How many seats the room actually holds
Almost every cafe layout argument is really an arithmetic problem: square metres, aisle widths and how many people have to pass each other with a tray. We do that arithmetic before you buy anything.
The arithmetic we use
Allow 1.1 to 1.3 m² per cover including the aisle behind the chair, and keep 900 mm clear between a table edge and the counter. Those two numbers, applied to the floor area you actually have, produce a seat count that can be built — not a number chosen to look good in a business plan.
| 30 m² room | 14–18 covers |
|---|---|
| 40 m² room | 20–24 covers |
| 60 m² room | 30–36 covers |
| 90 m² room | 44–52 covers |
| Aisle behind a chair | 600 mm minimum · 900 mm where staff pass with a tray |
| Between table edge and counter | 900 mm |
| Counter run per stool | 600 mm |
| Booth run per person | 550–600 mm |
Why the first layout usually loses four covers
The common first draft puts four-tops everywhere, because four-tops look generous on a plan. Then the aisle behind them comes out at 420 mm, and the fix is to take a row out — which is four covers, discovered after the furniture is ordered.
Two-tops along the wall and a mix of two and four in the middle of the floor almost always yields more usable seats than uniform four-tops, because the aisle can narrow where nobody needs to pass.
The four zones of a cafe floor
- Counter run. 600 mm of run per stool, 400 mm clear at each end. This is the highest revenue per square metre in the room and the first zone to get right.
- Window. Two-tops at 600 to 700 mm, chairs facing out. Narrow tables keep the walkway behind usable.
- Middle of the floor. The flexible zone: two-tops that can be pushed together for four, or four-tops where groups are the trade.
- Wall. Booth runs, in metres. The cheapest seat per cover and the one guests ask for, but it needs 1.6 m of clear floor in front.
What comes back
What comes back is a drawn plan at 1:50 with the zones marked, a seat count per zone, the models proposed for each zone, and a price for the whole room. Where a dimension in your plan looks wrong, we flag it rather than quoting around it — a 300 mm aisle is a question, not a line item.
Do you charge for a layout?
Can you work from a photograph instead of a plan?
Will the layout work if we change the counter later?
Next in the same range
Send the room dimensions
Length, width, ceiling height and where the counter runs. We send back a plan with a seat count and a price, usually in three working days.