How to Create Your Own Salon Floor Plans

Decisions, Decisions

Creating your own salon floor plan will be a fun, learning challenge. Designing it yourself is a valuable, worthwhile experience. The floor plan you create will be uniquely yours, tailored to your specific work habits and organized to take advantage of how you prefer to work. Your salon floor plan is limited only by your imagination, budget and available work space. Put your thoughts together and watch your concept become reality with limited anxiety and stress.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Graph paper
• 3-D Computer-aided design program (optional)

Instructions

1. Visit at least five different salons in your area. Pay close attention to how each is laid out. Ask to stand in the actual work areas. Note the things you like and dislike about each work station within each facility you visit. Look for any duplicated effort due to poor work area arrangement. For instance, remember to note any wasted time and energy walking back and forth between closely related tasks.

2. 

   My Rough Floor Plan Sketch

   Take careful interior measurements in the building where your salon will be located. Determine the type of services you will offer, given your total work space. Consider if you are planning a full service salon with added services like tanning, or if you desire a more specialized list of salon services. Sketch out on paper roughly where available space is needed to deliver your services.

3. Stand in your future salon and envision your color scheme, entrance, receptionist counter and waiting areas. Keep in mind customer essentials like privacy, conference areas, waiting room and public bathroom facilities. Add these different components to your rough sketch one at a time, actually standing, sitting and walking to and between the differently designated areas. This will give you a realistic idea of the day-to-day functionality.

4. Measure and draw in these areas you have sketched on paper onto the actual floor. Stand physical objects in these areas to get a better idea of how the available space is utilized, and how it will look when everything is in place. When you get everything arranged as you want it, refer to and use one of the many 3-D computer imaging programs available to confirm your decisions. Often, these 3-D images will reveal heretofore unseen areas of needed change and improvement to your concept.

5. Select a builder. Seek out contractors who have recently completed such a building project. Make physical visits to these finished jobs and question the owners about their degree of satisfaction with their finished product. Especially note any difficulties or unresolved issues with that particular builder. Visit only licensed, bonded builders with your sketch in hand. Discuss your plan thoroughly with them. Based on those discussions, enter into a builder's contract for services and watch your salon dreams become reality.

Tips & Warnings

• Be realistic with your plans. Work and stay within your budget. Resist expensive additions, and communicate daily with your builder to avoid any tear downs and rebuilds.

• Even though it is the builder's responsibility, make sure he has properly permitted and licensed each phase of the building project.

• You must have a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) from your local building inspector before moving in and opening your business.

References

• Beauty Design: Salon design website
• In Style Suites: Independent salon professionals website source

Resources

• Lowe's Home Improvement: Building materials and fixture supplier