Salon Furniture

Choosing the right hairdressing salon furniture and salon equipment is important in creating the look and atmosphere of your salon. Purchasing high quality, expertly designed salon furniture is a sound investment in the future of your salon. Good quality, specialist-designed, purpose-built hairdressing salon furniture will not only be reliable and long-lasting, it will give your salon a stylish and professional look and feel that will attract clients and keep them coming back time and again.

When designing and putting together a new hairdressing salon and selecting salon furniture there are three key sections you'll need to focus on. These are the reception area, the styling area and the backwash area.

Reception Areas

It's important that a hairdressing salon reception gives a good first impression to both existing and prospective clients. Choosing the right reception furniture will really set the tone for the rest of your salon. Key items of hairdressing salon furniture for welcome areas include:

Reception Desks

Reception desks are a real focal point in any salon. Clients will not only be paying for services and booking appointments here, but this is where they'll be viewing and hopefully purchasing the hairdressing products recommended to them by their sylist. A professional, well designed reception desk will give clients confidence in the salon, it's staff and their product recommendations.

Reception desks look great with glass and metallic finishes and should have space for computers along with storage areas for pens, appointment cards and other bits and pieces. LSE has a range of reception desks, some of which incorporate lighting, which can really add to the atmosphere of a reception area. It's also a good idea to have a chair here for the receptionist so that they can work comfortably.

Reception Seating

The hairdressing salon furniture you choose for a reception area can help to ensure that any time your clients spend waiting is as relaxed and pleasant as possible. Comfy, coordinated and good-looking seating such as a well-upholstered waiting sofa can make all the difference to a client's experience in a salon. LSE offer a variety of salon furniture for receptions including benches, couches, single chairs and stools.

It's really important to opt for purpose-built hairdressing salon reception furniture for welcome areas as furniture designed for the domestic market is unlikely to be durable or reliable enough to stay the course in a busy working salon.

Other Reception Area Essentials

A good table is an important item of reception salon furniture as a place to keep magazines and to give customers somewhere to place drinks. Shelves or units for displaying hair-styling products are a must as you'll want to ensure products are displayed to their best advantage and look inviting to clients. You'll also need to provide space in which to store customers' coats and bags and to keep gowns organised and tidy.

Secondary lighting can be used in reception areas to enhance the overall ambience of a salon. Besides integrated lighting in reception desks, light boxes are a great way to introduce extra subtle light and Pietranera have a great selection. Flooring can also make a big difference - darker flooring coupled with lighter tones on walls can create the illusion of spaciousness. Plants and flowers are always aesthetically pleasing and can give an enhanced feeling of tranquility to a reception area.

Styling Areas

The styling area of any salon is where your clients will spend the majority of their time as well as, of course, being your stylists' main workspace. It's essential that you choose good quality, well- designed, hard-working hairdressing salon furniture for this area to enable stylists to work efficiently and to ensure that clients are comfortable and relaxed throughout their treatment.

In styling areas, clean, natural and bright light is essential. LSE can help you to select the correct lighting options for your salon.

Styling Chairs

Styling chairs are among the most heavily used items of salon furniture, so it's important that you choose the right hairdressing chairs both in terms of design and functionality. Hydraulic, lockable styling chairs will enable stylists to adjust the height of the client as required, whilst swivel chairs enable stylists to angle clients with ease.

Another thing to consider is which base shape to opt for and styles include 5-star, square or disc bases. There's also the option of fitted footrests, and which finishes to choose - from wood, metal, padded arms or full upholstery. For obvious reasons, it's a good idea to avoid styling chairs with hair traps.

Being such a key item of hairdressing salon equipment you'll want chairs that complement the decor of your salon and coordinate with other items of salon furniture and equipment. There's little point in investing good money in high-quality hairdressing chairs if they aren't going to look good in your salon. Pietranera Salon Furniture offer 52 differently coloured vinyl upholstery finishes, ensuring your new styling chairs will be a perfect match for your salon and it's other salon furniture.

Barber Chairs

It's essential to choose multi-functional barber chairs with headrests and tilting backrests in order to facilitate wet-shaves and other treatments. Barber chairs should be fully reclinable and you can choose from motorised chairs with a smooth movement or hydraulic. It's very important that your chairs are strong and durable. Don't forget that they have to be able to accommodate gentlemen of all shapes and sizes so a robust barber chair is essential.

Finishes to chose from include vinyl or leather upholstery. Wooden and metallic elements can provide a real touch of added style.

The use of barber chairs is no longer strictly limited to men's hairdressing, as more and more companies are buying them for use in carrying out beauty treatments. Barber chairs are also commonly used in the film and television industries as make-up chairs. With male grooming on the rise, good quality, robust barber chairs are a wise investment and an increasingly useful item of hairdressing salon furniture.

Styling Units

Styling units are a valuable item of salon furniture. Styling units with integrated storage are a great way to save space and offer a convenient place to keep other items of hairdressing equipment organised and tidy as well as providing a useful and functional workspace for stylists. Choices include full-length, half-length, wall mounted and island units. Some styling units are available with integrated footrests for added convenience.

LSE provide a wide selection of styling units in a variety of finishes including acrylic, metal and wood as well as units which incorporate extra ambient lighting and others with integrated power points - an essential for convenient use of electrical equipment.

Another key item of hairdressing salon furniture are styling shelves as they can provide attachments to hold electrical salon equipment. They also provide useful extra space for resting other items of equipment, drinks and magazines.

Hairdressing Stools

Hairdressing stools enable the stylist to work in comfort and as such are another key salon furniture consideration. LSE supply a range of cutting stools with or without backs, as well as ergonomic saddle stools which give the stylist excellent comfort and mobility.

Hairdressing Trolleys

Hairdressing trolleys are a very useful item of salon furniture, allowing stylists to work at any station in the salon and providing practical storage and a convenient space for stylists to keep their equipment and products ready to hand.

Other Styling Area Essentials

Other items of hairdressing salon furniture to consider are free-standing footrests and intermediary cabinets. Electrical hairdressing equipment is vital to any salon and LSE supply a wide range of mobile hairdryers including hood and rollerball dryers along with hair processors and steamers.

Backwash Areas

The backwash area can be made into a real feature in a salon and investing a little time and effort here can make a huge impact. Recently more and more salons are choosing to separate off backwash areas, either with actual partitioning or by raising the area, or through the use of lighting, colour and texture.

Evolving the backwash area into more of a treatment room can boost profits and bring a new lease of life into a salon. For owners fitting out a new salon it's well worth bearing this growing trend in mind when choosing hairdressing salon furniture for backwash areas.

Backwash Units

Backwash units are another of the most regularily used items of hairdressing salon furniture so it's important to choose good quality backwash units that are not only durable and hard wearing but will really add to the overall look and design of a salon.

For clients, having their hair washed should be as comfortable and relaxing an experience as possible. Backwash units that put the client in a prone position are a great idea as they allow the client to completely rest their neck and back. Many backwash units now have motorised footrests or electric legrests, lumbar support and even air or Shiatsu massage facilities.

Backwash units which incorporate subtle lighting are also available from LSE and are a great way to give the backwash area a calmer, more relaxed atmosphere.

The shapes, colours, textures and finishes of backwash units can all add to the design and style you want for your salon.

Other Backwash Area Essentials

It's important that staff working in the backwash area have all the equipment they may need to hand. You'll need plenty of storage units so that towels, gowns, shampoos and other hair treating products are readily and easily accessible.

It's advisable to opt for lower lighting in backwash areas. Not only will this help to separate the area from the rest of the salon, but it will give clients a feeling of privacy and help them to feel more at ease.

These are the key areas of any hairdressing salon and the main items of hairdressing salon furniture that every salon will need. Our extensive range of expertly designed, high quality salon furniture and equipment means that whether you're designing a brand-new salon, making-over an existing salon, or simply replacing a single piece of salon furniture, you're sure to find everything that you need at LSE Hair and Beauty.

With over 25 years of experience in supplying hairdressing salon furniture, LSE can offer truly expert product and design advice, including our complete salon design service. As exclusive agents for Pietranera Salon Furniture and agents for other leading salon furniture brands such as Takara Belmont and REM, it's no wonder that LSE is the salon furniture supplier of choice for so many salon owners.