Beauty and hair salons aren’t dissimilar to medical fitouts in many ways.
How?
Well, beauty and hair specialists need exceptional and unobstructed visibility to assess their client’s skin and hair to make assessments, provide advice and carry out treatments accurately.
This means treatment chairs and procedure rooms need to remain minimal, with clear access for professionals to move freely, with accessible storage, good lighting and ample mirrors.
Access and mobility
Keep the layout of your fitout ordered and uncluttered.
Ensure treatment areas are minimal so that professionals can freely move around the treatment chair or bed at 360 degrees.
Keep shelving and storage far enough away from treatment chairs and beds for mobility, but close enough so that professionals can access tools and implements as needed.
We suggest considering vertical storage with key everyday use items at an accessible level and infrequently used items up high.
At the entry to your fitout, allow for a serene waiting area, and separate this space from the working space just as you would in an office.
Consider framing for screening (which can double as product display) or semi transparent panelling.
This clearly defines your fitout which means clients know where to move within the space and professional’s movement isn’t disrupted.
Lighting
Lighting is critical in salons.
Bright light for professional assessment, and dim light for mood and ambience.
Avoid using the same level of light over the entire fitout, instead create light and shade to add style and personality to your space.
Natural light is often preferred, however this is of course not always a possibility, particularly for salons in shopping centres or those containing private treatment rooms.
So how do you know what levels of lighting to use for various purposes? Here’s some helpful hints:
a) Colour Rendering and Temperature: There’s a rating called CRI which means Colour Rendering Index.
Use a light fitting with a CRI up near the 90 mark to make colours look lively. Generally a 3000K (warm white) colour temperature should be used.
That will create light which is calming and soft and isn’t overly bright and glaring.
b) Angled and Dimmable Lighting: As we mentioned above, lighting needs can change throughout your fitout – dim in some areas and bright in others. Angled lighting is therefore a great option. Being able to angle and re-position light fittings allows you to focus light where you need it most. Track lighting provides this well, it allows the light source to be turned in different directions as well as being moved along the track. Similarly, dimmable fittings give professionals control in managing lighting levels. It’s all about flexibility here, keep options open for professionals to turn up or down lighting in as needed.
Mirrors
Mirrors are both practical and aesthetically appealing in both hair and beauty salons.
They are particularly useful if your salon is lacking in natural light, as they allow light to bounce around the room as much as possible.
Try a single large panel of mirror running across a number of work stations, rather than individual mirrors per station, which break up the wall rather than lengthening it.
We suggest incorporating large panels of mirror where possible, to make the room look larger and to bounce light around the space.
Frameless mirrors are contemporary and maximise on wall space.
Framed mirrors that reflect your salon’s design can add style and texture in a simple way. It’s surprising how effective mirrors can be.
