A Painted floor is not going to last.

What college? Are you targeting the college students for your audience or are you targeting the non-student residents?

Does this bar have a theme or USP?

A painted floor won’t last a week in a bar and is certainly not easy clean up. Get vinyl plank it is cheap and works well .As for the rest stools should be rated for commercial use I would not do the corner booths just bar tables and stools that are easy to move Is the bar keeping the brown and cream stripes? I do agree you need to have some idea of what style you want and who you want to appeal to. If you are planning on opening for the start of college choose the stools now because it will take all that time to get them. The reason I ask about the clients you want is that you might want regular tables and chairs and bar tables and stools. There is a lot of planning goes into this business and you really need a pro to help finalize a plan and get to work the lighting plan alone will take time.

Quick Opening? What is your time frame?

Hire a designer ASAP. You have to meet ADA requirements for access to all areas. And fire sprinklers. And a Fire Exit with a clear path. And Emergency Exit signs. And a whole bunch of other details that are lacking. You’ve got a 200K expense ahead of you, minimum. You don’t just buy a building and call it a bar. This isn’t set up a bar in the barn to save Timmy and Lassie. Decor is the least of your concerns. Trivial in fact, compared to the behind the scenes logistics.

Is that a concrete floor? When you said paint, did you mean polished? That might hold up, but paint won't. Maybe cover the front of the bar with something, possibly corrugated metal?

Have you had it inspected for compliance and know what issues there may be prior to starting decorating?

Have you watched “Bar Rescue” on tv? You have no name, no theme, no marketing plan, no budget,and no business experience. You need professional help. There is a reason for the high failure rate of small businesses. Do you have a liquor license, a line of credit, a business license, insurance (Workman’s comp, liability,
and property)? Do you plan to serve food, do you have bartenders, cooks, waitresses lined up? Do you have vendors for your beer and liquor and have they run a credit check on you and your partners? Have you talked to the board of health for their requirements? Have you talked to the county for potential ADA problems? what are the Fire Marshall’s requirements and limitations?

Is this place in a basement? Are there only 2 windows? Why the glass block? Is there something that needs to be hidden on the other side? Is this place going to be open only at night?

I know you are looking for ideas and not all our other comments but man, what we see is someone that is doing this by the seat of their pants. Please tell us you have done all your research, have experience in running a bar, and have a realistic budget and a business plan in place but just need help on the aesthetics. Reassure us so we can get back to why you came to us.

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Maybe "cruise ship" should be your theme. I don't know any college campus where people aren't cruising, if you get my drift. You've got a long way to go here. Good luck!

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This is a established bar that closed years ago, so many things are grandfathered in and has passed inspections already. We own the bar above this as well, which has been open since 2010. We have an engineering company and architect working to build condos above as I type. The bar above will be housed in the bar below until construction is done, thus the quick opening. We don’t know if we will rent this space once the project above is complete, so we don’t want to invest too much at this point. Thanks for everyone’s input!

Thanks for clarifying for us. Do you still need help?

Any ideas would be great! This is a tough crowd - I thought it might be a good place to come for ideas from creative minds. The floor are polished ( like they put on garage floors) I guess I used the wrong term :)

The bar colors and pattern lend design to old time air strip theme. Raw corrugated metal and world war airplane photo and nostalgia.

Metal barstools. Polished floors ideal. If they were painted or epoxy or just worn in could help with the interior design theme as I briefly explained.

Yeah! That's what draws a college crowd--world war airplane photos and nostalgia. /sarc

Even when I was in college that would have been incredibly lame. And now, in my world of adult bars, I have never been in one that was decorated like that (and I certainly wouldn't a.) seek one out b.) go back to one that I'd stumbled upon).

Even if the bar's construction has been grandfathered in, I'd be unwilling to stay longer than 60 seconds in a bar with glass block windows. Change them out to standard windows that can be used in event of fire. Updates to current safety code are not a waste of money. People who were perfectly happy to spend hours in your bar at street/upper level may be unwilling to spend that time (and money) in a ground/lower level bar. A clean, well-lit area for Uber and Lyft drivers to meet their customers is a great idea.

As for decor, go see your competition in the top five bars in your neighborhood. Then visit the bars that are failing. And watch a season of Bar Rescue as suggested above if you haven't done so already because (among other things), it is really important to know how your customer base has changed in the last few years.

How about adding wallpaper that looks like vertical wood paneling across the front of the bar....unless you can afford to do it in real wood.
Looks like a great place. Good luck!

Yeah, tough crowd here. I think we all need a drink!

If you had a bar above it which if I'm understanding correctly it is going to be moved into this space temporarily, is there a reason why you aren't using the furniture from that bar, color scheme, etc into this one?

So you're building condos with a bar below them?

We will be using some of the furniture...but are planning to use the downstairs for private functions after we reopen the upstairs. We have a lot of private university functions that were we have to close the upstairs bar. Whatever we buy for downstairs will most likely stay downstairs. We have to keep the glass block per the city...this building is an old limestone building with a lot of history-so they like to make a lot of rules about what you can do with them. There are two very accessible large exits. We have been through all of this before-so we know what we are doing there. We personally make sure we dont go over capacity-EVER. Yes, we are building two floors above the top bar. It will most likely attract people who want to be close to all the activity in town and won't need a car. I do really like the industrial idea!!