If your clients are craving more comfort, ritual and that slow-luxury feeling of lingering in a favourite local café, you’re going to want to lean into Café Core. It’s one of the more satisfying trends of 2025 – not flash, more soul.
Here’s how to master it, with nuance, for interiors that feel lived-in, warm and endlessly inviting.
What is Café Core?
Think of café core as the design world’s answer to hygge, but with better coffee and more character. It’s not just about recreating the visual elements of your neighbourhood coffee shop; it’s about capturing that entire feeling. You know what we’re talking about: that sense of slow ritual, community warmth and creative energy that makes people want to linger for hours over a single latte.
The trend taps into something we’re all craving right now: authentic connection and mindful living. After years of sterile minimalism and Instagram-perfect spaces, people want homes that feel lived-in, welcoming and a little bit imperfect. Café core delivers on all fronts.
The Psychology Behind the Trend
Here’s the thing that makes café core so compelling for your clients: it’s rooted in nostalgia and ritual. Coffee shops have always been third spaces – not home, not work, but somewhere in between where creativity flows and connections happen. When you bring these elements into residential design, you’re essentially giving your clients a daily dose of that magic.
From a business perspective, this trend is gold. It allows you to mix high and low, vintage and new, creating spaces that feel curated over time rather than designed in a day. Plus, it permits you to embrace imperfection, something that can actually make our jobs easier and more enjoyable.
Key Elements to Master
1. Lighting
Forget those harsh overhead fixtures. Café core is all about layered, warm lighting that makes everyone look good and feel relaxed. Think pendant lights over kitchen islands, table lamps scattered throughout living spaces, and yes, string lights aren’t just for college dorms anymore.
Pro tip: Mix your light sources and temperatures. A combination of warm Edison bulbs, soft LED strips, and the occasional candle creates that coveted “golden hour” feeling all day long.
2. Seating that invites lingering
This is where you can really flex your space-planning skills. Create multiple seating vignettes rather than one formal conversation area. A reading armchair by the window, a small bistro table for two, maybe a cushioned pouf with built-in storage. The goal is to give people options for how they want to use the space.
And please, let’s make comfort a priority. Those Instagram-famous but brutally uncomfortable chairs? Save them for the guest bedroom. Café core is about furniture you actually want to spend time in.
3. The art of strategic imperfection
Here’s where café core gets interesting for us design-obsessed folks. The beauty is in the mix – vintage finds alongside contemporary pieces, books stacked just-so, plants in various stages of thriving. It should look effortlessly curated, not like everything came from the same showroom floor.
This is also where you can incorporate your clients’ existing pieces more seamlessly. That vintage armchair they inherited from grandma? Perfect. The collection of pottery they picked up on their travels? Even better.
4. Textiles with personality
Café core permits you to go wild with textiles in a way that feels intentional rather than overwhelming. Layered rugs, throw pillows in different textures, café curtains that add privacy without blocking light – it’s all fair game.
The key is choosing pieces that look like they have stories. Vintage kilim rugs, hand-knit throws and linen curtains that wrinkle beautifully. These elements add the lived-in quality that makes café core so appealing.
Practical Implementation for Different Spaces
Small Spaces: Maximum Impact
Working with a studio apartment? No problem. Create a dedicated coffee station (even if it’s just a corner of the kitchen counter) and use a room divider or tall bookshelf to create the feeling of separate zones. A small bistro table can serve as a workspace and a dining area.
Open Floor Plans: Zone Like a Pro
Use café core principles to define different areas within larger spaces. A cosy reading nook here, a coffee bar there, maybe a communal work table in between. It’s all about creating intimate moments within the larger space.
Traditional Homes: Blend Old and New
Café core actually works beautifully with traditional architecture. Use the existing character – exposed beams, built-in shelving, architectural details – as your foundation, then layer in the softer, more casual elements.
Making It Work for Your Clients
The beauty of café core is its flexibility. It works for the young professional who wants their apartment to feel like their favourite study spot, the family who wants a more relaxed approach to entertaining and even the empty nesters looking to make their home feel more inviting.
When presenting this concept to clients, focus on the lifestyle benefits: spaces that encourage slowing down, connecting with others and finding joy in simple daily rituals. It’s an easier sell than you might think.
Sourcing and Shopping Strategy
This is where your vendor relationships really pay off. Hunt for vintage and antique pieces at estate sales and markets. Build relationships with local artisans who make ceramics, textiles and small furniture pieces. And don’t overlook thrift stores – some of the best café core finds come from unexpected places.
For budget-conscious clients, this trend is actually pretty accessible. Mix a few investment pieces (quality seating, good lighting) with affordable finds and DIY projects. The imperfect, collected-over-time aesthetic means you don’t have to blow the budget on matching sets.
So, the next time a client shows you a photo of their favourite coffee shop and asks if you can recreate “this feeling” in their home, you’ll know exactly what to do. Pour yourself a good cup of coffee, pull out your sketchbook and start brewing up some magic.
Ready to dive deeper into café core? Start by visiting your own favourite coffee shops with fresh eyes. What makes them feel special? How can you translate those elements into residential design? Trust us, the research part of this trend is definitely the most fun!
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