How to Get the Most Out of Every Square Foot of Your Salon

There are a lot of moving parts in any given salon space at all times. Whether the salon is small or it’s spacious, available space needs to be maximized to ensure the flow of stylists and clients seamlessly works and doesn’t cause any delays or frustration.

While larger salons with more square footage and open floor plans may have an advantage when it comes to maximizing space, it’s not impossible to optimize a small salon’s floor plan and decor to get the most out of the square footage.

We will be sharing small salon suite ideas as well as techniques to maximize your salon’s space — regardless of its size. Every kind of salon can benefit from these space-saving hacks.

Space-Saving Techniques for Salons

Without further ado, let’s talk about how to optimize your salon’s floor plan, improve storage to maximize space and how to organize for space savings.

Nail Down the Technical Details

How many square feet is your salon’s space? Do you have an idea of how large the equipment you want to put into your space is? If you want to maximize your salon’s space, it’s a great idea to start taking notes with the technical details. When it comes to planning things like your desired revenue per square footage, it’s important to run accurate calculations that will allow you to see your limits.

If you’re renovating your space or moving into a new space, it’s important to have a firm number and idea of your means and how many pieces of equipment you can fit without going overboard. Here are some things we advise you write down to help you make decisions:

• Salon square footage
• Dimensions of every wall (width and height)
• Preferred revenue per square foot
• Dimensions of equipment and furniture

Focus on the Layout

How is your salon currently laid out? Do you feel like your layout is conducive to your business and the way your stylists work? If so, great! If not, it’s time to reorganize your floor plan to improve the flow of your salon and boost morale.

There are a variety of ways you can lay out a salon, but the floor plan you choose should be based on what your salon’s size and space can accommodate. You can also use a 2D salon layout design tool to simulate different floor plans. Here are some of the most ideal, space-saving salon floor plans:

• Salon Suite Layout – If you are currently in a salon suite layout, there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to rearranging your layout. However, you can utilize mobile technology and equipment to make the most out of your space. In a salon suite, we suggest having two chairs, two mobile salon stations, a shampoo system and a mobile processing dryer. Having mobile equipment allows you to save space and reconfigure as needed.
• Narrow Salon Floor Plan – If your salon is located in a space that is narrow, you will want to line up wall-mounted salon stations along both sides of the outer walls with chairs. This leaves the middle of your salon open and gives your salon a more spacious look. Using wall-mounted salon stations will also ensure you have more open space.
• Square Salon Floor Plan – Is your salon’s space a square? If so, you may feel cramped, but there are a few ways to improve your floor plan to boost space availability. You can either position double-sided salon stations in the center of the salon or use wall-mounted salon stations on the outer walls.

Declutter the Space

While it may be a lengthy task, decluttering is well worth the hassle it may cause. We aren’t just talking about decluttering in terms of throwing away trash and empty coloring boxes. We also mean discarding old equipment that isn’t functional and is just taking up precious square footage.

Optimize Storage

A big space-saving hack for salons is finding new ways to store things and optimizing current storage options. Using salon carts and trolleys is a great way to make sure stylists have everything they need no matter where they go. Trolleys and carts prevent clutter from taking up space on salon stations and other areas. But these trolleys need to stay organized.

Invest in Equipment and Products That Can Grow with Your Business

Over the years, your salon will evolve and your floor plan will most likely need to change. While it’s hard to predict the future needs of your salon and business growth, you can invest in equipment that’s modular and can be moved to accommodate business growth and a new floor plan.

Use Wall Space for Retail Products

If your retail products are currently sitting on floor-length shelves, you can quickly free up square footage by replacing these hefty shelving units with floating wall shelves. These shelves open up your salon reception area and also provide you with other unique opportunities to show off products close to salon stations and other areas.

Adopt a Minimalist Approach When It Comes to Decor

The minimalist trend is not only popular and trendy, but it’s extremely practical for salons. This trend eliminates clutter and reduces decor down to only what’s necessary. This could save salons a lot of space while also making their salon look more modern and fresh.

Bring in More Light and Use Mirrors to Enhance Space

If you want to naturally and instantly enhance your salon space, consider prioritizing more natural light, staging your salon with more mirrors or adding a fresh coat of white paint to your walls. Mirrors reflect and bounce light around your salon to make the space look larger and brighter. This is a great technique to implement if you can’t rearrange your salon or declutter too much but still want an enhanced and spacious look.

Your salon is looking more spacious already! While rearranging and decluttering a salon may seem like a time-consuming task, it will all be well worth it when your clients and people are able to move about your space freely.