A Modern Coffee Shop Design

Since I've done a lot of emotional discovery and venting lately I thought it only appropriate to post a design focused blog today.  I finally took a camera up to work and tried to capture some of my projects so I can begin a shoot-E attempt at pulling together a portfolio.  How about I share one with you? ...

The Mosaic Coffee Shop.

This was a happy accident. I glued these stenciles to the
wall and the plan was to spray paint the logo on, but I couldn't
resist how much I loved the look of just bare stencils!

The 'Mo', as us IBC'ers like to call it, was the first project I was handed at IBC.  I was told I had a very light budget but endless possibilities.  I was given free reign with only a few stipulations, that felt more like guildlines than rules.  The owner wanted the shop to not only fit into IBC's vibe but also give off a hint of a clean modern feel.  We chose a fun color pallet that, although colorful, stayed within the cool clean family.  We spent several late nights blaring music through the empty halls and painting the patterned walls, anything to save a buck right?  Here are some pic's of the final product... still searching for the 'befores'...

The new wall colors and simple single bulb light fixtures really brought out the maple cabinets!

The tall ceilings proved a challenge right away.  The goal was to help the shop feel more intimate by creating the illusion of the ceilings being dropped.  The solution:  Homemade Sculptures. 

A few sketches, some scrap wood, a few handy men, and you've got a $10 work of art! Quite a cool solution if I do say so myself.  Each one is unique, made of reclaimed wood, and rotates nicely.

Since the shop fixtures were a permanent structure and our budget did not allow demolition the task was to find a way to incorporate these with the space better.  We spiced up an old ugly shelf unit with some chalk paint, donated books, and bam had a new well visited "take a book, leave a book" shelf.  It's fun to walk by on Sunday mornings and see people standing interacting with it!

"Take a Book, Leave a Book", it's become quite popular and increasingly full since the days of this picture.

Why do boring tables when you could drink coffee around an old spool!

A little bit of chalkboard paint, and these boring cubby holes turned into fun advertisement!

Pre Art being hung and post people enjoying some coffee :)