The Story of “Balance and Simplicity” Behind Blushes Oxford Interior Re-Design
“We wanted our new space to feel as good as it looks.”
- Georgia Faulkner, Blushes Marketing Director
Ahead of opening our newest salon in the heart of Oxford we wanted to delve into the ideas and concepts behind the interiors of our new lifestyle space, Blushes Oxford. Our focus was on designing a space that’s functional, tranquil and befits the cover of an Editorial Interior Design magazine.
Just as with our Cirencester salon which opened in August 2020, we wanted to create an unforgettable experience by combining an eclectic mixture of country luxe with bright pops of coloured artwork .
Our salons go beyond just aesthetic design though, our core purpose is at the heart of our innovation and when designing new spaces to be part of our collective we want to create a feeling of inclusion and community. We want our salons to feel just as good as they look.
The foundation for the new design was an emphasis on enhancing the experience, being a Blushes client is to be part of a collective family. How you feel in the space matters to us and ensuring you have the best experience with us is so important.
Read on for how we brought this vision to life...
Photo credit Ksenya Bryan Photography
The Design Theme of Blushes Oxford
With Blushes Oxford the building itself lent itself the opportunity to take the interiors in the direction of a fusion between Scandinavian and Japanese design. As with all design projects, each place has its own strengths and challenges so we wanted to maximise its unique features wherever possible.
The space itself has a certain airy feel about it, it’s a salon featuring a series of rooms that lead to one another, creating a very open plan, relaxed feel. The space tells its own story and we wanted to enhance its floor plan by keeping it minimal, with a neutral colour pallet.
The salon features a series of arches with rooms one behind the other, it was important to us to be able to use them as a vantage point to lead you into the next room and reveal how much more the salon has to offer than what you first see.
Due to the size of the building it was crucial to not overwhelm the space, so the simplicity of these two concepts worked perfectly.
The Elements of Japanese and Scandinavian Design Culture that we Included…
Both design styles have a strong emphasis on attention to detail and quality of materials.
The salon features a variety of natural elements, wood, stone and metal, such as the hand forged bronze shelf brackets, supporting the cutting stations. The artwork was commissioned to reflect the fusion of these two concepts. Both Scandinavian and Japanese design are all about balance and simplicity.
The Salon Mural
Oxford is an extremely unique and interesting city, so we wanted the design of the Blushes salon to reflect some of the character and culture of the city.
The mural covers an entire wall and is a reproduction of a painting ‘Waterfall in a high mountain’ by Tao Gu. It’s from the Ashmolean Museum collection. As with the Cirencester salon, the mural is across from the basin area of the salon, to create a spa-like feel, providing an interesting and soothing backdrop for clients as they relax and enjoy hair treatments.
What to Expect at Blushes Oxford for New Clients and Returning Definitions Clients...
Blushes core purpose is to create environments where people come to flourish, and with that in mind we wanted our space to feel as good as it looks. This is somewhere clients visit regularly and the Blushes Oxford team spend their days, so it needed to be created in a way that made you look forward to being in the salon.
Having taken a lot of inspiration from Japanese culture and design, clients can expect a very tranquil mood from the salon, a lifestyle space with a neutral, paired back pallet, some exciting pops of colour in commissioned artwork and a lot of natural elements.
Inspired by the beautiful upstairs window, the previous staff room has been transformed into a styling room, with a further 6 work stations, maximising the space available.
The salon will also feature a new lifestyle bar offering clients a comfortable place to sit, while having coffee and waiting for their colour to develop, or for our stylists to use for Hair ID consultations. It’s a very versatile space that was designed to make clients feel as comfortable as possible and allow them to use their time in the salon to really relax, plug in their laptop, or whatever works for them!
Most importantly the foundation for the new design was an emphasis on enhancing the experience, being a Blushes client is to be part of a collective family. How you feel in the space matters to us and ensuring you have the best experience with us is so important.”
