Mellow Yellow: Vibrant Visuals in Julia’s Kitchen

Knowing that we don’t really get second chances at first impressions, the owners of quirky restaurant Julia’s Kitchen took to Cairo-based design studio, Beit Nadia, to give their space in New Cairo’s Cairo Festival City Mall a buzzing look. Wanting to increase the pull of the indoors, the facelifted space is now covered in a cheerful colour known for its ability to stimulate the appetite: yellow.“We were asked to brighten up the space and use colour to add depth, especially in the indoor area as people were more compelled to site outside and we wanted to make the indoors more appealing,” Nadia Salem, Founder of Beit Nadia, tells #SceneHome

The space previously hosted the al fresco eatery Alves, which was designed by the renowned Egyptian designer Mohamed Fares. Looking to adapt it to the needs of Julia’s Kitchen, Salem applied yellow throughout the space, bringing in an air of sunshine and energy into the interior. “Grey columns were transformed with a warm shade of yellow to brighten up the space and make it seem happier, more exciting and playful,” Salem adds.

There are many elements to be considered when designing - or rather, redesigning - a restaurant to ensure that it engages with its visitors aesthetically. Furniture, lighting and the ambiance as a whole should provide an enjoyable experience from the moment they walk in, and Salem made sure that was the case.

“We added colourful elements such as B&W balls and coloured plexiglass sheets to create an Instagrammable corner marked by a two-tonne elephant-shaped chair,” she says of an approach Julia’s Kitchen found to be popular with their sister brand, Casa Talia. “It’s meant to leave a long-lasting impression,” she continues.

“The bar was cladded in gold, which we thought would be slightly too luxurious for our playful concept. So we cladded it in a soft, floral wallpaper that is embraced with warm ash wooden louvres to give off a cosy look.”

Using yellow in the design guaranteed to raise a bundle of smiles, but it wasn’t just about the colour. It was also about reusing elements, repainting others, and reupholstering some of the furniture to go along with the newly added chairs that come with B&W patterned prints.

The outdoors are shaded with plexiglass discs that leave their colourful prints on the ground and tables below them. Acting as more than just an installation, they create beautiful transmissions of colour that attract the eyes of not only restaurant visitors who would enjoy the international delights on offer, but for random passersby as well.