Commercial Design

Great Spaces: Inside a Pink Monochrome Salon That Embrace the Bold

Qualicum Beach is thinking pink thanks to this stunning salon by Ivory Design Company.

By Alyssa Hirose /
Sonja Spaetzel

The Pink Label Salon owner Chantel Cody developed her whole brand around a rosy hue, so it was only natural that her first hair studio would embrace all things pink. “Chantel is so much fun, and has such positive energy,” says Alana Dick of Ivory Design Company, who Cody hired to design her salon. The space would reflect the owner’s bright and bold personality—a brave choice in a relatively conservative Vancouver Island town.

“We had a minimal budget, so we had to get very creative with materials,” explains Dick. To give the once-boxy café space some shape, the designer and her team used plumbing pipes sawn in half to create a curve effect behind the reception desk. The desk itself was outfitted in porous 2-by-2 tiles (“like the kind you would use in a swimming pool,” says Dick) and almost everything in the salon was splashed with a soft blush: Benjamin Moore’s Aztec Lily, in a matte finish.

Photo by Sonja Spaetzel

The decor in the salon was selected meticulously to match the simplicity of the palette. “We wanted to get that all-pink vibe with texture and no pattern—there is no pattern whatsoever in the shop,” says Dick. The custom shelving that displays The Pink Label’s products is outfitted with LED lights and whimsical geometric cutouts, and it’s covered in a thick plaster that Dick compares to cake icing. Curvilinear shapes create shadow, while the monochrome look—maintained in everything from the sculptural CB2 pendant light to the statement-making Roly Poly chair picked up at Gabriel Ross—ups the drama and lets the materials shine. 

“It’s like walking into a functioning piece of art,” says Dick. The postmodern, pop-art-inspired salon is about as Instagrammable as it gets—perfect for clients showing off their new ’do. Passersby can’t help but peek into the fabulous space, which the designer says was exactly what the owner was looking to achieve: “She wanted to turn Qualicum on its head, like, ‘Hey, I’m here.’”

Photo by Sonja Spaetzel

MORE GREAT SPACES: This Is What Happens When a Designer Designs Her Own Studio

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, illustrator and comic artist. Her work has been featured in Vancouver magazine, Western Living, BCBusiness, Avenue, Serviette, Geist, BCLiving, Nuvo, Montecristo, The Georgia Straight and more. Her beats are food, travel, arts and culture, style, interior design and anything dog-related. She publishes a daily autobiographical comic on Instagram at @hialyssacomics.