Café Interiors That Turn Heads and Keep Customers

In 2015, Ashley Jaffe and Zach Israel were planning a New York City café intended to feel like a natural extension of customers’ homes or offices. After looking at various properties, the husband-and-wife team settled on a Madison Avenue space for what would become their NoMad location.

During the build-out, curiosity led them to wonder what lay behind the drywall. They tapped on it and were surprised to hear a hollow sound.

With harder knocks, they uncovered an entire wall of exposed brick hidden behind the drywall. “It was the most gorgeous, imperfectly shaped brick wall that, for some reason, someone covered up,” Jaffe says.

Without hesitation, the owners agreed to make the exposed brick part of their design. The brick’s natural texture and warmth became a defining feature of Blank Slate Kitchen + Coffee.

In today’s digital age, many customers discover a coffee shop through Instagram or Google before ever walking in. Jaffe therefore believes that photos of a café’s interior are as important as the in-person experience for drawing guests: “That’s what drives your customers,” she says.

Social media and virtual platforms cannot replace the experience of a barista handing you a drink or the taste of freshly brewed coffee, but design choices act as a bridge that lets customers get to know you from a distance. They also help bring customers back—well-designed cafés invest in both the large, eye-catching features that attract attention and the small, thoughtful details that make people feel welcome and embraced.

A Space That Feels Like Home

Layout and design are both essential to a successful coffee shop. The layout focuses on efficient operation—with designated areas for waiting, picking up orders, and comfortable seating—while design is about what looks great and can visually express your shop’s values.

Blank Slate

“The layout itself is all about what’s going to be the most profitable, generate the most revenue, and create a comfortable and welcoming environment for customers,” Jaffe says. “Design is the fun part—it’s all about the aesthetic.”

Blank Slate adopted the modern industrial design trend, but according to Jaffe, the style needed adjustment to feel welcoming. She notes that some industrial spaces lack warmth and comfort. “My goal was to find the warm version of the industrial look,” she explains.

To achieve that, the team combined exposed brick with painted walls. They also left certain industrial elements visible, such as a large silver air-conditioning tube. At the same time, they relied on experts to add warmer accents that made the café feel inviting.

We worked hard on those warmer touches to be inviting, so that when someone comes in, they don’t just want to get their coffee and walk out. They want to stay with us, work on their laptop, and get their second cup of coffee and lunch.

Ashley jaffee, blank slate

For instance, Jaffe and Israel wanted a color scheme that felt cool and calming. When their marketing specialist suggested a mint green palette, it became the foundation of their color scheme. From there, the team added accent colors such as black, white, and gold to complete the look.

“We worked hard on those warmer touches to be inviting,” she explains, “so that when someone comes in, they don’t just want to get their coffee and walk out. They want to stay with us, work on their laptop, and get their second cup of coffee and lunch.”

When Jaffe and Israel decided to open a second location in Midtown, they wanted the design to feel consistent with the first Blank Slate. “We were lucky to have exposed brick in both locations,” Jaffe says. They also carried over other details such as the tiling on the front of the counter and the bathroom wallpaper—and they even replicated their signature bright green bathroom door.

Although Jaffe designed many of the aesthetic elements, she recommends relying on specialists for areas where she lacked expertise. Major layout decisions, such as table and chair placement, were left to architects, and they also hired experts for painting, lighting, and wallpaper design.

Blank Slate

Jaffe stresses the value of working with different experts rather than a single general contractor. “Not everybody is great at everything, so it’s been nice to work with different specialists,” she says.

By leveraging the skills and knowledge of various experts to execute their vision, Blank Slate has built a reputation for modern, minimalist design along with great coffee.

Designing for Impact

Another East Coast café was also undergoing a build-out in 2015. Chris MacLeod and Camila Ramos, owners of All Day in Miami, Florida, envisioned an open, airy space that paid homage to South Florida living with elements like green accents, brass finishes, and a double-height ceiling featuring a hanging piece of driftwood from Key Biscayne.

“We got a chainsaw, tied it to Chris’ boat, and dragged the driftwood through the bay,” Ramos recounted. This down-to-earth element is just one of many that make All Day an Instagram-worthy space.

The café boasts a double-high ceiling with a mezzanine level and an open railing that looks down into an atrium, giving an expansive feel despite its relatively small footprint, MacLeod says.

Ramos explains that the low counter height was another intentional choice to create a sense of invitation rather than a barrier. “We hand-picked each element individually, which added significant time to the build-out,” she adds, noting that construction took 16 months to complete.

This attention to detail is evident throughout the space, from custom bar rails that facilitate pour-overs to carefully selected furniture that allows for negative space and a feeling of airiness. All Day’s custom-made La Marzocco Strada espresso machine, installed seven years ago, was the largest in the world at the time—and is still used today to prepare coffee.

The neon menu above the bar is All Day’s signature and a favorite among patrons. “People love taking photos of it,” Ramos says. While a fixed menu might seem limiting, she explains it is a conceptual menu, and the printed menu expands further. “My job was to see what information was least likely to change, like what we call certain drinks and what drinks are going to be staples on our menu.”

All Day

Rather than a straightforward list of drinks, their display menu offers categories with playful titles such as “Double Shot,” “& Milk,” and “Or Water.” The physical printed menu then lists the drinks offered under these headings. The goal, according to Ramos, is to encourage conversation between guests and baristas. “Miami is an international city. It was important for us to communicate exactly what we are serving,” she says.

MacLeod drew inspiration for the neon menu at All Day from a trip to Japan. While visiting a modern art museum on the island of Ashima, he saw an impactful work made up of worded neon signs that stayed with him: artist Bruce Naumann’s 1984 piece, “One Hundred Live and Die.”

When it came time to brainstorm ideas for presenting their menu, MacLeod suggested using a neon sign. “We had to decide whether it would be possible because, obviously, you can’t change much once it’s up in neon,” he explains.

In addition to its core menu, All Day offers rotating specials, including a drink marked by three neon question marks that always spark curiosity from customers. “That rotates, and everyone asks, ‘What are the question marks?’ and then we get to talk about it,” Ramos says.

From furniture and lighting to decor and layout, every aspect of café design should work together to create a cohesive and inviting atmosphere. The signature neon menu above the bar at All Day is just one example of how unique design elements can become an iconic symbol of a coffee shop—and even a favorite among customers. When you look through Blank Slate’s tagged Instagram photos, you’ll find shots with pops of their signature bright green in everything from decor to coffee mugs. All Day’s feed, on the other hand, is filled with photos highlighting their iconic neon menu, along with plenty of nice plant shots and printed menus that look straight out of a fashion magazine.

Creating a space that is both visually appealing and functional can be a daunting task, but it is worth the effort. And in today’s age of social media, having an Instagram-worthy space can even help your shop go viral and find a new audience. It’s hard to communicate what your coffee tastes like without patrons coming in and sampling your offerings, but a well-designed café can attract customers and keep them coming back for more.