Inside

In the past year, standards of design have been raised several notches in the nation's restaurants. We have seen the hyped-to-high-heavens launches in London of Quaglino's and Planet Hollywood; the hot, Hispanic colourings of Albero and Grana in Chelsea; the cool, modern transformation of staid city favourite Chez Gerard, and, around the country, the opening of high-style bars and restaurants.

Inventiveness has come to the fore. In Edinburgh Lorna Pellet created her Patisserie Florentin on the tiniest budget. The three-room café features DIY store doors as tables, nailed to the window frames and covered in colourful oilcloths. And to render one vast, high-ceilinged room cosier, an artistic member of staff painted polka dots and sunflowers on to the middle sections of the huge windows - stained windows at a fraction of the usual cost.

Mediterranean colours enriched the exclusive Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons - also on a low budget. Designer Michael Priest stained wood panelling with a warm ochre, cheated on a floor tiling effect with a chequered carpet and introduced big floral arrangements plus jars of preserve for atmosphere and colour.

Bolder strokes have been much in evidence, particularly in accessorising. To create a 1950s diner in Bristol, David Young imported a genuine bright-red Thunderbird car into his West Coast Diner. Pale-blue and yellow vinyl seating and a Wurlitzer add to the authenticity.

The most successful low-budget designs this year have been all about taking a theme and expanding it. At the Atrium, in Edinburgh, chef/owner Andrew Radford took as his inspiration a mediaeval goblet-shaped glass lantern and improvised on the theme. He introduced pale canvas-shrouded chairs, a curved sail sheet to cover the air-conditioning pipes on the ceiling, and a curved wall that glows amber in the lantern light.

In Bath, Clos du Roy owners Emma and Philip Roy started with an art deco striped pattern on the chosen flatware, and followed on with Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired chairs, and a 1920s jazz motif along the walls to complement the black grand piano.

Perhaps the most important point about planning a design is to find a theme or motif and relate everything else within the room or rooms to it.

Balance is another important ingredient. Many successful small-budget refurbishments work purely through clever allocation of resources. One or two big features can heighten the look and the atmosphere. At Patisserie Florentin, Pellet spent almost nothing on the walls and furnishings, but splashed out on a 12-foot verdigris rendering of the Eiffel Tower. In Glasgow's The Lounge, a trendy Miami-inspired voodoo bar, designers Graven Images painted the walls in strong colours and made tables from recycled wood. But the finishing touch is the assortment of large animal skulls that owner Colin Barr found at an auction.

In terms of finishes, this year saw an increase in clever wallpapers and paints which emulate special paint effects that would normally require the skills of a specialist painter - at no small cost.

But there were also some mixed results, such as London's fabulously restored Criterion Brasserie, where a paper-based product used to finish the table surfaces has resulted in peeling and chipping. Elsewhere comfort was sometimes sacrificed in the pursuit of artiness in restaurant chairs. Remember, the restaurant guest wants to have the table level with his or her elbows when seated.

Another age-old lesson, evidenced in this year's most successful budget interiors, is the value of shopping around. When designer Jinanne Abou-Seoud was refurbishing The Halcyon restaurant in West London, she was told she would never get chairs made for under £200 apiece. After doing some homework, she found just the chairs she wanted for £140.

Recycling is more popular than ever. Andrew Radford of the Atrium had his tables made for a song, out of old railway sleepers. Shillibeer's brasserie in north London features a large, horseshoe-shaped bar, salvaged from an abandoned bar at Ascot. Jose Antonio Garcia, the Spanish designer of Albero and Grana, couldn't afford to refloor the restaurant, so he painted black and white squares on the existing floor to get the effect he wanted. He also incorporated into the scheme glass-topped tables, left behind by the previous site owners, by spraying them with a smattering of gold paint.

Research, reclaim and recycle - this is the 1990s way to design and save money. o