A Blooming SUCCESS

Uniting vintage finds with thoughtful modern touches, the newly expanded and renovated Lilys is a blossoming oasis of relaxation and rejuvenation

"Our salon is a family run business that we hope is welcoming to all types of clients that are looking for a relaxing experience – we want everyone to be comfortable here."

Lilys was established in 2011 by a then newly-qualified Alice Lily Harvey, and has since grown to a team of six, including Business Director Callum Harvey. Following the pandemic, the two decided that the salon needed to expand to accommodate growth, and after much time spent looking for a new premises, they were presented with the opportunity to renovate the flat above their existing space.

Whilst the original space was still in great condition, they felt it was a little outdated, so decided to renovate everything together, striving for a classic, sophisticated image with an edge. Alice explains: “We wanted our colour scheme to be an evolution of our current décor.” To achieve this, they kept the same paint shade as had previously been used, but sourced new wallpaper – astatement print of cranes on a striking black background.

Carrying out the work themselves to cut down on costs, the duo took the opportunity to change the lighting of the space throughout – something they had never been entirely happy with. To enhance the natural light streaming in through the large windows they added spotlights in the working areas, and selected calm, dimmable lighting for the basin areas and reception.

One feature of the renovation which Alice is particularly proud of is the original oak flooring on the ground level, which was unearthed in the process. Sadly the flooring could not be saved upstairs, so parquet flooring was selected, whilst porcelain tiles were chosen as a practical choice for the backwash areas – of which there are two. Meanwhile, there are six styling stations – spaced out to allow clients to feel relaxed – which feature black styling chairs from Capital Furniture.

Discussing the furniture, Callum explains: “We’re lucky as we have a large auction room in our town that we were able to go to each weekend to find unique pieces which we could give a new lease of life to,” whilst Alice adds that they mixed antique pieces with modern items to show their personality throughout.

They thought carefully about layout when combining the two spaces, hoping to create a natural flow through the welcoming reception, which features accessible retail displays for clients to browse, leading to the original salon space, which streams into the colour bar – where clients can watch their stylist mix colour – and finishes with additional styling stations upstairs.

Reflecting on the salon’s expansion and redesign, and the ethos they hope to convey with the space, Alice says: “Our salon is a family run business that we hope is welcoming to all types of clients that are looking for a relaxing experience – we want everyone to be comfortable here.”