Perfecting your salon layout – learn from the best
The way you layout your hair and beauty salon can have a hugely positive impact on the experience your customers will receive, especially for the first time.
They say first impressions are everything and that also applies to your hair salon. No customer wants to walk into a cluttered and messy salon. It immediately suggests you are not organised and if it’s messy, it might also make them wonder about the care you will take when cutting and styling their hair. After all, if you can’t keep your salon neat and tidy, do you have the attention to detail to get a hairstyle just right? You want your customers to get the best out of their experience and a great salon is just the start of that.
The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do to make your life easier, especially when it comes to keeping your salon neat and tidy, helping to create that great first impression.
Focus on interior design
There are a number of factors to consider when planning the layout of your hair and beauty salon and a lot of those factors will be dedicated by the space that you have available.
It’s important to embrace your inner interior designer when mapping out your hair salon – after all, your salon is a reflection of your own style and creativity and it’s all about the mood you are looking to create for customers when they come into your salon.
No matter whether it’s a first time customer or one of your most loyal, return customers, you want to create a space in which they can relax and feel comfortable. This can mean different things to different people, however, one thing that is universal is that clutter does not create a calm and comfortable environment.
Clutter is like a bad hair day and no one wants one of those. Keep clutter to an absolute minimum, however you choose to layout your salon, and you will immediately be taking huge strides towards creating a relaxing environment for customers.
Learn from the web
For a lot of salon owners, design is not necessarily something they have a lot of experience of. It can be quite daunting to have to plan out a salon layout without the help of a professional designer, however, there are plenty of places you can take inspiration from.
Of course, the best starting point is to go and look at other salon designs in your local area and beyond. Start to make notes of the things that you like and those that don’t really work for you.
You can also take a look at Pinterest where you will also find some stunning examples of beautiful salon layouts and whilst you might want to put your own mark on your own salon, taking inspiration from others is a great starting point.
Another good source of inspiration is your favourite websites. Websites are actually trying to achieve some very similar goals as salons and retail spaces – they want to make it as easy as possible for people to navigate through the site and they want them to feel at home and comfortable. Branding plays a big part in this, but so does layout.
Thinking about the best websites and the most popular, both here in Australia and around the world, they share a lot of common traits. They are uncluttered. They are simple to navigate. They are familiar because of their branding. All of these are excellent traits when thinking about the design and layout of your salon.
You can take inspiration from websites including Netflix, Betway and Stan – all of these sites have extremely clean layouts, with clear brand identity and simple navigation. Think how easy it is to choose your favourite film or game online.
You can also find some inspiration in this post from Buy-Rite Beauty in the US.
Hair salon ideas
The space you have to work with will dictate the type of layout you can go for, however, there are some common traits that should be considered.
Lighting
One of the most important elements of a great hair salon layout is the lighting. This is important for both the staff and customers as you need to have great lighting to have the best possible conditions for cutting and styling hair, but at the same time, you want to create a warm and welcoming environment.
Clean lines
We’ve already discussed the importance of decluttering your space and clean lines are a great way to create a decluttered space. The best salons are those that have clearly defined areas for each customer but that also allow for social interaction – remember, going to the hair salon is a social experience, not just a functional one.
Showcase the space
No matter what space you have to work with, showcase what you have got. Whether that’s a beautiful floor, high ceilings, open brick walls – everything can be integrated into your beautiful salon design and you should embrace the space you have.
Summary
Designing your hair salon layout doesn’t need to be complicated. With a little bit of research and a dash of your own creativity, you can create a beautiful space that inspires your customers and encourages more people to come in and experience it for themselves.
Set the tone of what customers can expect when they come for a haircut with you and create a beautiful, relaxing space that they look forward to coming back to time and time again.
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