In the wake of a growing emphasis on functional aesthetics, designing a salon is now a lot more than just colours and textures. In a conversation with Vidhi Arya from Professional Beauty India, Viki Thakkar, owner of Viki Thakkar Design Studio, throws light on the basics of designing a salon. Recently, Thakkar also designed the Frizz Salon in Mumbai.
While designing a salon, how do you balance functionality and aesthetics?
The main thing is understanding the client’s requirements and correlating them to the technical challenges on site. It is not that every theme which the client likes will suit the site. I believe form follows function.
You have to see the practical challenges at the site. And, my secret is that we need to breathe the site, we need to think completely about what the site is demanding rather than what I and the client see on the surface.
When it comes to interiors, what colours are trending these days?
The colour palette has been in since last two years if it is a smaller compact salon then it has to be more white and the ceiling can be more white or grey or beige. This is because most people prefer open ceiling setups as services are seen clearly.
Now, if the theme is Moroccan, which is quite in vogue, you will have some kind of a pattern running in the centre of the salon. Another trending combination is lighter shades of mint and teal green combined with white and grey.
What elements can a salon owner add to their space to lift-up its appeal?
What’s coming of age is retail. It has gained a lot of importance in the last few years. One should have a retail area which is gelled with the colour palette and the Pantone. That helps it to not pop out and look heavy
Another thing one can add while designing a salon is media, like what you see in brands like H&M and Zara. A lot of people have started understanding the importance of media. We can easily integrate two or three or say six televisions in the salon and have content running on these screens. It’s a nice change, a welcoming change.
Salons have started making beautiful selfie zones also which are combined with the waiting area. The waiting area doubles up as a selfie area. If the space allows, there can be a small cafe there too.
Another facet is how salon owners welcome experimentation. The whole concept of having all the five mirrors same is slowly and steadily fading. People now understand that sometimes asymmetrical things look great in harmony.
Can you suggest one sustainable design practice that salons can take up?
The most basic practice is if you have bore-well water coming in, try and tap that and convert that into soft water for use. The second practice most of the owners ignore is the right tonnage of ACs. For example, 0.6-ton AC is available in Daikin, but we generally go for one ton. If we analyse the tonnage properly, salons can save a hefty amount in electricity bills by reducing unnecessary power consumption.
Tell us about your experience with designing the Frizz salon.
It’s a compact space but a standalone structure. That left us with a lot of liberty to experiment. We tried to make it look like a Spanish Mediterranean villa. From the outside, it looks like it is 2000 square feet. And when you go inside, there are four air stations, two backwaters, there is a staircase which takes you up, and there are two beauty rooms. And below the staircase, there is a refrigerator on a small pantry and there is something. I think probably that was the smallest salon I have done, but it looks the biggest when you see the picture.
Image courtesy: Viki Thakkar’s FB