The design meeting earlier this week was so productive. I’m thrilled. In just over an hour, Nadine (salon M.O.M.), Lee (contractor), Richard (architect), Jessica (interior designer), John (furniture; he also brought along a subcontractor, who actually custom-makes furniture), and I hammered out furniture placement and other interior layout issues. It was great to have everyone in the same room, because I can now rest assured that we’re all on the same page regarding the salon’s interior.

The design details I shared earlier are still accurate. We’re also going to use some stone tile flooring and, for the countertops, we agreed on stainless steel. It looks like the color palette will be silver, light blues, light greens, and light wood-inspired browns — fresh, open, and unisex.

OK, so now I have a confession to make. Do you remember those “beautiful basins with spigots” I wanted instead of instead of spa chairs? Well, that didn’t actually work out. (I told you I was going to be brutally honest here.) I kept running into two major problems with the basin and spigot set up. The first was the ones that were esthetically pleasing had a set-up in which clients would have to physically step up to take their seats. Nadine and I just kept imagining all of the slip-and-fall scenarios. Not only do we obviously not want anyone to get hurt, but also, as any salon owner knows, you have to be very aware of liability issues. Even with rubber footings, the set-up made us too nervous. The second reason is this set-up isn’t really adjustable to different clients’ heights the way a spa chair is. A client who’s on the tall side could very well be sitting there with her feet extended completely past the bowl. Definitely not the type of experience I want in my salon either.

I instead choose European Touch’s Murano Spa. I’m happy with this choice, especially because we’re getting some custom features. We’re using a pipeless model that’ll have the added sanitation benefit of not having any circulating water. It’ll just fill up with water, maintain water temperature, but won’t move the water around. In my opinion, the less moving parts the better. I wanted something that can be cleaned easy and effectively. Plus, we’ve ordered a custom color for our bowl and some Rob|b embroidery on the headrest. I think this will make it personal, esthetically-pleasing, and easily sanitized and disinfected.

Those are the basic recent developments, but check back here soon because I’m planning to post renderings of the storefront designs as soon as I receive them.