Understand your aims

Do you want to create a separate retail shop within your salon? Or do you want to have a subtle retail spread throughout? Stephen Ewings, salon designer for Aston & Fincher, believes if you want a shop within a shop you should ensure each "zone" operates independently.

"Pay particular attention to how you’re going to partition off the main salon, so neither task interferes with the other," says Stephen. "This can be simply achieved by erecting stud work or glazed screening to guide clients to relevant zones."

Take the measurements
The most important consideration when planning a retail area is to make sure the layout allows enough space for clients to move around comfortably without feeling cramped. Chris Palmer from Salon Ambience recommends measuring the space you have available to plot your potential reception area. "Physically pencil out on the floor where your shelves, waiting area and desk might be placed,” he says. "This can be a helpful indicator of how much space will be available to you."

Light and colour
Think about the sort of ambience you want to create in your retail area. Nivin El-Gamal, chief interior designer of Galaxy Stars, believes your lighting needs to make clients feel at home as soon as they step through the door. "The reception and retail area shouldn’t have the same fierce lighting as your technical area. It needs to create a warm and welcoming feel to make clients feel comfortable about entering and browsing,” says Nivin. "A soft colour scheme using off-whites or warm vanillas also helps clients feel welcome.” A word of caution, though. Jo Rayner, interior designer at The Space Studio, recommends treading cautiously with in-built lighting. "Some products don’t take kindly to the heat generated if lights are in close proximity," she says.