Salon Furniture
DirGroup Salon Furniture & Design Articles
Kitting out a nail bar: your salon furniture checklist
Sep 10th
If you are new to the industry or are starting afresh with a brand new salon or spa, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to designing the look of the space. For most owners kitting out a new salon, the first thing to do is order salon equipment and furniture.
Before picking up a paintbrush or heading online to buy salon furniture, you need to sit down and make a list of everything you will need and how much it will all cost. As you are buying according to what services you plan to offer, different types of salons will need different equipment.
Dedicated nail bars and salons need more specialist equipment than hair salons offering manicures and pedicures on the side. In order to show your salon’s specialist credentials and that you are a leader in your particular market, you will need to consider adding the following items to your nail salon’s ‘must-buy’ list:
• Manicure stations
• Pedicure chairs
• Nail dryers
• Air filter/extractor
Equipment for other services
If you plan to add other treatments to your repertoire, you will need other types of salon furniture. For example:
• Tanning beds
• Facial beauty beds
• Massage chairs
Salon storage advice: how to keep everything in its place
Sep 9th
One of the biggest turn-offs for new clients entering your salon for the first time is clutter. It makes your salon look messy, disorganised, unprofessional and can even give the impression that your salon isn’t clean.
Take a look at any of the top salons throughout the world and you will notice that they have one thing in common – clean, uncluttered spaces. But how is this achieved? Where are all the essential tools, lotions and potions needed to run a salon kept?
The answer is efficient storage space. If you have enough storage space, and salon furniture with cleverly designed storage features, your carefully planned décor will be able to shine through and impress clients.
Storage solutions and tips
• Storage trolleys – The most essential storage solution for any salon, there are a wide variety of trolleys available, with different shelves, wheels and flexible features.
• Reception desk – If anything in your salon needs to be organised and uncluttered, it’s the reception desk. Without a proper place for everything, the smooth running or your salon could be damaged along with its appearance.
• Coat racks for client coats and bags, and a staff area for employees’ personal effects
• Proper bins for different types of waste
• Decorative baskets for magazines and brochures.
Salon design inspiration: Jordan Burr in Norfolk
Sep 9th
It can be difficult to expand a successful salon brand to a new salon in a completely different area. The clientele of the salon may be radically different, as will the treatments and services clients’ demand, so you may need to rethink the décor.
One salon which successfully made the transition from bustling city to countryside is Jordan Burr, a business which now has salons in both London and Norfolk.
But how did owners Jo Jordan and Glen Burr manage to adapt and change their brand to fit with a more relaxed country style? The answer is country couture, as Jordan explains:
“Originally, we put some really inspirational mood boards together. Early on we were channelling a Vivienne Westwood meets Lord Nelson look with plenty of individual, bespoke touches. We also knew we wanted to bring a little London sparkle to the salon.
“We were conscious of not being too ostentatious, so although we wanted to incorporate contemporary features, we tended to let the layout and age of the building steer us.
“It’s with the salon’s fixtures and fittings – for example, our massage chairs – that we’ve let the high tech aspect come through. Elsewhere, we wanted to achieve a balance of practicality, comfort and luxury.”
How to make your salon feel warm and welcoming
Sep 8th
One of the main reasons clients will book in for a repeat appointment after visiting your salon is the ambience. You need to offer each and every client personal service, and make them feel welcome and at home. In fact, some of the most successful salons are places where customers like to ‘hang out’ as well as get their hair cut or receive a beauty treatment.
But how do you create such a warm and welcoming atmosphere? Décor plays a large role in the mood or ‘feel’ of your salon, but it is important to find a balance between chic, minimalist style and a comfortable, cosy look.
Here are some tips:
• Lighting – the right lighting scheme can make or break a design scheme. Save the brightest fluorescent lights for directly above salon chairs (so that stylists can properly assess colour) and layer many different, softer types of lighting throughout the salon.
• Make full use of natural light – this instantly warms up spacious salons or spaces with paler colour schemes
• Comfortable salon furniture – Clients use all their senses when gauging the atmosphere of your salon, so invest in comfortable salon chairs and waiting benches.
• Natural touches – fresh flowers and natural materials such as wood (floors, furniture etc.) will help to break down any sense of artificiality your modern equipment may have created.
The importance of staff break rooms
Sep 7th
When designing the layout and planning the décor for a new salon, many owners forget about aspects such as staff break rooms. This is a big mistake, as the absence of this kind of dedicated space can have a detrimental impact on your salon’s reputation.
Your salon needs to convey a sense of efficiency and professionalism to clients; more importantly, you need to let customers know that you care about maintaining a quality service. You can do this through attention to detail – fresh flowers in the salon, regularly updated magazines, excellent hygiene standards for salon equipment– but the effect these measures have on clients can be ruined if your staff are not behaving professionally.
This is where staff break rooms come in. Without even the smallest amount of space to store personal effects whilst at work, your salon could soon become cluttered with your stylist’s coats, bags and knick-knacks.
More importantly, without a staff room in which to eat and drink at break and lunch times, your staff will inevitably end up eating on the job or in full view of clients. This is unprofessional, unhygienic and extremely off-putting to clients.
Let standards slip like this and your salon’s reputation will go rapidly downhill. You only need a small space with a couple of chairs, a table and some lockers, and your staff will be able to do their jobs to a professional standard and enjoy their breaks properly.
How to give your clients the space and privacy they need
Sep 7th
It may be more space and cost-efficient to cram in as many styling stations, salon chairs and beauty beds into your salon as possible, but this does nothing for the customer experience.
Many successful salon owners have found that along with comfort and personal service, privacy is one of the main motivators for clients booking a return visit. Clients need their own space, even if only a small amount or a ‘sense’ of personal space.
Tips and advice
• Forget about beauty bars. Although fashionable in fast-paced nail bars where teens and hen parties are the principal clientele – are not the future for salons and spas. Cramming clients in together for manicures and pedicures is uncomfortable and impersonal, so give them the luxury of being treated at a separate station.
• Don’t place salon chairs right in front of big feature windows facing the street. After all, what client wants the world to see them when they are mid-treatment, with foils, rollers or wet hair? The ideal setup is for salon chairs to be side-on to the window or even better, for the waiting area to obscure the street view of styling stations.
• Use partition walls to create privacy
• Place styling stations back to back. This allows you to fit more stations in, but the mirror separates clients and ensures their privacy.
How to use salon colour schemes to define your brand
Sep 6th
In any customer-serving business, creating a memorable brand with a good reputation is very important. It doesn’t matter whether you run one individual salon or a whole chain of businesses; you need to find ways of cementing your brand in the minds of your clientele.
One very effective way of doing this is b.ten in Swansea city centre, a multi-level salon with an instantly recognisable colour scheme. Owners Jamie Hill and Simon George saw the previously unoccupied spacious premises as bursting with opportunity; their vision being to turn it into a retreat for clients wanting to escape the hustle and bustle right outside the salon’s doors.
Although each part of the spacious salon is carefully designed, and the decor varies slightly, the brand-associated soft lime green colour pervades the whole salon and underpins the whole theme. The colour is soft, glowing and energising rather than being too dominant, especially as it is perfectly complemented with soft, ambient lighting.
As well as creating a fresh, invigorating vibe for clients to relax in, the colour scheme strengthens both the salon’s identity and the brand, as it also features on the exterior sign of the salon.
Salon furniture: the key to modern, minimalist style
Sep 6th
What is the first thing clients notice when they walk into your salon? The reception desk will make the first impression, whilst your salon chairs and styling stations will dominate the rest of the space.
For salons with modern, minimalist decor, the furniture must perfectly fit with the sleek and simple style of the rest of the space. It’s no use having a high-concept, super-chic design scheme if you put comfortable yet battered chairs into the equation. Nor is it good to go for modern but cheap salon stools; this generic look will make your salon forgettable.
To match your salon furniture with your cutting-edge design scheme, follow these tips:
• The key concepts behind modern, minimalist decor are straight, clean lines, uncluttered spaces and high-gloss surfaces.
• Colour schemes can either be neutral, or sharply contrasting. For example, black and white, or a neutral coloured space with a striking splash of colour.
• All furniture should be simple and unfussy in design, but never forget about comfort when choosing salon chairs
• Remember: if your salon decor is cutting-edge, clients will be expecting your salon equipment to be advanced too.
Men’s salons: moving on from the basic barber shop
Sep 5th
The amount of care, attention and cash spent on designing men’s salons is often far less than women’s hair and beauty salons. In the past, this was because there wasn’t really a demand for specialist male grooming salons.
Nowadays, an increasing number of men are demanding salons dedicated to male hair styling and grooming. Visiting a female hair salon can be uncomfortable for men; the space is often too busy, feminine and fussy. Male salon designs needs to be strong and simple, designed for purpose and able to meet the needs of the modern man.
One salon, Chop in the South of England, is capitalising on the increased demand for male grooming services. Owner John McMahon has developed the salon into four forward-thinking branches, the latest being in Street in Somerset. He says:
“While working in hairdressing salons across London and the south of England I saw there was definitely a demand for a modern barber’s salon that could accommodate all fashion cuts and high quality traditional cuts for men,”
Each of the Chop salons is upbeat, contemporary and very male-centred, featuring everything from a small internet cafe to a skateboard shop.
Salons designed for children – a great idea or hard to pull off?
Sep 4th
Anyone who is a parent will know that getting children to the hair salon is often a difficult experience, involving much stress and screaming – on the part of both parents and children. What is ideally needed is a salon designed specifically for children.
This is a very niche market – a salon aimed solely at children’s haircuts is not really suitable for offering adult hair and beauty services as well – so you need to be brave and find exactly the right location if you want this kind of salon to be a success.
Salon owners can take inspiration from one successful children’s salon, Tantrum on King’s Road in London. Based in an affluent area, Tantrum relies on loyal, wealthy parents bringing their children to the salon on a regular basis.
Tantrum has a unique design scheme and ethos, resulting in a dream experience for parents and kids alike. Salon chairs are replaced by child-size toy cars and fairground ride-themed seats, and the white, red and gold colour scheme (accentuated by pretty murals and a great lighting scheme) is simple yet fun and playful.
Speaking of what they wanted for the salon, co-owner Latasha Malik said:
“We wanted Tantrum to be more than just a hairdressing salon – we wanted it to be a place where kids enjoyed hanging out and parents could have a fantastic experience too.”