The way your salon looks and feels is a key part of your customers’ experience even before they walk through your door. Carefully chosen decor can do everything from building your brand’s identity to creating a calm atmosphere for your clients – so it’s important you work hard to get it right.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry – we’ve got you. Here are 5 easy salon design ideas you can try today.
1. Build around a statement piece (or two)
If you’re not sure where to start decorating and your salon space is feeling a bit lacklustre it can be tempting to just start adding cool and quirky objects left, right and centre – but without a central theme, you run the risk of looking real cluttered, real quick.
Try finding one or two statement pieces of furniture or ornaments – specific standout pieces that you really like – and start building out from there. Match the rest of your decor in style, with complementary colours, patterns or items.
For salons, a great place to start is definitely a mirror. Speaking of…
2. Use mirrors and colour to make small spaces feel bigger
A decorating tip that’s been about since ancient times, but it still holds up. When it comes to creating the illusion of roominess when your working with a bit of a tight space, mirrors are your best friend.
That’s especially true for salons, where you’ve often got several people, furniture and bits of equipment all crammed into one room – that space that can quickly become the difference between your clients feeling cramped and feeling comfortable.
Place a mirror opposite or right next to a natural light source (your windows, basically), for the best effect. Keep in mind that fewer, bigger mirrors will create a more convincing effect than lots of little ones.
When it comes to colour, sticking to a light and breezy colour palette will keep the space feeling open – shades of white, pastels and neutrals are the name of the game here.
3. Try going minimalist
Very much in fashion these days, cutting the clutter entirely can give your salon a fresh, super-clean, super-chic atmosphere that clients will love.
Keep your colours consistent, and try accessorising with a few select pieces of artwork or interesting ornaments as focus points. Earthy, natural textures like wood and stone work a treat when it comes to selecting furniture that create a calming atmosphere (just make sure your woods match when you’re making your purchases). Or, go full matrix with classy black, grey and white tonals for a chic look. When you strip things back and keep things measured, you can make almost anything look good.
Going down the minimalist route comes with one particularly big bonus for your wallet, too. The fewer the objects you’ve got on show, the more you can afford to spend on each – so you can invest in some really high quality stuff that’ll last.
4. Upgrade your window display
First impressions really do count. As the most visible aspect of your salon for foot traffic (not to mention people looking you up on Google Maps), you definitely shouldn’t neglect your window display: it’s the first thing your customers see.
It doesn’t have to be endless photos of random models or treatments, either. Use it as a place to show off your salon’s personality.
Cheerful and fun atmosphere? Put up some pictures of you and your team interacting with your favourite regulars, or experiment with an eye-catching joke (think of those coffee-shop chalkboards for inspiration). More of a sleek and chic thing going? Try a more understated but attention-grabbing display of flowers or a piece of artwork you like.
Anything that attracts interest from passers-by is a win. Other ideas could be showing off your best reviews, any awards you might have won, or special offers you’re running.
5. Match your clientele
When in doubt, follow your customers. If you cater mostly to young, urbanite women, for example, they’re likely to respond differently to your salon decor choices than if your biggest customer-base is older men.
Try to match what your clients think a salon should actually look like – and if you’re not 100% sure what that is, you can always casually ask them for their thoughts. Aside from giving you some valuable ideas, it’ll keep building up that all-important personal connection.
At Treatwell, we’re on a mission to make growing a hair & beauty business brighter for everyone. We’ll give you all the industry-leading digital tools you need to attract new clients, turn the ones you already have into loyal regulars and manage your salon smoothly – all from one, convenient place. Join the 20,000 salons across Europe growing their businesses with Treatwell.