Why We Designed Sunday Salon with Separate Color + Styling Spaces

Walk into a traditional hair salon and you’ll often find everything happening in one open space. Color applications, processing, haircuts, blowouts and styling all happen alongside one another.

When we designed Sunday Salon at Raleigh Iron Works, we wanted to approach the salon floor a little differently.

Beautiful color takes time, and we wanted to be thoughtful about how that time is spent. We also wanted to give our stylists and colorists the space they need to focus on their work.

That led us to design Sunday Salon with two distinct spaces. Our Color Sanctuary is dedicated entirely to hair color, with a separate floor for cutting + styling.

A Space Designed Specifically for Hair Color

Our Color Sanctuary is home to eight color stations and was designed around the way a color appointment actually works.

A color appointment involves several steps. Depending on the service, that can include a consultation, formulation, application, processing, shampooing, glossing, treatments and styling. For services like dimensional color, balayage and highlights, that can mean spending several hours in the salon.

Rather than having every part of that appointment take place on the main salon floor, we created a dedicated environment for color.

For our colorists, that means having a space designed around the technical work they do every day. For our clients, it creates a more comfortable environment to settle into for a longer appointment.

A Dedicated Place to Process

Processing is a necessary part of many hair color services, but it doesn’t need to mean spending the entire appointment sitting at the same styling station.

The Color Sanctuary includes a dedicated processing area where clients can step away from the color chair while their hair processes.

It also helps the room function more naturally. Our colorists can move between different stages of their appointments. Meanwhile, each client has a comfortable place to spend their processing time.

It’s a relatively simple part of the salon’s design, but one that makes a difference when color appointments can take up a good portion of the day.

More Comfort at the Shampoo Bowl

We also thought carefully about the time our color clients spend at the shampoo bowl.

Color appointments can involve multiple rinses, shampoos, glosses and treatments, which often means more time at the bowl than you would spend during a typical haircut.

Our shampoo area features fully reclining chairs. Clients can settle back comfortably rather than remaining in a traditional upright shampoo position.

Again, it comes back to designing the space around what actually happens during a color appointment.

Why Separate Color from Cutting + Styling?

Color isn't the only service we considered when designing the salon.

Our cutting + styling floor has its own rhythm. Haircuts, blowouts and finishing services involve more movement, conversation and transitions throughout the day. Giving those services their own environment allows the space to function around them, too.

Separating the two areas allows the Color Sanctuary to remain a little quieter and calmer. The rest of the salon can maintain its energy.

The two rooms still feel connected — they're simply designed to support different kinds of work.

Creating a Better Environment for Our Colorists

Client comfort was an important part of the decision, but it wasn't the only one.

Hair color is highly technical work. Our colorists are considering formulation, placement, timing, hair history, condition, desired results and long-term maintenance throughout an appointment.

Creating a room dedicated specifically to color gives them an environment built around that process.

We believe the space our team works in matters. Giving our colorists the right environment to focus on their craft ultimately supports the experience and results we can provide our clients.

Hair Color at Sunday Salon in Raleigh

Our colorists work with clients across a range of hair color services, including lived-in color, balayage, highlights, dimensional color, grey blending and grey coverage.

Every service starts with a consultation so we can understand your hair, your goals and the level of maintenance that works for your lifestyle before determining the right approach.

And when it comes time for your appointment, the environment is ready for it.

The Color Sanctuary isn't separate simply because we wanted a different-looking salon. It's part of a larger approach to how Sunday Salon was designed — considering the work being done, the people doing it and the clients spending their time with us.

Beautiful color takes time. We wanted to create a space that respects that.