Hello, lovely readers! The blog has been a little quiet as of late, so I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to…
On May 1st I opened a small studio inside of Salon Lofts in Beachwood, Ohio called Chickettes Natural Nail Design Studio! The transition to my own space was rather sudden and unexpected, but it has been an absolute blessing. If you aren’t familiar with Salon Lofts, it’s a place where independent beauty professionals can rent space. Essentially it’s a community of small business owners under one roof. The Lofts are rooms that the owners can decorate and furnish to their liking, and operate their businesses as they see fit. Salon Lofts and other similar concepts are popping up all over the country.
I’m going to take you on a little visual tour of my location… but first, here’s a quick peek at the new business cards and logo I designed for the Studio. You’ll notice that the Studio color scheme is teal, black, white and grey (or silver).
This is a look inside my Studio from the doorway. The cabinetry, lighting, sink and mirror were all provided in the space – all of the other furnishings and decor were provided by me. I was allowed to choose up to two paint colors for the walls and they were painted for me. I chose teal (my favorite color!) and a very light grey.
This is my manicure station, polish racks and refreshment station. I picked up the acrylic nail polish racks at a local beauty supply store called Luxury – they have 7 shelves which is nice since most of the ones online only have 6 (see similar racks here). I searched long and hard for a sturdy, yet affordable nail station… they are expensive! In the end, I bought a Klimpen table from Ikea – it has great storage and is very sturdy.
This is my Belava Embrace pedicure chair… I love it! I sat in this chair at Cosmoprof North America last year and knew that if I were to ever buy a pedi chair, this would be the one. It’s comfortable, luxurious and easy to use and clean. I don’t like chairs with the plumbing and jets for sanitation reasons, so this portable bowl with disposable liners is a great solution. The chair reclines, heats, massages, swivels and more! My only small complaint is that the foot rest wiggles a bit no matter how tight I screw the knob.
On the left you see a glimpse of my little pedicure cart – those are also very expensive! I found this little cart on Amazon and it works great for my needs.
I like to sit in my pedi chair and get a little massage if I have any down time – this is the view from the chair. :) I setup a coffee and tea station on top of a cube storage shelf (these are the bins). I brought my Keurig K350 and K-Cup drawer from home since they’ll get more use at the Studio.
This is my vantage point while sitting at the manicure table.
A different view of the manicure station. The magnolia decal on the wall came from Etsy – I was able to choose custom colors to match the Studio. It just tied everything together so nicely and I receive compliments on it all the time. The client chair is a bentwood chair – it’s sleek and comfortable (and easy to sanitize). The table lamp that I use is an architect lamp. The lighting in the room was a little too cool and gave me headaches, but after placing a warmer daylight bulb in the table lamp that was resolved.
I found these cute little cosmetology license frames on Etsy – they have single and double license frames in many different adorable styles. This one tied in perfectly with my theme so I had to have it.
I found this tiny little hot towel cabinet that’s just the perfect size for my needs. I wanted to offer hot towel service with my pedicures, but the large cabinets took up too much valuable space. This one holds about 6 towels comfortably, which is just enough for my daily needs.
A quick selfie to show off my new t-shirts. :)
As you can see my space is small, but I’ve laid it out in a way that maximizes the space and makes everything flow really well. It’s bright and cheery and makes me smile every day!
So let’s take a peek at the Salon Lofts concept while we’re taking a tour. If you’ve never been inside of one I think you’d be pleasantly surprised. The space is modern, clean and vibrant. The Beachwood location that I’m at has two entrances – this is the logo on the front entrance. The doors are unlocked and open to the public from 8 to 8 on most days. Loft owners all have a key to access the building at any time. For safety reasons the door are locked at off-peak hours, but clients can ring a doorbell to be let in.
When you walk in either door there is a big screen with a map of all of the businesses so that you can easily find your way around. This location has 27 lofts and each is color coded to symbolize hair, skin or nails, and a list of loft owners is on the right side so that you can find the loft number by name.
There are two small waiting areas where clients can sit and relax if they arrive early or need to wait for a service. You can get a feel for the clean, modern style. There is also music piped throughout the building at all times.
And this is what the hallways look like. You can see that each room has a loft door and a window that looks into the hallway. The doors can be closed and locked when the room isn’t in use. There are also public restrooms available that are very clean.
There is a lot of foot traffic through the building during peak hours which is great for visibility and building a clientele. I’ve had many interested parties stop by and ask about services and also referrals from other adjacent businesses.
Salon Lofts has many perks for small business owners including an online portal and booking system, a website where clients can search and find professionals, and much more. If you think you might be interested in opening your own Loft, please shoot me a message as Salon Lofts also has a great referral program. ;)
I’ve been posting photos of clients’ nails over on Instagram, and I also created a new Facebook page for the Studio if you’re interested in following my journey. I hope to periodically post updates on the blog with some of my favorite client looks too. And don’t fear, I haven’t given up on blogging… I’m still going to do swatch and nail art posts, but not as frequently as I was able to before I started working full time. I have the new Gelish collection swatched and just need to finish writing and editing the post. Watch for that in the next couple of days. :)