I thought I'd post some pictures of the salon I work at. I can't for the life of me figure out how to download videos yet--very frustrating! My salon used to be in a strip mall and was your normal store size. We'd been there for about 10 years and it was time to renew the lease. There were things about the shop that really bothered my boss. Every time it rained hard, the roof leaked. Parking was very limited. The floors were pretty bad and needed replacing. So, he decided to look around. He found a warehouse in an office park around the corner and fell in love with the space. At the time we were small--maybe 7 stylists. He was so excited to show it to us. We went over and saw a warehouse. It had gray concrete floors and gray cinder block walls. The ceiling was gray and many stories high. We were flabbergasted! How could this enormous space ever be the warm and inviting salon that we and our clients loved? My boss had a vision, and the place was a go. Besides being a very talented hairdresser, he is a general contractor. He can do anything. He totally designed the new salon by himself. He designed our work stations and had a cabinetmaker build them. He worked on the framing, drywall, plumbing, etc. He transformed a big, ugly space into something bright (lots of sky lights) and beautiful. We have 16 hairstylists, 4 nail techs, 3 skincare/massage therapists, and a large support staff. As you'll see, purple is our color. It really did take a while to get used to the new salon, but we got there. It's great to work in such a big, open and unique space. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary here.

This photo shows the reception and the retail area.

This photo was taken from the reception area. The front desk is on the left.
>
Here's a picture of my station at the start of the day. It doesn't stay this neat for long.

This one shows the two halves of the station floor.

This is the shampoo area and one of the chemical bar areas. We don't do our chemicals on the nice wood floors.

This is part of our employee area. We all signed our names on the floor along with the date we started.

Here's where we eat our meals. A little cafe-like space. On the walls are photos of us through the years.

The best part about the salon is the people. Although we're in this huge space, it's all about being one-on-one with our clients, so in reality, it doesn't seem that big at all.