MedSpas are unique - a cross between a dermatologist’s office and a spa all in one. I learned while researching for my client that even though estheticians focus on esthetics, they don’t always prioritize aesthetics!

Cue my sister, who launched her business over 5 years ago and impressively expanded so her current space no longer served her. She signed a lease on a new office - but imagined something much more elegant and classy, so she reached out to me.

This is the space before we started work.

I always ask to see client’s style preferences ahead of time so I can better understand what they may be drawn to. Here are some of my client’s original inspo images.

Mood Board

I put this together - but these photos came from my client.

FLOOR PLAN

I was so excited to dive into the details of this space. We started with the floor plan, shown below.

Somehow, we wanted to fit:

Nicole’s Office
A waiting room
A check-in/check-out area
A refreshment zone
Shelving with her product line
A television showing client transformations
Three treatment rooms
And a private employee area for breaks/lunch

At over 2,000 square feet, we definitely had some space to work with, but where to put everything?!

Nicole’s Office and the treatment room were a no-brainer, but what about the other spaces?

PROBLEM SOLVING (THE LAYOUT)

There was a space Nicole fondly called ‘the nook,’ that she thought could be where her front office assistant would be stationed, because a desk could fit in the space.

I considered it - but what would that flow be like? Someone comes in, has to go through the entryway, take a left down the hallway, and then to the right to check in. It seemed like a lot to ask from clients. Plus - I thought we could make that nook unique with a wall decal - and it would be the perfect spot to have snacks and drinks for clients because it was out of the way, but also across from the waiting area.

The tricky part would be to fit a piece of furniture in the front entryway, as it’s a narrow space. I suggested a tall but narrow secretary desk. That way, a member of her team could be right in front to greet anyone who entered!

Another tricky ask was the TV. In general, you want pieces on walls to be grounded by furniture below. It would feel a little funky to just have a TV on the wall without anything underneath it. And we had to consider the depth of anything that went there since this would be a passthrough area on the way to Nicole’s office.

My sister loves to host events in the space, and also likes to sit and chat with clients at the end of appointments, so I suggested a high top table and stools as a conversation area. She loved it!

As far as the treatment rooms, we had to figure out how to include everything her tech’s needed to do their job. Which was: a treatment bed, stool, client chair, storage for tools and products, small table, laundry basket, and trashcan, which was a LOT considering these rooms are not that large.

The biggest suggestion I can give before beginning any project is to create a layout. It’s way easier to adjust pieces on a computer than purchased/already built pieces that may be too large or too small.

This is the layout we landed on for the entire office.

Final Layout

A general idea and measurements of where everything should go.

CONSTRUCTION, DEMO, AND INSTALL

Nicole had a guy. His name was Phil and he was a Phil-of-all-trades. He could paint, install lights, flooring, build out walls, etc, all while being fairly affordable.

Nicole asked for suggestions on paint colors. Before I could even address that, I told her we had to talk about these floors.

On our first conversation about her new office, I asked Nicole to describe the space she imagined having - and she used the word ‘upscale.’ This gray carpet was not reading as upscale to me, or probably to her clients. I suggested the flooring would have to be replaced. Obviously, that’s not a small ask and a hit to the budget.

She agreed, and wanted light flooring, and I suggested an LVP at Floor and Decor. I chose the cheapest light option available, and she approved!

Luxury Vinyl Planking

We got this from Floor and Decor.

As for paint, there was a beigey gray on the walls. In all of the inspo photos she sent over, the walls were a version of white.

I used Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee on another project, and thought it would be the perfect creamy addition with its warm undertones. Her painter got discounts through Sherwin Williams, so we used a Swiss Coffee color match - Greek Villa.

Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams

A creamy white, similar to Swiss Coffee.

SHOPPING

Now that the reno was under way, we had to start product sourcing. We started with the custom wallpaper Nicole loved. It was beautiful, but some of the colors didn’t feel quite right. After speaking with the designer, we were able to adjust to colors that fit Rejuvenation’s aesthetic.

We used real pieces we planned to purchase (or Nicole already had) to inspire the color palette.

After completing the wallpaper design, I made up some boards with products I recommended. We had a lot to purchase, so it was important that I found budget-friendly options. We used Wayfair a lot - simply because they have a great filter tool and fast, free shipping.

Another design tip is to check all the measurements to be sure they’ll work in the space! Nicole had a lot of existing built-in shelving for products and we measured those out to see how many linear square feet she’d need in her new office.

Here are some of the product boards I made:

CHANGES

She originally wanted a pendant light fixture where this fan was. Although that would’ve looked stunning, we would’ve needed a huge light. The general rule is to add your length and width of the room and convert it to inches, adding or subtracting about 10% for taste. So we’d need a really large 30+ inch light fixture here, which would’ve added another $1500 to the budget. We elected to let the space speak for itself and depend on the recessed lighting instead.

Originally wallpaper was ordered for three walls. There was an issue with measurements for the last wall - we rush-ordered more wallpaper to fill the space, but then Nicole decided the wallpaper would be a little overwhelming there, so we simply painted it instead.

We also originally planned for a rug near the snack area and one in the hallway, but decided they didn’t seem necessary for those areas.

BUDGET

I originally told her furnishing and decor would probably cost between $10-15k just for the purchases (not any work).

What we did: Demoed the flooring and baseboards, installed LVP, painted the entire 2,000 sq ft office, removed overhead fluorescent lights and installed recessed lighting and a pendant light, built out a custom wall and added a door for the employee area, purchased Ikea base and wall cabinets for each office + the hardware, purchased a wall decal and credenza for snack area, new sofa, several area rugs, four product shelves, had a custom pedestal built, bought a television, high top and stools, had custom wallpaper made for 3 walls (only used 2 of them), got a secretary desk for the front door, new bathroom flooring and a faux vanity, and a waterfall bench + pillows.

What we spent: Final budget was about $35K, including purchases and contractor/design work

FINAL PHOTOS

PRODUCTS USED

Here’s what we used!