Sometimes it’s hard to think about marketing and church at the same time. In the past, everyone went to church because of family or tradition, often choosing the local church down the street.
But that’s not always the case anymore. Nowadays, churches have to think about marketing, because so many people today are used to “shopping” for exactly what they want—for church as well as everything else.
So if you want to bring people into your church building, you’ve got to make sure its design is appealing. You’ve also got to make sure your interior design concept speaks to your guests, so they’ll come back to learn more about what your church has to offer. This is why we believe interior design inspiration is a critical component of any church building or remodeling project.
Connecting Your Church Design with Your Church Vision
We’ve mentioned before some of the basic steps any church needs to take when approaching interior design. You need a good design team, typically composed of three to five people who work together well and are willing to put your church vision ahead of their personal likes and dislikes when it comes to interior design.
That team also needs to understand your church vision, and the project that has brought them together in the first place. Part of that vision will involve the budget for the project. While your team can “think big,” it also needs to understand when it’s time to phase in a project, tackling the most critical and visible areas first, and perhaps leaving finishing touches for future fundraising.
Team Up with Technology
Long before it’s time to paint the walls or install the floors, your interior design team should be meeting, talking, and brainstorming about the fundamentals. And what matters most is this: Who are you trying to reach?
Use marketing techniques to create “ideal customer” templates of the guests you want to see walking into church on Sunday morning. Then go where they go, shop where they shop, eat where they eat.
Not only do you want to go where they go, you want to capture what they see as they’re eating or shopping or hanging out. You can easily do this by employing that most popular of technological advances: the smartphone.
Use your phone to snap pictures of the places you go, the things you see, the décor of the shops and restaurants and theaters you investigate. Once your field trips are over, gather your team and brainstorm over what you saw, what you liked, and what colors, patterns, and images will create a familiar-feeling, welcoming space for your guests.
Think on a Commercial Level about Your Church Building
Like those places you visited and captured on camera, you need to think on a commercial level when it comes to furnishing your church building. There are two reasons for this:
– Since the building is considered commercial in terms of fire codes and warranties, many residential interior design elements will not pass muster.
– You need your interior design elements to be durable. Like a commercial building, most church buildings get a lot more foot traffic than an average home, so your furnishings have to be up to the task.
This means you definitely need commercial-grade flooring; high-quality paint, wall fixtures, and window treatments; and chairs and tables that can handle being pushed around.
You also want to think about the maintenance necessary for all these church design elements. If you try to save money by installing cheaper flooring, but then have to pay your staff to reseal your floors every single month, chances are you’ll actually spend more money in the long run.
Team Up with Professionals
If you’re thinking that there’s a lot more to interior church design inspiration than just the inspiration, you’re right. This is why we also recommend that your church design group teams up with professionals (such as The McKnight Group). Expert designers can point you in the right direction to find durable, good-quality finishes and furnishings that will appeal to your ideal guests, stand the test of time, and look beautiful in the process.
For even more church design and building inspiration, visit our website today and sign up for our free i3 webinars. And to learn more about church interior design inspirations, contact us today and speak with Jennifer Snider, our interior design expert.