15+ Ideas for Decorating Your Hair or Beauty Salon

In the aesthetics industry, everything is about appearance, and that’s no bad thing! Beauty and hair salons make us feel incredible, give us me-time many of us can’t get at home and help boost our confidence. The whole experience is positive and about giving us a feast for the eyes, so it’s only right that your salon should be as beautiful and representative of the transformation you give your customers.

But how do you go about creating that space? Fortunately, you don’t have to be prepared to hire an interior designer to create a beautiful salon your clients absolutely love spending time in. With just a few tweaks, your salon can look just as good as the results you get your customers.

Consider Your Branding

Before we jump into the ideas on how you can decorate your hair or beauty salon, think about your branding – both the way your business “feels” and your visual branding. You’ll need to keep both of these aspects in mind when you’re decorating your salon or your customers won’t get the right “vibe” from your salon.

For example, are you bright, peppy, and exciting? If so, then choosing all white, playing soothing music, and using dried pampas grass in vases to decorate won’t evoke the right feeling. For that kind of brand, you want to use bright colours, perhaps neon lighting, and brightly coloured plants in exciting and interesting pots.

So, keep in mind how you want your customers to feel when they come into your salon, and take, leave, or adapt the ideas below so they suit you. That said, let’s dive into the ideas!

15+ Ideas for Decorating Your Hair or Beauty Salon

1.     Use Artificial Plants

Plants are a staple of almost every hair and beauty salon out there because they boost our mood and help us relax. Of course, as a small business owner or manager of a salon, your time shouldn’t be spent pruning and watering plants! Artificial is the best way to go, as they offer the same soothing effects but are much easier to keep (they’re almost no work at all!) and most artificial plants nowadays look real. Here are some of the best ways to use artificial plants in your salon:

• Use artificial vines around beams and pillars – a lot of salons are in converted barns and stables, or in large open rooms that have a pillar or two supporting the floor above. These are all places that can be easily ignored, but you can make them look magical by winding artificial vines around them. You can even add fairy lights if that’s on-brand for your business.
• If you have a half wall, place plants all along the top of the wall. If it’s taller than head height, add some hanging plants to hang down over the edge of the wall.
• Use plants to divide spaces, even if it’s just a plant in a stand that divides a waiting area from the reception desk. A tall plant beside your reception area looks great but won’t interfere with the flow of space.

• Hang plants from the ceiling to make the most of vertical space. Most of what goes on in a salon is at seating level, so you can make a salon with a low ceiling feel more spacious by hanging plants from the ceiling or on the wall. An artificial moss panel is another great option

2.     Use Dividers Between Stations

Not everyone heads to the salon with their girlfriends or wants to spark up a conversation with the person next to them – some people like their privacy! So why not make your customers feel special and like they’re getting 1-on-1 attention by dividing the stations?

Here are a few ways you can do this:

• Use Curtains – using curtains between each station that is simply tied back is not only practical, but it can be intensely glamourous, too. Consider using black curtains, white curtains, or semi-sheer curtains if the lighting isn’t quite right and makes each cubical too dark.
• Artificial Plants – embracing a natural or relaxed theme for your salon? Consider using trellis or similar covered in artificial vine plants to give that illusion of privacy between each station.
• Walls – You can also use wall dividers if you like this idea enough for a permanent solution. This works well when the wall is in two heights, with the wall closest to the back wall being higher than the part that sticks out into the middle of the room. This allows employees to communicate and avoids the space from being claustrophobic, but still gives your clients privacy. You can see a great example of this here.

3.     Embrace Art-Print Wallpaper

Want to make a statement? There are thousands of different wallpaper designs that, when lined up perfectly, produce a beautiful piece of artwork. This is a fast and easy way to make your salon feel more luxurious on a budget. See a great example of this here. Make sure you choose a piece that’s on-brand for your business for the best effect. 

4.     Decorate the Client’s Table

You’ll likely provide your client with somewhere to place their things while they get their hair and nails or wait between treatments, so make that experience just as good as every other moment they spend in your salon. You can frame your Wi-Fi password with a beautiful graphic, add an artificial succulent, and a beautiful coaster or tray where they can put their drink, phone, and jewellery if it needs to be removed.

5.     Use Decorative Lighting

Lighting is one of the biggest factors in setting the mood in a space, so make sure you take advantage of your lighting opportunities. Of course, you need to be able to see what you’re doing (that’s pretty important!), but that doesn’t mean it has to look utilitarian. Here are some ideas for different types of lighting you can use: 

• Chandeliers
• Lampshades with reflective inner layer (such as gold on the inside and raspberry cloth on the outside)
• Lights positioned just behind the mirror
• Hanging industrial lighting

6.     Choose the Right Materials

The materials you use will attract different customers – if you’re serving high-end clients, you’ll want to use sleek black and white, marble or marble-look surfaces and flooring. If you’re a brand that emphasises the fact that you use eco-friendly and vegan products, then you’ll want to embrace greens, natural wood textures, and plants.

You’ll also see salons that use tiles so their salon looks bathroom-like, driftwood for a beachy feel, or even textiles – get creative! 

7.     Gallery Wall

If you’ve got bare wall space, consider featuring a gallery wall with art prints and more that give your clients something to look at while they’re waiting. Again, this art should reflect your branding. Are you all about serving the local community, or helping clients step away from their normal lives? You could feature local artists, buy art prints online, use on-brand quotes, and stock images or photos of your community and successes.

8.     Don’t Forget the Waiting Area

Your client experience starts the moment they step through the door, so don’t leave them sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs, even if it’s just for a minute or two. Think about how long your clients usually have to wait or if they ever have a friend or family member with them who needs somewhere to wait.

For example, if you serve a lot of moms with young kids, can you have a box of toys available so they can pick a few to play with while they wait? If you typically have a longer wait time, invest in beautiful plush seating, such as velvet sofas and armchairs in on-brand colours. If you’re lacking space, often one full-sized sofa gives a better feel than lots of single chairs.

9.     Mirrors Matter

The mirrors you choose don’t have to be plain, square mirrors that are simply there to do a job, they can be on-brand and elevate the style of your salon. Add an on-brand frame, choose one with an art deco design, that’s circular, or an irregular shape. Don’t be afraid to get creative. They can also help you make a small space feel bigger, so if your salon fits into that category, use big mirrors that are almost floor to ceiling and wider than the seat they’re positioned in front of.

10. Use Plant Stands Outside

If there’s space outside your salon, use a couple of plant stands with artificial plants outside the door when you’re open. It’s a good way to draw attention to your storefront and will get potential clients passing by to take note and look inside. It could be the difference between an ideal client not knowing you’re there and deciding to stop in and make an appointment.

11. Match Your Seating to the Décor

We’ve touched on waiting room seating, but you should also think about the seating you use for treatments. Some treatments will require special seating, but if that doesn’t apply to you, look for interesting seating. If you have an industrial-look salon, traditional barbers' chairs may work well. If you have splashes of colour, you could use the same style of chair but in lots of different colours. This is a big opportunity to emphasise your brand, so don’t waste it.

12. Be Strategic with Your Layout

Every salon has a different layout, but you should think about how comfortable you’re making your salon for your clients. Is there a way you could avoid tucking a client in a dark corner? Could you add an element of privacy for seating by windows so your clients don’t have to be stared at while they have their treatment? Frosted windows look great, but you can use a few artificial potted plants to add more privacy without committing to something permanent.

13. Work With Your Salon’s Architecture

Did you choose your salon for the location or the architecture? If your salon has interesting architectural features, emphasise them! One salon that has done this incredibly well is Hari’s Hairdressers in Chelsea, which has a beautiful skylight worthy of any luxury greenhouse or orangery. They’ve leaned fully into this feeling, adding industrial touches, garden statues, and an abundance of artificial plants. You can see their salon here for inspiration.

14. Use Creative Shelving

You have a lot of product to store, so don’t feel like it’s got to all be hidden in the backroom! You can use on-theme shelving to display some of the products you use and add other on-brand touches. Add an artificial plant, trinkets, and photos with the products for a more curated look.

15. Add a Selfie Station

This won’t be right for every brand, but it is a great idea for most – add a selfie station that is the perfect place for people to snap a “just pampered” photo to share on their social media. This can be as simple as a mirror inside with recommended hashtags, an artificial plant wall with your brand in neon attached to it, a flower wall, wall art with a couple of potted plants to frame the photo – anything you can think of. Not only will your clients be excited to use it with their new look, but it will also help you spread word of your salon!

Decorating your salon may be daunting, but think about how you want your clients to feel when they walk through the door, while they’re having their treatment, and when they leave. When you step into your ideal client’s shoes, you’ll find it much easier to choose the right décor. Try to choose pieces and options that are low maintenance – a mirrored table in front of every station may look incredible, but you’ll have to clean it constantly to keep it free of smears! You don’t want to spend your evenings cleaning or maintaining plants instead of going home to relax. If you’re looking for the perfect artificial plants for your salon, click here.