5 Innovative Ideas To Make Your Bookcafe A Booklovers Paradise
This one is from the heart of a booklover and a wannabe book cafe owner!
I like cancelled plans and empty bookstores. I like to sit by the window overlooking the greens, in a quiet space, with coffee in one hand and a book in another. I like over-worn pyjamas, loose t-shirts and messy beds.
And as much as the above define me, a major space in my heart is for books. Adding to the blessing is the circle of people around who are readers and thinkers, making all the coffee meets interesting with the lit-up conversations.
Amid all the book talks, often the entrepreneur in me thought of how a perfect reading space would look like (That’s right! We have a major thing for that). I always felt that a perfect sitting space for reading is not a reflection of wealth but a culture of leveraging a thinker with enlightenment. So here’s to all my (& my reading clans) idea of a perfect reading space:
- The Pretty French Setting Has Our Heart
The pleasure of sipping the finest wine among a multitude of books.
Give us all things French and we can stay indulged in books for hours. Our idea of a french theme bookstore is a revolving gate entry taking us inside the book cafe. Those little french balconies with timeless glass doors and loaded with pot plants. A bookstore that epitomizes the French art of living with a collection of aesthetic wine in-store, serving petite Verre (small glass) at the counter. And a huge library with a collection of books on the royal society, poet and politician, art, culture and aesthetics that goes with a glass of fine wine.
2. Books are Pet Friendly
And so are most of us! Just know that we love everything that expresses with eyes and use fewer words.
This struck me the other day when a reader friend went out to walk his dog and saw a cute book cafe to sit back and sip a coffee while reading a classic. But unfortunately, the owner doesn’t welcome the pets in the store. Fair enough! But we would love to get welcomed at a space where we can go every evening and can walk our dogs so they can enjoy the quiet time with a change in surroundings while we hop on to some coffee and classic reads. What goes best? A huge collection of fiction books in-store. A book in hand and a cat/dog we can cuddle on our lap while reading is our two favourites in one place. Take my heart for this!
3. Vintage Design with Antique Vibes
The smell of books to soothe our nose and the vintage collection to soothe our eyes! Are we asking too much?
If you talk to a reader, you would know they are not just seeking stories from the books. But, from the places, things, walls and everything around. And this ‘curiosity’ should not ONLY end up on the books offering stories! Step up the game by letting us pick the books from those old shelves which you got from a vintage buying or a piece of furniture that belonged to a royal era but where we can now sit and read. Or maybe an old oil lamp from the vintage collection that offers us that perfect light to read in a corner with comfortable sitting. How about offering a space to write a letter for our loved ones with feathers and ink? We live for experiences and stories!
4. Stay overnight to read
A readers idea of a night out is to stay in bed and read! But if there is a house party our flatmate is having, please adopt us for the night and let us read till 4 am!
We all have been there and done that! Cancelling a night out plan because we wanted to read. A reading which was supposed to happen till midnight but ended at 4 am. Because ‘just one more chapter’, ends up on reading 200 pages. How could you blame us? our favourite authors wrote some well-engaged thriller novels. So here is a plea from the 4 am readers club — Build us a space where we can come and read overnight while sipping onto a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate. For those wintery and rainy nights, we can bring our blanket. Just give us a bean bag or a comfortable sitting on the floor. PS: You’ll also be our secret escape from those parties our friends keep forcing us for.
5. A Book Cafe Close To Nature
For nature teaches us as much as a book does!
Every time I feel lost, I sit close to nature with a book in hand and get all my answers. Nature talks to you in ways you could never guess and teaches you the best of living. Staying close to nature is every reader’s secret wish! A cafe overlooking hills/mountains/a lot of huge trees, a comfortable sitting near the window, a cappuccino in one hand and the favourite read in another. A rainy day would just add more charm. A place like this would subdue writer’s block in a way you can’t imagine.
From experiencing the old book smell to looking at the walls loaded with book space, there’s something about wandering up and down the aisles of a brick-and-mortar bookstore with a cafe sitting space. Something online sellers could never replicate.
A tip — You might want to offer some space as a meeting place for different book community meet-ups or writing groups.
