Hair Salon Design Ideas from the UK for 2025

Choosing the right hair salon design is an essential part of opening a new hair salon in the UK.

There are so many hair salon designs shown online and in industry publications it can be hard to decide on a hair salon interior design that works for you.

How do you find salon decor ideas that fit your vision for your salon interior design? And more importantly, how do you decide on your vision for your hair salon interior design in the first place?

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1. How to Design a Hair Salon?
2. How To Best Use Your Salon Space
3. Salon Interior Decor Ideas From UK Salons
4. Conclusion

Clients are often happier to share photos of their salon experience or post about your location online if the interior design looks great and stands out from the competition. Your hair salon design must communicate your brand, values and the overall style of your business.

This means choosing a theme or general “feel” for your space that fits your desired clientele and the services and products you offer. This can be a lot to take on at first, but with the right planning and a little creative inspiration, it’s also a fun and rewarding process.

How to Design a Hair Salon?

Select  a Layout

When choosing the layout for your salon space, you'll have to consider different things, including your salon budget, your staff’s needs, and the architectural features and the location constraints.

What works well in one space- such as an open area with large windows and high ceilings, might not be a good design for a smaller or narrower salon location with a more intimate feel.

Depending on how your location is designed, you may want to go with:

• Open salon layout - with minimal or no inside walls, this uses mirrors on the walls and double-sided workstations to make a smaller hair salon look bigger and more spacious.

• Suite salon layout - offering stylists privacy and autonomy, suites usually include the freedom to decorate or design your own small space and are increasingly popular options for those who want to rent their location within a salon.

• Narrow salon layout - this makes the most of a long layout by investing in wall mirrors and creating a shared area in the centre and down the sides for a modern look.

• Small salon layout - these tiny spaces are designed for multipurpose uses. They can be unique, with combined services completed in one area and furniture that’s either multifunctional or has a smaller footprint.

• Multiple room salon layouts - walls can be used to separate hair salon suites, or they can be placed across certain areas for clients who prefer privacy during their visit. This can work well if your salon offers services such as waxing or massage, which require more privacy. 

Pick a Theme

Some of the best hair salon decor ideas are based on a single theme. Salons that subscribe to this strategy select a concept or overall “vibe” and use this to help shape the design and details of the hair salon, including everything from the walls and mirrors to the lighting, sign and even the furniture.

For instance…

• Minimalism - a simple, clean and professional design without too many things on the walls or a lot of furniture. You might choose white or light-coloured walls to accentuate the style. This is one of the top options for making a modern or smaller hair salon feel comfortable and roomy.

• Retro - fun and nostalgic, this theme creates an atmosphere like the good old days, with design elements ranging from the “funky” retro, including vintage decor items on the walls and brightly-coloured, nostalgic furniture and stylist chairs.
• Natural - this design favours eco-friendly and natural materials such as wooden furniture or shelves, curtains made from natural fabrics, and lots of plants and light. 

• Glamour - expensive and exclusive is the adjectives that describe this design theme. Every item you see should communicate elegance and luxury from the floor to the shelves. 

• Modern - ideal for a hair salon that boasts the latest services and technology, you may want to design your location with a sleek and modern hair salon decor in mind. This can include floor-to-ceiling mirrors, shelves and stylist chairs with a small footprint, and even one or two colours that “pop” instead of the more traditional black and white decor.

Choose Lighting

Good quality salon lighting is necessary to work and to create the right atmosphere.

On a practical level, your team will need enough light to see and do their work well without straining their eyes.

The right lighting (or even adjustable lighting) can improve a stylist’s attention to detail during services, and a flattering lighting level (instead of harsh fluorescent bulbs) can make a client’s visit more pleasant and increase their overall satisfaction.

You’ll need to decide on fixed or adjustable lights (or a combination of both, depending on the services you offer) and whether you want the design of the fixtures to be concealed or eye-catching.

Remember, mirrors and white or light-coloured walls will reflect things and make everything seem brighter, but a darker or warm colour scheme will require a different lighting quality to achieve the same results.

Choose a Colour Scheme

First, decide which colour or colours represent your salon brand. Often, these will also be present on your salon’s sign.

Next, check out how these colours will look if you use them on the interior. The results might surprise you- sometimes, what looks great in outdoor or natural lighting doesn’t work as well indoors.

White is often a good choice because it reflects light well, but it might not work with your specific hair salon design or theme, so keep an open mind and have fun.

Consider Hiring a Professional

Although this can cost more than doing the planning and research on your own, you’ll get hair salon ideas from someone who’s being paid to deliver professional results.

A professional architect or interior designer won’t miss any detail. In the end, you’ll save time and money and get 100% of the quality you’re looking for in your hair salon design. You’re guaranteed to like what you see since you’re the customer.

Take Into Account Your Clients’ Perspective

Whether choosing the best salon design or getting them to subscribe to your salon’s social media pages and mailing list, you’ll improve your chances of success if you figure out what your clients like, what they enjoy and what they find attractive.

Start by considering the age and demographic you’re hoping to target as your clients, then look online and at other successful businesses in the community to get in touch with some ideas that might work for you.

How To Best Use Your Salon Space

• Put your main retail area where clients can reach the products easily to encourage them to browse and make purchases

• Install hidden storage wherever you can, including recessed or hidden shelves and cabinets

• Use mirrors to make the space look bigger, especially if you have fewer windows or a narrow layout

• Try using floor levelling and colours to differentiate areas. This works well if you offer multiple services, such as nail care or spa services, but you can use it for the reception area.

• Use darker colours where stains are common, such as on chairs, in colouring areas or even at the backwash stations.

• Try using lighting as a zoning tool. This works well when you want to divide areas based on the level of light needed to complete a service or set a relaxing mood as clients wait for their colour to develop, for example.

• Avoid leaving your walls empty. Nobody likes to stare at a blank white wall while they wait. Even if your decor is minimalist, you should still use some well-placed pictures or art to break up the space and add a bit of colour.

• You can use plants as partitions to improve acoustics, especially across areas where multiple stylists and clients share a common floor space.

• Make sure to plan for any future adjustments. Even the best award-winning salon interiors will likely undergo some changes as the needs of clients and stylists change over time.

You may want to add new furniture, replace used items like stylist chairs or even change the floor later on based on your business’s needs. Keep an open mind and, if possible, allow room to grow by adding extra hookups for fixtures or space for more chairs later if need be.

When looking for small salon design ideas, pictures can help you to visualize and make the most out of your space. This can be very helpful in planning for future growth, too.

Salon Interior Decor Ideas From UK Salons

If you’re still wondering how to decorate a hair salon, we’ve put together some examples to help inspire you.

Click on the links below to read more about each design.

Live True London

Live True London is the epitome of contemporary glamour with an intrustrial touch. This is definitely something that clients are likely to share after their visit.

Tuttii Fruittii

Tuttii Fruittii is certainly something to see, with its retro-themed salon interior, vintage chairs and bright colors. Clients and stylists will both like it.

Cut & Glow

Cut & Glow is an examples of a very clean, white and simple hair and beauty salon interior design. White walls make everything look new and fresh.

GA Salons

GA Salons is an organic and environmentally sustainable haircare salon with the interior design to match their philosophy.

Taylor Taylor London

Taylor Taylor London is a very galmours and posh looking salon design, giving you the impression of being in a private members club, with a unique blend of both edge and elegance.

Linnaean

Linnaean is a beautiful hair salon with pastelle, retro and flowers decorations, with golden elements to give it a bit more glamour.

HARI's Hairdressers

Hari’s Hairdressers is a great example of a very natural design theme that incorporates a lot of plants and eclectic elements. Notice the small footprints of the chairs and minimal furniture on the floor.

Style Club Salon

Style Club Salon is certainly something to see, with its retro-themed salon interior, vintage chairs and bright colors. Clients and stylists will both like it.

FGP Atelier

FGP Atelier is a must-see salon with futuristic elements, pops of bright pink and flowing lines that’s sure to make clients want to subscribe to their social media just for more pics of it.

Ruffians Covent Garden

Ruffians Covent Garden gives you a modersn barbershop interio design, with a relaxed vibe.

Harvey Nichols Hair Salon

Harvey Nichols Hair Salon presents a simple and chic hair salon look that can be easily arranged in both small and bigger salon spaces.

Townhouse

Townhouse with space was curated to evoke a lounge bar, with airy white and cream interiors, boho rattan lampshades and comfy chairs to kick back and relax.

Nicola Clarke at John Frieda

Nicola Clarke at John Frieda combines simple, smart and elegant interior, with a modern retro vibe.

Betties + Baldwins

You will love the colourful, happy vibe of Betties + Baldwins salon interior.

Not Another Salon

Not Another Salon is full of colour, graphics, to spice up the salon space.

Conclusion

Whether you’re fitting out a small hair salon or planning a large multi-floor space, figuring out how to design a hair salon decor that works for your business is a fun and challenging endeavour.

Every salon space should be unique and reflect your salon brand and clients. You can read up online and research different salon interiors that inspire you, then pick and choose elements from each hair salon design and make them your own.

Citations

The profit zone: How strategic business design will lead you to tomorrow's profits
https://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=SunHELRB7SsC&oi

The design of business: Why design thinking is the next competitive advantage
https://books.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=CvpAgm8dQQkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=

Interior office design and visitor response
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1981-02281-001