A small salon suite is shown here with a minimalist design, optimized floor plan, and small pops of personality.

Making Your Small Salon Suite Feel Bigger

Tips for Creating an Epic Salon Suite 

You’ve finally found the salon suite of your dreams. It’s cute, it’s functional, and it’s going to be the place where you make your cosmetology dreams come true.

There’s just one problem–it’s pretty dang tiny.

Small salon suites are a common trend in the salon suite world. They’re a great deal, give you lower overhead, and provide you with a space that’s all your own (that tends to offer quite a bit of flexibility). 

The catch? They’re often teeny tiny, and that presents a design problem for most stylists.

The good news? You actually don’t need a ton of space to run a kickass business out of your salon suite. A salon suite–when you do it right – can be plenty of square footage to make your cosmetology dreams a reality.

But how exactly do you optimize that tiny space so it best serves your purposes, gives off your branding vibe, invites your clients in, and of course, feels bigger than it is?

With these tips, that’s how.


The Top 4 Tips for Optimizing Your Small Salon Suite: How to Make Your Salon Suite Look Bigger

No, we can’t magically increase your salon suite’s square footage–but truthfully, you don’t need it! These tips will help you maximize the space of your salon suite and help the room to feel a little bigger than it is.

Floor Plan Comes First

Obviously, the décor and aesthetics are a huge part of planning out what your salon suite will look like. And, even more obviously, it’s often considered the most fun part of planning out your space.

The issue? It’s easy to get knee-deep in décor and design plans before you tackle the thing that matters most in a small space–the floor plan. Yep, it might not be the sexiest part of your salon suite design, but the floor plan has to come before the other stuff if you want a smart, on-brand, and optimized space that feels bigger than it actually is.

Think about where your workstation will go, how it will function, and what you’ll do with the small amount of space available. What furniture and tools can you put in this space to provide multiple functions? Map this all out ahead of time–then get to the aesthetics part.

Small salon suites like the one shown can feel bigger with minimal decor and lots of green plant life.

So, of course, get hyped about the décor, the materials, the vibe–just make sure the floorplan comes first so you’re not ushering clients into a cramped space that feels teeny tiny and just happens to be immaculately decorated.

Minimalism is a Must

We definitely don’t mean throw a chair in here and call it quits–you’re gonna have a hard time getting people to walk into your suit if it gives off a creepy, empty vibe. But that’s the perfect way to distinguish what we’re talking about–you’re not opting for empty, you’re opting for minimalism.

There are tons of branch-off ways to style your salon suite with a minimalist spin. You can go modern sleek, glam, casually elegant, retro, clean, and beyond–and it doesn’t take a ton of stuff, décor, or furniture to get this vibe across.

To make your small suite feel bigger, you’ll want to really think about the décor you’re bringing in. Add in personality pieces and statement décor that reflect your brand without overrunning the space and think about opting for hanging décor instead of pieces that soak up a ton of your precious floor space. When all else fails, follow the rule that simple and minimal is best!  

Natural Light & Mirrors

Maybe you’re working with four walls­–maybe you’re lucky and you’ve got a little natural light from a window or a glass door. If so, optimize that natural light–shades are helpful for peak sun times but don’t stifle your source of light with heavy curtains, dark shades, or anything too fabric-y. Focus on bringing natural light to your space to help it appear bigger, airier, and brighter.

Don’t have natural light? Make sure the lighting in your studio isn’t harsh–soft, natural lights will play best in this area. Another tip for making a space seem bigger? Bring mirrors into the picture. Mirrors help give the illusion of the room expanding–and it’s crucial to have mirrors in your suite for clients who, you know, want to see the work you’re doing.

Optimize Your Station

In a regular-sized salon, you don’t need to care as much about the way you’ve set up your workstation. Odds are, you’ll have plenty of space for storage, product, and more in closets or additional square footage. Finding storage and adequate workspace in a salon suite, well, that’s a fun and exciting challenge.

You’ll need to think about how to optimize your workstation as your storage space, too. And to do this, you’ll need to think long and hard about how you work, what you use, counter space, tools, and beyond.

Everyone’s strategies are different (and that’s OK), so make sure you’re creating a work and storage space that caters to your needs!


Do you run your business out of a teeny salon suite? We want to hear about it!

Drop some of your must-know tips and tricks for making that salon suite work to your advantage. Trust us, your cosmetology community will thank you (and we love adding new tips to our lists!).

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