Interior designer, Haz Dean highlights more than 10 ideas to help flow your salon layout & get your retail right

On deciding to open a salon, and after securing investment and budgeting, the first step is to look for appropriate premises in the right location for your client demographic. The next stage is then the most exciting…designing the salon layout and style.

The salon’s design entails considering a host of elements starting with drawing up a practical and functional layout, which maintains the right flow and ambience between the common and private areas. The design must focus on the comfort of the salon arena, its colour and styling, alongside selecting the right furniture, in order to render comfort to both therapist and customer.

The nails section of www.linnaean.co.uk – a luxury hair, beauty & lifestyle destination in London – it offers quality food, drink, hair, beauty & wellbeing in a beautiful and inviting setting from a highly experienced team of specialists. 

Every beauty salon should begin with a vision; a concept with a story. Each and every concept should then have something unique and extraordinary pertaining to it, always featuring a sense of comfort. When deliberating the interior styling, it’s important to know the number of users targeted; the number of staff who will serve, as well as customers to be serviced. A full understanding of the services provided is essential in order to plan a logical design process for the floor plan.

Linnaean https://linnaean.co.uk/beauty/nails

Whether it’s a hair studio, nail bar, beauty salon, medi spa or any other type of beauty establishment, there are common areas, which are considered essential. For some, the concept of luxury means larger areas. A welcoming, neat and wide entrance, for example, proffers a great first impression. This zone should not be congested or cluttered. To create an instant and bonded communication with the client, the reception desk should be placed in front of the main door where reception staff can warmly greet all clients on arrival. Once inside the entrance, the client must feel your salon’s vibe. In the words of Maya Angelou – ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel’.

Linnaean salon, London – Linnaean takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, whose contribution to taxonomic rank helped define our understanding of who we are, and how we fit in with the world around us.

The entrance and reception arena must then naturally flow into and include a waiting area where clients can relax, take in the salon’s vista, enjoy a refreshing drink and meet their therapist. In my experience this 10-minute excerpt in the client’s journey can make or break their decision to return, as it’s here they make their observations on the presentation, attitude, cleanliness, noise levels, odour, retail offering and general ambience – this is where they assess how they feel.

Think Wet & Dry

After moving on from the arrival and reception experience, the client moves into the beauty arena. Now, as we know, beauty services and treatments are divided into dry and wet areas and these must be designed carefully. There should never be a direct passage from wet to dry areas, instead it must flow from dry area to semi-wet then onto wet area.  Semi-wet areas should be considered if you offer an Hammam bath for example. So the manicure/pedicure section is separated from the Hamman with a locker room, which acts as the semi-wet arena between the two.

TOP Tip: Signage is a critical element in the salon when you have wet and dry areas as it aids in understanding the layout and makes sure safety is paramount.

Gielly Green, London – www.giellygreen.co.uk

Think Social & Silent

In addition to assessing the ‘wet and dry’ layout, one must also take into consideration ‘silent’ and ‘social’ sectors. Never locate a massage room next to a service and social area such as nail or hair stations, as noise travels and will disturb both client and masseur.

In rest and relaxation areas, where an individual is alone, the salon’s role is to induce an almost meditative state of tranquility. This sense of peace can be influenced with the aid of smell, sound and colour. Aromatherapy infusions, gentle spa or classical music and calming tones on the walls of blue or lilac help the room talk directly to the soul. Areas of silence and privacy should be well planned so they are located well away from noise circulation areas.

TOP Tip: Avoid using candles made of petroleum as they disrupt the quality of the air.

ion Studio NYC – https://www.instagram.com/ionstudionyc/?hl=en

Storage

Storage areas are key and necessary elements in any salon space. It’s more convenient and sensible to create several small storage areas in different places, rather than creating one single large storage room. For example: it’s unprofessional for the client to witness staff carrying a bucket of towels from one area to another. Many storage areas mean you can hide much of the behind-the-scenes functional aspects to running a salon.

TOP Tip: A nail tech should never go far to get extra tools or products. Make sure the salon has sufficient storage areas – such as mini hidden cupboards.

Rules for Retail

Beauty salons and spas are considered important outlets for product selling – they are the only places where clients purchase professional products for home use. Therefore product display stands should be stylish, prominent and placed where clients can easily access them. They are best situated in the reception and their styling should be taken very seriously. Do not over clutter under the illusion you will sell more products.

Top Tip: Make sure products are well presented in the reception arena where clients must pass on arrival, while waiting for their service and again on their departure.

N Bar – Doha – www.nbar.com

If you have any questions or are seeking advice related to the interior of your salon or spa, feel free to contact me at design@hazdean.com as I’m offering FREE design consultations to Scratch magazine readers.

N Bar – Doha, Qatar

https://www.scratchmagazine.co.uk/feature/salon-in-the-spotlight-townhouse-london/