some kind, a coffee maker.
08:58 Across this whole back wall we could do shelves and the shelves will allow us to have a lot
09:01 of room for items that we can sell.
09:04 So we want to maximize every square inch as to how this cafe owner can continue to make
09:10 a profit.
09:11 So they're not just selling the tea and the coffee, they can sell the plates and the glasses.
09:14 What I'd love to do is create a back wall that feels like somebody's kitchen.
09:19 It would be great to have a tiled backsplash and a shelf above.
09:24 It'd be wonderful to put a stove and a cooktop centered and then to float an island in front
09:29 of it.
09:30 I would love to see these handmade tiles by my friend Aviva Halter.
09:34 She hand paints them in Bridport in England in her studio.
09:39 And so I'd love to have her create special tiles with herbs or different produce bits
09:45 on them.
09:46 I think that'd be really charming and sweet.
09:47 So I want my cafe to feel like an old world kitchen that a little Nona has been cooking
09:53 at.
09:54 Delicious pastries and juices and soups.
09:56 My grandmother growing up had a wonderful skirted sink.
09:59 I've always loved that.
10:01 It's romantic and feels light and airy.
10:03 So I think that this Raoul blue and white buffalo plaid feels really great because it's
10:09 sort of painterly and has a really great nap to it.
10:13 And then the cappuccino coffee maker to the right.
10:15 The first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to do a back counter that runs across the
10:19 entire back of the space.
10:21 And under this counter I can locate a under counter fridge.
10:25 I can do a sink over here and then on top of the counter I can have my espresso machine
10:30 and my coffee set up there.
10:32 Now I have my entire operation on this back counter and it's going to be really tight
10:36 and really efficient.
10:38 The other thing I want to do in this space is create a really beautiful pastry display
10:41 case.
10:42 A sort of centerpiece half hexagon counter built into which will be a pastry display
10:48 case.
10:49 So on one side we can have maybe a menu, some other display here and then on the other side
10:54 we can have the place where you will pay.
10:57 So we definitely have to incorporate some seating into this space and I would love to
11:00 do a beautiful banquette on both sides.
11:03 And so if we can do the banquette what that allows us to do is actually seat even more
11:08 people.
11:09 So when you have just chairs you have to allow at least two feet behind a chair so that somebody
11:13 could pull out the chair but then also so that somebody could walk behind the chair
11:17 as well.
11:18 So the banquette is just sitting flush against the wall and you actually gain some square
11:22 footage into a small space by having something that is just stationary.
11:25 I would love to do some marble top tables with a beautiful vintage pedestal base, really
11:30 driving home that cafe feeling.
11:32 And then I think some really cool vintage chairs.
11:34 I'm thinking of something with a nice thin leg that will visually still stay very open
11:40 and light as you're walking in.
11:41 And we really want to make sure that this back wall is the focal point in terms of being
11:46 able to tell people where to go.
11:48 So you come in, you walk straight forward and you see sellable items, you see somebody
11:53 who's going to help you, you see the beautiful pastries.
11:55 And so we really want to make sure that that traffic flow is clean and clear and simple
11:59 and accessible.
12:00 We can have the seating on the side so we leave like a nice clear line straight to the
12:04 counter.
12:05 So this is a really small cafe.
12:06 Fitting more people in this space doesn't mean maxing out necessarily the amount of
12:10 chairs and tables you have.
12:12 In a space like this, we actually want to remove furniture and create more good zones
12:17 for people to stand around.
12:19 So I designed a couple of tables here, they're bar height, but they also have a little foot
12:23 rest, which is, you know, ergonomically really helpful.
12:29 A commercial space really needs to be well lit.
12:31 And it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to light it as if somebody's performing surgery.
12:35 We should really bring in some cool vintage pendants as well.
12:39 I'm thinking of something in a reeded glass, something that has sort of a French 1950s,
12:43 1940s kind of feel, because everybody looks good in eye level lighting.
12:47 Nobody really looks good when the light is coming from overhead.
12:49 I chose fixtures that felt a little bit on the residential side.
12:54 Over the island, that light fixture by Joseph Frank I've always loved.
12:58 It reminds me of a little puff pastry.
13:00 Above the two niches for the produce and food, I chose Duval's Gooseneck Lights in antique
13:07 brass with a beautiful milk glass shade.
13:10 Lighting in a restaurant space, cafe, bar is like one of the most important things to
13:15 get right.
13:16 If you don't get it right, people aren't going to look good.
13:18 The environment is going to feel either too bright or too dark.
13:20 You can't see your food, you see your food too much.
13:23 So it's a really important thing to nail.
13:25 The two things that I want to sort of call out here are the wall lights and the ceiling
13:29 lights.
13:30 And I'm probably never going to have these both on at the same time, because I don't
13:34 think that they're necessary.
13:35 The ceiling lights I'll probably have on during the day, during the morning when I want a
13:39 little bit more of a bright atmosphere.
13:41 I want the things in the pastry case to really be shining.
13:44 But then I'll turn those off completely in the evening and only have the wall lights
13:48 on.
13:49 Because in the evening, I want all the light to be coming from eye level, face level, because
13:54 that provides a much more flattering light for everybody and a much more flattering light
13:57 for the food.
14:02 We kind of have an emotional response as humans and an emotional connection to nature.
14:06 So I definitely want to bring in some plants across the top.
14:09 And the reason for bringing them across the top is that then they're not going to get
14:12 damaged by people accidentally spilling things on them or getting in the way.
14:16 And then really that should be where the name of the cafe goes as well.
14:20 So I would love to call this space Cafe Josephine.
14:23 That is named after my great grandmother.
14:25 And I would write it in script.
14:27 And it's going to then sort of continue that sort of French romantic sort of vibe that
14:31 we have going on.
14:32 I love in a kitchen a collection of plates up on the wall, especially transferware.
14:37 I would love to place a collection of antique blue and white transferware plates on the
14:42 walls and tie that in with the buffalo plaid of the skirt sink and the blue of the French
14:48 window.
14:49 So on the right side of the cafe, I took that opportunity to carve out a round niche, which
14:54 I thought would be really beautiful to have lined in antique mirror and then to have the
14:59 menu written out on that mirror.
15:00 I always loved the way that looked.
15:02 So one of my main goals in decorating this space is I want to showcase the products that
15:07 I'm selling in an extremely flattering way.
15:09 So one of the things I'm going to do is create a very beautiful back bar display for all
15:13 my bottles of wine, my glassware, all of the things that I'm really sort of like proud
15:17 to show and sell in the space.
15:20 And I'm going to back that with mirror so that it gives it just that little bit of extra
15:23 dimension and makes it feel a little bit bigger than it already is.
15:27 I also want to create a beautiful kind of like drawn back curtain out of carved marble
15:34 that will then frame my back bar bottle display.
15:37 The other thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to create a display case that's going
15:42 to be completely symmetrical to the window I created on the other side of the space.
15:46 And that's going to be again mirror back to give it a little bit of dimension, kind of
15:50 echoing the language of the window and its framing and its size and its shape.
15:58 I really love how this all is coming together.
16:01 I think that it's a space that I would want to spend some time in.
16:05 I would want to go in and get a really beautiful pastry and have my perfect little loose leaf
16:10 cup of tea that is steeped to perfection.
16:13 I think I achieved the look and feel of an old world European kitchen.
16:17 I am inspired by Italian kitchens, French kitchens, Spanish kitchens and the English
16:23 as well.
16:24 So I kind of combined all of those senses into this cafe in my mind.
16:29 This is a cafe that transports you away from the everyday.
16:32 I think what I've created here is a really sort of lovely all day cafe.
16:37 The type of place where you can go have your coffee, you can hang out at lunch for a quick
16:41 bite, you can grab a drink.
16:43 It's going to feel very relaxed but very elegant.
16:47 Oh my goodness.
16:52 That's amazing.
16:54 Wow, that's fantastic.
16:56 Well Patrick's definitely reminds me of the south of France.
16:58 I don't know if that's nice.
17:00 I like that.
17:01 I think the south of France is a good place to start the day.
17:03 It's funny, we all chose to get rid of the brick.
17:06 I know.
17:07 I kind of can't with the exposed brick.
17:09 I think we're all over exposed brick.
17:11 Yeah, I think we all have the clean, wipeable surfaces.
17:16 I went with an old, old antique plastered wall.
17:19 The dirt can just blend right in.
17:21 That's the other solution, you know?
17:23 Would love to own my own cafe and work here every day.
17:27 I'd be happy here.
17:28 Yeah, for sure.
17:29 Or in any of these.
17:30 It's a dream of mine I hope to make come true one day.
17:33 (upbeat music)
17:35 (upbeat music)