Designing A Hair Salon? Consider These 4 Critical Lighting Options
Great lighting in a salon is crucial. After all, your stylists need to be able to see what they're doing each day. Poor lighting and shadows make it virtually impossible to see every angle of a new cut or color. In order to do their best work, your stylists need a mixture of light, including natural light, ambient light, direct light, and task light. You must consider and incorporate each type of lighting when designing your new salon. Following is a little bit about each type of lighting and why they're critical for your salon design.
Natural Light
When choosing a location for your salon, make sure there is a lot of natural light. Natural light is absolutely the best light for seeing hair color. If your stylists have enough natural light, they will be able to spot problems with color, such as brassiness or unevenness, before their clients walk out the door. And they won't have to ask their clients to step to the window or step outside to check their work.
Ambient Light
Salons need lots of white, bright light throughout the salon. The lighting that's responsible for illuminating your whole salon is called ambient light. You can choose recessed lighting, track lighting, or any other type of lighting that fits your design theme. However, you must install white lights. If you install lighting that is too yellow, your stylists will not be able to see a true representation of their color work in the salon chair.
Direct Light
Direct light is necessary at each and every station. Direct light, usually a pendant light that hangs over each chair, creates a bright halo of light around the client, making it easier for your stylists to see. Direct light also eliminates shadows around the head, which helps when it comes to detailed work, such as fading and texturizing.
Task Light
Task lighting helps lend class and sophistication to your salon while serving a practical purpose. Examples of decorative lights include LED mirrors—a must if you're doing makeup—and undermounted cabinet lights. Task lighting should be used in areas where stylists are performing tasks, such as over a sink where stylists are mixing color.
It takes multiple types of lighting to create a bright salon that your stylists will love to work in. For this reason, you should pay particular attention to the lighting that you include in your salon design.