Decorating Ideas for an Italian Bistro

Italian bistros enjoy a reputation of being warm, inviting places where people eat tasty meals in good company. Fortunately, decorating an Italian bistro is simple. Foodstuffs, wine and other items used in the day to day running of the bistro also create not only functional, but lovely decorating elements. The manner in which you put them together gives them their unique look.

Bacchus Fountain

Bacchus---known in Italy as Liber---happens to be the god of wine. No self-respecting Italian bistro can do without wine, or the god who protects it. Place a Bacchus fountain in the light-filled entryway of your bistro. It functions as an attention grabber and brings a touch of mischief to the space. Additionally, a stone Bacchus fountain blends well with the tile that typically adorns the walls and floors of Italian bistros.

Wine Wall

Wine and Italy might as well be visual synonyms. Indeed, it is difficult to think of Italy without picturing rolling hills adorned with grape orchards. A wine wall in an Italian bistro displays the house wines much the way a wine rack does---only on a much larger scale. The wine wall shows not only the house selection of wines, but also the lovely labels affixed to wine bottles. You can further decorate a wine wall with wines of silk grape leaves, red linen napkins (to drape around the bottles) and fancy wine glasses. These items add a functional and decorative element that doesn't look out of place in the bistro.

Pasta as a Decorative Element

Pasta isn't just for smothering with sauce in an Italian bistro. You can enhance your Italian theme by filling fancy jars of different sizes with pastas of colorful curls, corkscrews, shells and elbow shapes. Add additional decorative elements by arranging bottles of gourmet vinegars and oils to the display.

Tiled Walls and Floors

Tile walls and floors hearken back to the days of the Renaissance and before in Italy, so they are a common feature in Italian bistros and restaurants. When looking to add tiles to your decorative scheme, look for tiles constructed from terra cotta or clay. They give the bistros both a solid and old look. To bring a bit of variety, select slightly misshapen tiles, tiles that feature little tiny pastoral scenes or ones that are slightly off color.

Tuscan Mural

Murals with a flavor of Tuscany painted on slightly crumbling old walls enjoy popularity among Italian restaurants. You can design them to fit walls of just about any size, and like the Italian tiles, it's perfectly OK for a muraled wall to feature a few blemishes. A bit of old brick peaking through a mural featuring the green, rolling hills of Italy fit perfectly into your Italian theme.