Take a Seat (It'll Cost You): The Hidden World of Restaurant Furniture

From Michelin star chairs you can't sit on to the banquettes that ate our budget

I thought I was going to stick to a budget. I planned, I researched, I swore I wouldn’t overspend. HA! As of today, I’ve spent over £22k on tables and chairs alone - and that doesn’t even include outdoor furniture. My original budget? £10k all in.

Here’s the thing: I’ve worked in Michelin-starred restaurants with million-pound interiors. One place I worked at, the furniture was so expensive - hand-stitched banquettes, rare marble table tops, imported bespoke chairs, the works. But on our breaks? We weren’t allowed to sit on any of it. Staff were strictly forbidden from using the dining room furniture. So our next best option? A sack of rice positioned charmingly next to the staff loos. Delightful. It was absurd.

So yes, you can absolutely go high-end with furniture - if you’ve got the money (and if you don’t mind your team developing lower back problems). We’ve got some money to spend, but not buckets. And I’m writing this from that very real, very tight-rope-walk kind of angle.

I assumed picking furniture was as simple as measuring the space and slotting in tables and chairs. Turns out, it’s a logistical minefield: legroom, table overhang, chair durability, banquette heights, ensuring tables actually fit plates of food (minor detail, right?). It’s not just about what looks good - it’s about how people sit, move, and experience the space.

And if that wasn’t enough, lead times are long. You either lock things in early or scramble at the last minute. I scrambled. I requested quotes from every supplier I could find, tested layout tools like Contract Chair Co. (which, by the way, is fantastic), and made more decisions than my brain could handle. At one point, I was so fatigued that I handed every single outdoor furniture decision to Mattie and just hoped for the best.

Meanwhile, my mind is spinning with everything else:

• Premises license? Should’ve arrived by now. (Update: REJECTED—my DBS check was two days out of date. GAH)

• Visa license? Takes 8 weeks to process, still haven’t heard back. One of my chefs can’t resign until we have it, meaning they might not start until June.

• No GM. Will we have enough time to train the team?

• Rent-free period is ending. Delays mean I’ll be covering wages and rent before we even open. What does that look like?

All this to say: furniture is a big deal. It affects timelines, budget, and even the flow of service. If you're opening a restaurant, start early, triple-check lead times, and know that seating plans will define how your space feels.

But my chaos = your clarity. I’ve pulled together pricing info, supplier recommendations, and lessons learned - starting with the floor plan, then moving through to banquette seating, chairs, and tables. By the end, you’ll have a solid starting point, contacts, inspiration, and a running total of what we’ve spent so far.

The Floor Plan Reality Check

Have you ever walked into a place and thought, something feels off? The seating is awkward, the levelling is strange, plates are constantly being cleared because there’s no space, or worse - you bash someone’s head just trying to get to the loo? Well, that was us. Fully in the disaster zone before we got help.

We’re starting exactly where I left off in the last newsletter - the floor plan.