September 9, 2026

The email that starts most of these conversations goes like this: “We are renovating for eight pedicure stations, and my plumber wants to know if the chairs have drain pumps or not. What exactly do I need to tell him?” Fair question, because “pump” means two very different things on a pedicure chair with pump.

When Ana reopened her nail studio in Austin after a remodel, she told me the one piece she refused to compromise on was the workstation. “The chairs bring clients in,” she said, “but the manicure table is what they stare at for an hour.” She was shopping for a modern manicure table and drowning in

Last month a spa owner in Scottsdale forwarded me the equipment spec her architect had drawn up for a six-room build-out. Buried on page two was a line item she had never seen before: a hydronic beauty bed fed by its own hot-water loop. Her questions, in order: what is it, does my room really