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If you’re thinking of opening a new salon or revamping your current one, you’ll need to consider the various design elements that bring your concept to life. You’ll of course want a space that is aesthetically pleasing, but you’ll also need to consider functionality for you and your staff and the comfort of your clients so they’re more likely to return.
Your design will all come down to the type of salon you operate. The look and feel will need to be right for your salon concept and aligned with your branding. A considered layout will allow customers and staff to flow through easily while providing clients with a service that feels private and comfortable.
Of course, it’s important to achieve it on time and within budget. First, you’ll need to take stock of what you can afford. If you’re already an established business, you may be eligible for Square Loans, which could help cover the funding you might need for your new fitout.
Some changes are simple and inexpensive, while others require more planning, investment and perhaps support from design professionals. Below, we’ll cover the main concepts you’ll need to think about when considering your new beauty salon design, and we’ll give you 11 inspiring interior design ideas to get you started.
Thing to consider before you design
Layout
Depending on the type of salon you own, you will have a few essential areas you’ll need to think about when preparing your design.
If you’re lucky enough to have a ground floor location on a busy street, your display window is a great way to advertise to passers-by. You can make the most of your window by framing the action inside and choosing decor that suits your theme or concept.
Your welcome area, reception desk and retail space are your next opportunities to create an impression beyond your window. You should think about the interaction between your point of sale (POS) and your retail display, and ensure products feel accessible so clients can browse them freely. You might also consider whether a digital screen or signage behind the reception desk accentuates your branding and promotes product sales. No matter your salon concept or style, Square’s sleek, modern hardware can enhance the aesthetic of your welcome area.
Many salons have waiting areas, and some have more than one. Yours might be combined with your welcome area, or if you own a hair salon, you might have a space in which clients can wait for colour to develop. Regardless of your salon concept and style, waiting areas are ideally comfortable and relaxing, and might even include an espresso machine or tea station. A well-decorated waiting area can also double as a prime selfie location, encouraging clients to promote your work post-makeover, when they’re looking their best.
Chairs and workstations are the heart of the salon, and the layout for these will vary according to salon type. But you should always aim to consider your clients’ comfort, your employees’ comfort and needs, the positioning of water outlets and the architectural ‘givens’ of your space. Are you working with products that stain? Choose dark furniture and consider how it will match the whole interior. You might even choose to have a different style at each workstation that complements your overall brand. At Sydney’s Kawada Hair Studio, each staff member’s workstation is reflective of their personality, giving them ownership of the space in which they work most.
In a hair salon’s wet or wash areas, your clients might feel slightly vulnerable but should also feel completely relaxed. These spaces should offer privacy and will need easy access to water outlets.
If your salon offers more intimate services, then you’ll likely want to ensure privacy with separate rooms. But massage, spa, waxing or tanning rooms should still be in keeping with your overall concept and decor.
While often an afterthought, when bathrooms are done well, they can be a secluded extension of your salon and concept. Think mirrors, decoration (like printed wallpaper), art and posters. You should also consider installing flattering lighting. After all, a good bathroom is the perfect place for a selfie!
Different layouts suit different salon purposes
You might have an open salon design or a multi-room salon. Each has different requirements. Open salon designs are common for hair, nail and other salon types, but you’ll also need to consider how to define different spaces and functions without interior walls. You might try coloured walls, tiered levels to separate your welcome and waiting areas from workstations, or different types and levels of lighting for different spaces and functions. The way you utilise your space will also shape the layout. In narrow spaces, you may have workstations running down only one side of your salon, while in wider spaces, you could add a double-sided row of workstations down the middle as well as stations along both outer walls.
Multi-room salons are most common for those businesses providing services that need more privacy. Waxing, tanning or massage salons will need to consider the space requirements not only for the welcome and waiting areas but also for each individual room.
The importance of good lighting
Depending on your salon type and its street position, natural daylight is a great way to brighten a space and give it a more expansive feeling. Make the most of available daylight in welcome and waiting areas while also considering your clients’ privacy.
Lighting is a great way to create atmosphere, but it should also be functional. Even with natural light, you’ll probably also need general, task and accent lighting. You might hang task lights above each section in your salon and add wall-mounted secondary feature lighting for ambience.
Practically, your staff need to be able to see what they’re working on. But lower, warm lighting might be more flattering to your clients. Find the best balance for your space.
Special consideration could be given to lighting in parts of the salon where clients are encouraged to take selfies or create social media content. They’ll want to look good, and it may form the first impression of your salon for potential clients who encounter your brand on social media. Think in-mirror lighting if you’re a hair or makeup salon. Or perhaps you’ll create a dedicated space with a mixture of natural and artificial light.
Space, decor and atmosphere
For smaller salons, perceived versus actual space will be one of your challenges. You can create the illusion of space using mirrors – if you have room for a floor-to-ceiling mirror, it can transform your whole salon.
Installing hidden storage solutions will also help with the perception of the size of your space, not to mention cleanliness and functionality. You might consider behind-mirror storage, or sleek cabinetry below or above your workstations.
Aside from those practical considerations, you should also consider decor and atmosphere. We’ve already discussed the benefits of atmospheric lighting, but you should also consider decorations, plants and acoustics. Even minimalist salons need to provide something for clients to admire or rest their eyes on. Neon text, murals, artistic prints or original art from local creators are all imaginative ways of transforming your salon, and can give you the opportunity to further promote and solidify your brand.
Plants are another element that can transform your salon. When they’re properly cared for, indoor plants add colour, improve air quality, soften and divide spaces, and help soak up noise.
Which brings us to acoustics. The health and personal care industry is built on personal relationships, so it’s important you and your clients can hear each other. You might consider soft panels or curtains on the wall, or rugs on hard surfaces in areas where they won’t get too dirty. Honeycomb partitions and other soft furnishings can soak up extra volume as well as break up a room into smaller spaces.
You’ll also need to consider how you’ll integrate your hardware with your interior design. Square’s clean aesthetics will mean you can be proud of your Square Point of Sale without worrying about clunky, ugly hardware.
Consider hiring an expert
As a salon owner, you’ve already got a lot to think about. And while some owners will have a knack for architecture and interior design, handling these yourself can take up time and energy beyond the creative and business skills you’re already focused on.
Though it can be expensive to hire a salon designer, having a professional on hand might save you money in the long run. Getting things like the placement of plumbing and electrical outlets wrong can be costly errors that a professional will help you avoid.
An experienced salon fit-out designer can advise on all elements of your interior design, including cabinetry and furniture, layout, lighting, plumbing and electrical, flooring and project management. You might find that with a professional on your side, you’re able to complete the project on time, with fewer errors, while potentially incorporating ideas you may have never thought of yourself.
11 salon interior design ideas
Choosing the right style for your business all comes down to your salon concept, your personal style, your clients’ likely preferences and your budget. Some salon makeovers will be simple and low-cost, while others will require a greater investment and take more time. Let’s take a look at the components of some different salon styles.
1. Loft/industrial
This space’s historic use is often celebrated in raw, rough finishes – think brick walls, exposed industrial ceiling beams and ventilation ducts, with large windows looking onto city streets. The often wide, spacious layouts of these salons give a warehouse feel. Many salons that adopt this style might be housed in historic buildings. Kenneth Geoffrey’s in Melbourne, for example, opened in a space that used to be a pharmacy. The barber shop owner has incorporated exposed pipes, natural finishes and green tiling that would suit an old London underground station.
2. Minimalist
Minimalist spaces are simple at first glance, but to make them work requires vision and careful planning. They typically feature light-coloured walls, plenty of light and few decorative elements. Minimalist designs work well in open formats but can be used in salons with large or small footprints. The clean lines featured in minimalist designs draw more attention to your work and are complemented by Square’s sleek hardware.
3. Opulent luxury
Gilded furniture, ornate chandeliers and gold-framed mirrors are a feature of this style – think the Palace of Versailles. The aim is luxuriously rich colouring in your paint and wallpaper, textural or velvet curtains, and warm, atmospheric lighting.
4. Art nouveau
The art nouveau style is characterised by flowing, curvilinear lines, indoor plants and botanical motifs. Like an opulent luxury design, it incorporates intricate ornamentation, but tends to include more decorative patterning and feature more pastels and colours inspired by nature. Cosmetic Injectables By Christine in Canberra features white walls and pastel pinks throughout – even in team members’ clothing!
5. 80s excess
A fun rebellion against the enduring minimalist salon aesthetic, this style might feature chrome mirrors, glass bricks, and glass or marble surfaces. Think Miami Vice, Scarface or Basic Instinct. If you’re a fan of tiger motifs and shag rugs, this is the salon style for you!
6. Contemporary glam
This style features a cleaner, more minimalist version of the opulent luxury aesthetic. Think metallic detailing with gold, brass, silver or rose gold, with luxurious textiles like velvet and suede. Like art nouveau designs, contemporary glam often features curvilinear details and utilises pastel colour palettes. You can also expect to see backlit details such as mirrors or alcoves. This style is designed to achieve an effect of wealth, softness and elegance.
7. Modern pop
With its bold colours and use of Perspex, fluorescent and neon accents, modern pop is a contemporary update on 1960s pop art aesthetics. Boxy or modular architectural features offer creative ways to divide your space. For an example of modern pop, look no further than hair salon The BLOW.
8. Modern chic
Modern chic is a contemporary take on interior design that steers between austere minimalism and the more ostentatious elements of contemporary glam. The features of this style are many and varied, but may include marble benchtops, curves and arches, dark timber finishes, contrasting colour palettes, floral displays and indoor plants.
9. Wabi-sabi-inspired Zen garden
The Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which emphasises simplicity, natural materials and the beauty of imperfection, might be the perfect fit for certain salons, especially those keen to promote the restful qualities of a day spa or massage studio. A Zen garden is a great way to express this philosophy. It includes neutrals, muted colours and natural materials like wood, stone and clay, and often embraces imperfections such as cracks and chips. Alongside handcrafted objects like carved stone lanterns and hand rakes, Zen gardens may also include bonsai trees, rocks, raked gravel or water features.
10. Natural oasis/biophilic design
More jungle than Zen garden, this style celebrates the healing power of living greenery. To achieve this, your salon would take advantage of plentiful natural light to support plant installations like living moss walls, hanging ceiling gardens or courtyard gardens. In a darker space, you could incorporate grow lamps as a conspicuous feature of your biophilic design. In either scenario, abundant indoor plants are used to create a calming atmosphere alongside water features like pools, fountains or aquariums. Earthy colour palettes and natural wood accents or organic stone textures will help your clients feel connected to nature.
11. Retro, vintage or shabby chic
This is a great style for those on a budget, as pre-loved furniture, shelving, mirrors and other furniture will fit right in. Salon owners can source their requirements from opp shops, auctions and second-hand stores. These salons might feature vintage vinyl salon chairs, retro sofas and side tables in waiting areas, and perhaps a statement counter in the reception to set the mood. This design style might include mismatched timber shelves, lampshades and mirrors, gaudy framed prints or paintings, and potted ferns and other indoor plants. Depending on which era you’re channelling, warm colour palettes straight from the 1950s, 60s or 70s will often feature. Beef’s Barbers takes a masculine spin on the retro style, with large vintage salon chairs, brick walls and a retro beer fridge for that complimentary beverage.
While your in-salon decor and experience are vital, and while there are many design styles you can draw inspiration from, the customer journey starts before a client even enters the door. Their booking experience is therefore just as important.
Whatever salon design you decide on, you’ll need a strong, flexible scheduling system for your business and a simple booking tool for your clients. Square Appointments lets your customers find and book your services online any time of day, any day of the week, with an easy-to-use website that reflects your style.
Square Appointments also lets salon owners easily build an online booking site that matches the design and concept of their physical location, so you can apply your brand to all customer touchpoints, from your Square-designed website to your email communications to your newly-designed salon.
