How to make your salon decor "Instagram worthy" on a budget (2024)

Do you want your salon to go “viral” online? Do you want to get found by new clients who discovered you on their friend’s Instagram account? Do you want all your clients to want to brag about visiting you on social media?

Then it’s a really good idea to take your salon’s interior design seriously, and think about it as an investment in getting new clients.

In today’s social media age, one of the big pulls to get people to visit a business is a beautiful decor. A decor that’s not only elegant but “Instagram-worthy” and encourages clients to take pictures online and share them with their followers.

The way you decorate your salon attracts different types of people. Have you thought recently about who exactly you’re attracting with your current decor?

By having an intentional “vibe”, you’re letting people know that you’re the right fit for them, just by looking through your windows, or through photos they find online.

Also, clients love the idea of going to a trendy-looking salon and showing off to their friends on Instagram where they are (especially Millennials and younger).

They like to show off not just their fresh hair or nails, but show off that they’re doing some pampering and self care.

That’s why it’s so important that you give them a place where they can’t wait to take pictures of and with.

In this blog post I share 7 fun, easy, and inexpensive ways to make your salon decor Instagrammable.

Take these ideas, make them your own, and your salon will become a hot spot to take and share photos online. It’s almost like free advertising (minus the design investment cost, of course!).

Before you actually start implementing these salon design ideas, you should step back a bit and try to define your business’ brand.

If you just take all of these things and mash them up together, your design will not only look tacky, it’ll look inauthentic.

The reason these salons are so beautiful is because they’ve decided on a “theme” that fits the core of their business, and they’ve designed their interior around that theme.

So the first step is to decide on your unique theme or “mood” so that your whole interior is an expression of your business personality.

It’ll look so gorgeous and unique once you’re done!

Come up with a “mood board” on Pinterest of your design inspiration

If you’ve followed along with my other blog posts you know how much I love Pinterest for design inspiration. I use it for everything!

For example, here is my board of gorgeous salon interiors I love:

Create your own board and start to get inspired by ideas. You’ll also realize that the more ideas you pin, the more your “vibe” starts to come together.

Decide on your main colours

Do you already have a color palette that you’ve been using consistently in all of your marketing, design, and decor?

Your color theme is so important, because it is a way to express what kind of personality you and your salon have, without someone even stepping in your doors.

It’s also a way for you to get recognized based on your colors alone. Think of Tiffany’s and their eggshell blue - a signature color.

Deciding on your color theme is also important before you get started on redecorating. That way whatever you set up in your salon will be “on brand” with your colors.

Check out my blog post about salon color themes here.

Bonus: Make sure that you set up your location on Instagram so people can tag you in their photos

Before you invest time and money into making your decor “Instagram worthy” - make sure that your location is easy to share!

You’ll want to have people snapping photos in your salon and sharing them on social media, so make sure to set up your location so it’s “taggable” and people can check in when they share your pics.

That way it’s easy for their followers to recognize and check out your business when they see these pics.

If you have a business page on Facebook (that’s how it’s set up) with an address, chances are that people can already “check in” on Instagram. If not, you can set up your Facebook business page or follow these instructions.

Alright, now that you’ve done that… it’s time to get inspired with 7 gorgeous ideas!

You want your salon to be seen as a place to chill and hang out in style, even when people are waiting or not getting a service at the moment.

One of the easiest ways to make your lounge area ooze style is through accent arm chairs in your brand color.

Check out some of these ideas from beauty salons with beautiful, bold chairs that make their waiting area a cool place to snap pictures:

Click here to take a look at accent chairs in every color of the rainbow on Wayfair.

When we see something fun or beautiful, we just want to take a photo with it. It’s Millennial human behaviour!

If you want to encourage selfies in your salon - which is really the purpose of the whole article - why not put together a fun and beautiful corner where your clients looove to photograph themselves.

Take a look at some of these ideas from salons on Instagram:

How you can do the same

Okay, other than the fact that these photos both have a phone in them, what do they have in common?

The salons have both set up an area that people love to take selfies in!

You can easily do the same thing by setting up a flower wall or putting a fun and funky wall decal that people love to take photos in front of.

Etsy has a ton of inexpensive design ideas for under $200.

Check out some of their beautiful flower walls:

Art doesn’t have to be boring, ignored, or just “there” for the sake of not having naked walls.

Instead, you can use wall art as a way to express your brand, your colors, and to serve as a gorgeous background for Instagram photos!

Check out HeyDay facial bar, and the art they’ve been so intentional about:

How to get abstract on a budget

You’ll notice that this facial bar has decided to keep their artwork abstract so that it blends into the surroundings and adds to the whole mood of the place. I think that abstract is definitely the right way to go for wall art.

Fortunately, you can find a whole bunch of gorgeous art on the Society 6 website. For less than $200, you can get a large (“24 x “33) canvas that adds so much to your salon’s mood:

How to make your own “selfie background”

To make this idea your own, choose a smaller wall that’s free and would be the perfect place for clients to pose in front of.

This could also be an idea'l space for you to take client before and after pics, provided there’s enough light.

You can either wallpaper this wall, or you could purchase a wall mural that’s more like a piece of artwork.

Society 6 (I love them!) has a ton of really cool murals for $300.

I even found this one that’s similar to the gorgeous wall painting that HeyDay has above:

Taking photos with plants is all the rage! I know, it sounds strange. But haven’t you noticed so many photos with tropical plant leaves in them? They’re everywhere!

Adding plants around your salon makes you look fresher, younger, and more vibrant.

Plus, they’re another way to add color into your decor so it’s begging for a photo!

Here are some salons that have done an amazing job of decorating with live plants, in some unique ways:

How to incorporate plants into your decor

Now that you’ve gotten inspired, it’s easy to take action. Invest $100 in a large, stylist pot/vase and a larger plant from a garden centre or grocery store.

Place it where it’ll catch attention from the outside of your salon, but also strategically so it’ll be in the shot where people are more likely to take photos in your salon.

Good lighting makes everything look better. Not only will photos turn out better if the lighting is great, but your lamps in themselves are another way to stand out and add some seriously stylish pieces.

Just check out these salons and spas that have completely elevated their design with bold lighting:

How to make a neon sign work

If your decor and overall vibe are outgoing, youthful, and bright, I highly recommend you think about a neon sign somewhere. It’ll go perfect!

Neon signs come either pre-made with a cute phrase, or - my personal favourite - you can get one custom-made with one of your slogans, business name, or catch phrases.

Etsy has a ton of options here.

Or, this Etsy seller will custom-make a neon sign for you at $40 per letter:

Making your salon’s interior design gorgeous and eye-catching doesn’t need to cost a fortune. In fact, using these ideas, you can easily spent less than $3000 and have a whole new look in place.

Beautiful decor is not just a superficial luxury anymore. It is a way to stand out online, to attract new clients who find your photos, and to encourage your existing clients to share their salon experience on Instagram.

If you’re creative and thrifty, you can 100% make your salon’s decor Instagram worthy on a budget!

One last thing… have you downloaded my salon Instagram calendar yet? I give you a whole month of ideas for exactly what to post day-by-day, plus prompts for what to write in your captions.

If you haven’t downloaded yet, grab it below! Enjoy! :)