People of all ages visit a beauty salon to relax, unwind and get a makeover. The beauty salon is where their self-care and transformation happens. But if you don’t put any effort into the ambience of your salon the same way you do with your services, you can expect some irritable and fussy clients.
Enhancing your salon’s interior to give your customers a thoroughly relaxing experience is not as challenging as it sounds. So, take some time to plan and apply these tips to create the perfect salon ambience:
Pick Great Furniture And Equipment
Upon entering your salon, the first thing customers will see is your interior and the furniture inside. Your furniture should fit your salon’s theme if you have one. For example, a minimalist theme will benefit from chairs and mirrors in simple designs in black and white. Shelves and a reception desk with polished grainy wood will fit in well in a salon with a woodsy vibe.
Decide on what kind of ambience you want to give your customers, so you can use that as your general idea when you look for furniture. Browse around for stores selling salon-specific fittings like salon chairs, wash points, and hood dryers. Or check websites like salonfurniture.co.uk for classy furnishings to give your salon a modern feel.
Don’t forget to make sure everything’s always clean and of good quality. Eagle-eyed customers will spot tears in cushions or stains on their seats if you don’t mend or wash your furniture regularly. Those tiny flaws alone can sometimes ruin the ambience for some people.
Light Up The Room
One way to control the atmosphere of your salon is through lighting. Lights shouldn’t only provide you with a clear view of everything inside, along with your customer’s hair and faces. The way you use lighting can directly affect people’s moods, so be wary of which colours you choose for your salon.
Cool lighting or lights that are blue-tinted will wash out your customer’s complexion, making them appear sickly and pale. Opt for warmer lighting that flatters any skin tone as well as adds warmth to your salon’s interior. Warm and dim lights are also perfect for spas since they promote relaxation of the mind and body, which is why many people come to salons.
Consider the quality of your bulbs, too. To ensure your colourists and your clients always get their desired hair colour when dyeing, choose bulbs with a CRI or colour rendering index of 86 or higher. The CRI is the light’s measurement and how it affects the appearance of colours. In an industry where colour matters greatly, be it for hair or makeup, the lighting you’ll use is vital. And it can also influence a client’s decision to come back to your salon in the future or not at all.
Play With The Senses
It’s not enough that you treat your customers’ sense of sight alone. Use scents and sounds to let people know they’re in the right place to de-stress.
Scents
Give your customers a genuine sensory experience by filling your salon with a mild scent that’s easy on the nose. Scents like rosemary, lavender, vanilla, and jasmine are excellent for aromatherapy. These scents may also boost productivity, which you and your staff will need to face the day. You can release these calming fragrances in several ways, such as diffusers, incense sticks, or scented candles.
Sounds
Music plays a big part in mood changes. If you want your clients to think all the stress of their lives doesn’t exist (even for an hour or two), play some soothing instrumental music. The sounds can relieve tense muscles, which helps if you offer massage services. But if your salon’s theme is bright and fun, you could curate a playlist of upbeat songs from every decade. Your customers may soon find themselves singing or humming their worries away.
Update Your Waiting Area
A salon isn’t a hotel or a resort, but you could always pretend like it is. Attend to your waiting customers by offering them complimentary drinks. Stock up on different beverages that you can provide guests. You can even match the drinks to the season, like hot cocoa during winter and fresh fruit juice during summer.
Aside from that, you can also supply reading materials like books or magazines for customers to pass the time while they wait. Why not install a TV or Wi-Fi connection so your waiting guests can keep themselves occupied for a few minutes? They won’t realize how time slipped by quickly once you call them inside for their turn.
Add Some Greenery
Plants often add a positive feeling to people who see them. Even artificial plants can amplify the mood of a room, so it’ll do the same for the ambience of your salon.
Set up a vertical artificial garden to add more life to a bare wall. Since they’re not actual plants, they’ll survive the dyes, chemicals, and hot steam common in most hair salons. These types of greenery also work best in smaller salons because they don’t need too much floor space.
You could complement the green leaves with bright colours, too. Pink and red flowers will look beautiful in a salon that caters mainly to women. But it also wouldn’t hurt to add some floral decorations in your salon, even if you serve anyone of any gender.
Make Customers Look And Feel Great
Anything you add to your salon can make a world of difference to your customers coming in to unwind or get a basic trim. Sometimes, the interior elements that many people tend to ignore are the ones that improve the ambience of a room. Let present and future clients know that your excellent service can not only be experienced but also seen and felt the second they walk inside your salon.