How to add personality to a commercial interior
Commercial spaces don’t have to be ‘all business’. Some of the best commercial interiors are considered and detailed. It’s an environment that
communicates a brand, but that doesn’t mean an environment has to be entirely corporate, necessarily.
So, how best to project personality in a commercial interior? There are choices to be made at each stage of the design process, and this article offers some tips on how to approach it.
Incorporate custom artwork
Generic prints and off-the-shelf wall art are a sure-fire sign that a space hasn’t been fully thought through. When you commission original work, you instantly give an interior a personal touch and have an opportunity to tell a unique story.
There are plenty of ways to source original work. You could form connections with local artists to create murals, or put together a curated gallery wall that tells your story as a business in the form of illustrations, old photographs or memorabilia. Putting time and effort into obtaining artwork that represents your brand heritage can bring you closer to the local community and create genuine talking points for visitors. Aim to produce a unique look that can’t be replicated.
Define brand through texture
Texture has a part to play, because the materials you choose to surround people with will play a role very early on in the customer experience. Natural timbers and exposed brick signal authenticity and warmth. Rich upholstery suggests comfort and quality. Polished metals and glass align with precision and sophistication.
A material palette can be an expression of brand values. Materials can shape how people feel about being there, but achieving a level of consistency is key. If there’s a haphazard approach, this can be interpreted as indecision.
Embrace biophilic design
Natural elements are excellent stress reducers and essentially improve the quality of time spent in a space. This approach is effective in making environments feel more welcoming.
By integrating features such as indoor planting, vertical gardens and moss walls into a space, you can lend organic colour and shape to spaces that might otherwise feel too formal or corporate. This is known as biophilic design, and it is particularly favoured in hospitality.
Strategic colour psychology
Colour is one of the most powerful and most underused tools in commercial interior design.
Neutral palettes offer a sophisticated versatility that allows other design elements to lead. In commercial spaces, however, they shouldn’t be seen as compulsory. Bold accent colours, statement furniture, and unexpected elements of pigment in the right places can be energy transformers!
Some brands have their own colour identity, and interior design is an opportunity to represent that identity in a physical environment. Consider custom colour-matched glazes that allow brand colours to be applied directly to tiled surfaces. This creates a visual identity that goes far beyond a standard paint job.
Use tile as a design feature
Tiles are one of the most powerful tools available to commercial interior designers. They tick two major boxes in the design process – that is, visual impact and durability.
As a functional material, tiles are valued as design choices in bathrooms, kitchens and splashbacks. Increasingly, they are also selected in design-led spaces, being used in feature floors, statement walls, bespoke reception areas and branded entrance panels. In these ways, tile installation can become the defining element of an interior, rather than a background detail.
DC Custom Tiles designs and produces bespoke tiles for commercial projects of all scales, working with interior designers, architects and art consultants to create installations that are genuinely unique.
There’s a world of design possibilities; from custom-printed ceramic panels to colour-matched glazed floor tiles. If you are looking for a truly distinctive commercial interior, cast aside the catalogues and give your project the blank canvas of custom tiles for commercial use. For further advice from our expert team, call 01782 512843 today or email us at info@dccustomtiles.com.