Interiors inspiration: not another salon

The brainchild of sassy stylist Sophia Hilton, Not Another Salon is a salon with a difference.

Founded on an anti-factory ideology, Sophia wanted to offer an alternative to those 'bored of blowdries, disinterested in dip dyes and sick of standard salons'.

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After having worked with Brooks & Brooks for seven years and taking in everything she could, Sophia decided one evening that she was going to have a salon.

Being in London it was slim pickings in terms of space, but Sophia was certain on one thing; she wanted Brick Lane and Brick Lane only. Spending a huge amount of time on her business plan and immaculately presenting everything from figures to graphics, Sophia mentioned how key this detail was when presenting to, and impressing prospective landlords.

When it came to transforming the former makeup shop, Sophia wanted to create her own happy place. Somewhere clients could come to be themselves and not judged.  At Not Another Salon the staff and clients live and breath Sophia's ethos. Everything is designed to be un-intimidating and make clients smile, bringing to life the fun and magic of hair transformations.

In terms of the salon image, Sophia had a clear view on what she wanted.

'Most salons want to be clean and minimal but I wanted to have so much going on you just can't stop looking around! Upstairs is reminiscent of an art movement called Memphis, lots of clean lines, a base of white with splashes of colour everywhere, a bit 80’s Miami if you will. Downstairs is designed to look like a working art studio, rough and ready, creative and chaotic. Oh and then there's the secret playroom…that’s retro on acid!'  

Sophia's top five tips for salon renovation:

Soft launch: Don’t stress yourself out by having to make it perfect before opening. We were still building for a month after the doors opened which gave us enough money to pay the rent in the meantime, that was a good move. 

Be careful pulling in favours: The issue with friends helping is it becomes difficult to complain if you don't like something. Always try to pay something so you can be true to what you want and feel you are being fair to them.

Watch your marriage: Advice given to me by a dear friend in the industry. Protect your relationships and try to monitor your moods during what will probably be the most stressful time you have ever had to deal with. 

Trust your gut: I hate this saying as it’s so over said but after the build, I realised how true it was. The things I worried about the most tended to be the things I needed to worry about. I always knew deep down where the holes in the design were.

Hire in a building control guy: I hadn't realised but building control is privatised and you don't need to go through the council. You pay a bit more to go private but the guy is totally on your side. 

Find out more at www.notanothersalon.com