A well-designed yoga studio can add that little something extra to your client’s experience…
A few minor layout tweaks or a full-on renovation, now is the ideal time to rethink design ideas for your yoga studio or fitness space — for your clients and ultimately for your business!
Whether you’re considering fully redesigning your whole yoga studio or reorganizing your classrooms to ensure more space between students, this beginner’s guide to decorating a yoga studio has you covered.
Below, you’ll find yoga studio design ideas, plus some beautiful fitness and yoga industry examples to use as inspiration. Consider this your inspiration to design the best yoga studio of all time!
The best part? You can use any of these design tips on even the tightest budget.
Step-by-Step Guide to Designing Your Yoga Studio
Step 1: When Possible, Design Your Yoga Studio Around Natural Light
We recommend this approach for hair salons or spa spaces as well, but natural light can improve the vibe of yoga studios possibly even more — especially when you’re trying to make everything feel as bright, clean, and airy as possible.
If you have natural light in your yoga studio, use it in your entry area at least.
If your location feels too busy to leave the windows bare where you’re holding class, consider diffusing the light with some inexpensive panels (IKEA has great ones. Shocker.) rather than covering the windows completely.
Step 2: Don’t Overdo the Decor
It’s way too tempting to add a bunch of lights, plants, throw pillows, shelves for free weights, etc. (redesigning a yoga studio is exciting!), but trust us: a little goes a long way.
All of these elements can help make a space feel luxurious, but we typically recommend picking only one or two accents. If you go with a mural on the hallway wall, maybe skip the plants and vice versa.
By keeping extras to a minimum, you create a breezy and minimalist yoga studio that practically screams “clean, zen, and efficient.” …Which is exactly what we all want out of a yoga studio, right?
Step 3: Plan Extra Space for Moving Around Machines or Equipment
Have you ever slammed your knee into a neighbors machine or awkwardly squeezed between elliptical machines when you were exhausted from a great workout session and dealing with wobbly legs? We know it’s not just us.
So, plan for plenty of space around machines or equipment — as much as you can — and when in doubt, do a test run.
Seriously! Take a stroll through your space, and if you’re under 6′, have a tall friend or coworker do the same. Run into any awkward corners or spaces? Tweak and rearrange.
Step 4: Don’t Skimp on the Bathroom and Entry Room Set-Ups
The little details really make or break the experience, and most often, you find those in the rooms that many yoga or fitness studios tend to neglect.
Is there somewhere comfortable to sit to lace up? Is the bathroom clean and aesthetically aligned with the rest of your space?
Planning for these spaces should also include thinking about the products you’ll leave out like hair ties, dry shampoo, and hand lotion. And consider burning some candles or adding some flowers to your bathroom or entry area to kick things up a notch.
Step 5: Please, Plan for a Water Station
We can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone to a yoga class somewhere that doesn’t provide water or only sells water bottles.
Not all spaces have built-in fountains, but we strongly recommend that you allot some of your monthly budget to water delivery. You can always upsell clients on better water in bottles — or even coconut water to-go — at the front desk.
Step 6: Think About What People Will Need and When — Then, Organize Accordingly
If you have special mats for hot yoga, plan for shelves to store them in the hot yoga room rather than in another room. (Why not?)
Or organize free weights, Pilates rings, fitness balls, or anything else students will need in baskets on wheels, so you can easily carry between studios or different areas of your space.
And don’t forget the sanitizing station. Set up an area where students can drop anything they’ve touched into a “To Clean” basket on their way out.
BONUS: In case you missed it, we also wrote a guide to decorating a hair salon, spa, or beauty business with additional tips that fitness studios can use, too.
