You are reading

Texture and Gloss: 10 Ideas to Steal from a Hip London Cafe

Start typing to search...

Restaurant Visit Issue — Quirky Interiors

Texture and Gloss: 10 Ideas to Steal from a Hip London Cafe

Annie Quigley July 18, 2017

A recent discovery in our submissions in-box: Catalyst Café & Coffee Roasters in central London, with interiors that strike a “balance between roughness and sensitivity, as a good cup of coffee does.” We like its quirky mix of granite and marble, small-space storage solutions, and glass floor looking into the “lab,” all designed by Thessaloniki-based 157 + 173 Designers. Here are 10 ideas to take away.

Photography courtesy of 157 + 173 Designers.

1. Hide surprising design inside a traditional exterior.

the café&#8\2\17;s simple exterior belies the mix of materials inside. des 17 — Above: The café’s simple exterior belies the mix of materials inside. Designers Babis Papanikolaou and Christina Tsirangelou hoped to add “a humble glossiness and brightness to the gray London mood.”

2. Up the contrast: Balance rough stone with wood and glass.

inside, the designers took inspiration from stones collected on their travels. 18 — Above: Inside, the designers took inspiration from stones collected on their travels. (“We usually return with some bags full of extra-heavy rocks,” they explain.) They uncovered an old textured wall behind the bar, which they left intact, and built a rough stone-block island (for a similar look, see Steal This Look: A Low-Cost Kitchen for Serious Chefs). As a contrast, they added light wood furniture, copper accents, and a clear glass wall behind the counter that serves as a whiteboard. “Watching the wall lit behind the glass facade feels like watching a nice old item in a museum,” the designers say.

3. Keep surfaces streamlined with cutout cabinet pulls.

cutout pulls keep behind the counter storage from feeling cluttered. for more, 19 — Above: Cutout pulls keep behind-the-counter storage from feeling cluttered. For more, see Remodeling 101: Cutout Cabinet Pulls and Cutout Kitchen Cabinet Pulls: 17 Favorites from the Remodelista Archives. The bank of drawers ends in a bench, an ideal one-person perch.

4. Mix stone for maximum texture.

for visual interest, mix two or three kinds of stone—with care. at catalyst, 20 — Above: For visual interest, mix two or three kinds of stone—with care. At Catalyst, the counter is a patchwork of white marble, speckled granite bricks, and gray-green eucalyptus granite (the team used the reverse side, for a rougher texture). Extra points for visual commonality, as shown here: the gray granite bricks echo the gray veining of the marble. (The designers also added granite detailing to the birch plywood floor to create patterned “stone carpets,” not pictured.) See Remodeling 101: Marble Countertops and 10 Favorites: Architects’ Budget Kitchen Countertop Picks.

mossy eucalyptus granite alongside granite bricks. 21 — Above: Mossy eucalyptus granite alongside granite bricks.

5. Add a pegboard for additional storage.

a large pegboard at the back of the space gives an empty wall the potential fo 22 — Above: A large pegboard at the back of the space gives an empty wall the potential for all-purpose storage; for a similar idea, see Versatile Function: Pegboard Organizers by Yvonne Mouser. (In the foreground: a custom-built communal table and chairs from Greek company Electra.)

6. Use shelves as a counter space.

a two in one small space idea: when set at the right height, the bottom porti 23 — Above: A two-in-one small space idea: When set at the right height, the bottom portion of shelving can serve as a low counter or table, as it does here. Pair with low stools for below-storage seating. (Also shown: the patterned “stone carpet,” granite inlaid into the wood floor.)

7. Incorporate cork.

for warmth, the designers added cork details: material pendant lights from cope 24 — Above: For warmth, the designers added cork details: Material Pendant lights from Copenhagen brand New Works and cork-top Sinnerlig stools by Ilse Crawford from Ikea. (See Ilse Crawford’s New Collection for Ikea.) At right: A glass floor peeks into the downstairs coffee lab; for more, see No. 9.

8. Faucet as focal point: Install an exposed-pipe fixture.

an unexpected focal point: an exposed pipe brass faucet above the small hand w 25 — Above: An unexpected focal point: an exposed-pipe brass faucet above the small hand-washing sink. For similar options, see Trend Alert: 10 DIY Faucets Made from Plumbing Parts.

9. Play with the structure you’re given.

to unite the upstairs cafe with the coffee lab and open kitchen below, the des 26 — Above: To unite the upstairs cafe with the coffee lab and open kitchen below, the designers tore up a section of flooring and installed a glass panel in its place, preserving and exposing the original beams and inviting visitors to peek underground. “We thought that a glass floor would be ideal, to both reveal the lab downstairs, and some hints of the old building,” the designers say—crouching down for a look encouraged.

10. Keep the background simple.

pick what to experiment with and what to keep simple. even with mix and match 27 — Above: Pick what to experiment with and what to keep simple. Even with mix-and-match stone, patterned floors, and cork and copper details, the Catalyst space looks bright, not busy, thanks to simple white walls: For vetted white paints, see 10 Easy Pieces: Architect’s White Paint Picks.

More ideas from the summer’s most popular restaurants:

(Visited 917 times, 2 visits today)

You need to login or register to view and manage your bookmarks.

Add to Collection

Product summary

sinnerlig stool beige

Counter & Bar Stools

Sinnerlig Stool, Cork Natural

$99.00 USD from Ikea

material pendant

Noergaard & Kechayas

Material Pendant

$199.95 USD from New Works

Explore Deeper Into These Areas

Object of Desire: Borosilicate Glass Bathroom Hardware

10 Easy Pieces: The Best Skinny Kitchen Ranges (Freestanding 24-Inches)

Have a Question or Comment About This Post?

Join the conversation

Related Stories

rosetta mexico city 3

Rosetta: Mexico City’s Most Beautiful Restaurant?

by Julie Carlson

May 7, 2025

le doyenne chef owners shaun kelly et james henry

Restaurant Visit: Le Doyenné, a Potager-to-Table Restaurant and Guesthouse

by Margot Guralnick

April 2, 2025

hotel rumour restaurant bar club in leiden holland designed by studio modijefsky 5

Hotel Rumour: An Inventive Restaurant-Bar-Club in a 1657 Carriage House in the Netherlands

by Margot Guralnick

February 26, 2025

×

Join the Remodelista Family of Websites

Become a Member at no charge

When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.

Become a Member

Member benefits include:

Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites

Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!

For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.

Subscribe Subscribe

Annual ~~$119.88~~ $59.99/year - SAVE 50%

Monthly $9.99/mo

Subscriber benefits include:

Unlimited access to all three sites
Weekly access to subscriber-only content
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99

×

Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.

Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites

For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.

Subscribe Subscribe

Annual (Save 50%) $59.99 USD/yr

Monthly $9.99 USD/mo

Subscriber benefits include:

Unlimited access to all three sites
Weekly access to subscriber-only content
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99

Become a Member at no charge

When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.

Become a Member

Member benefits include:

Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites

My Account