Spa designs generally aim to promote relaxing, rejuvenating, and healthy environments. While there are many ways to achieve this aesthetic, understanding what design elements currently resonate with spa-goers can help spa owners create the ideal space.
1. Warm, Earthy Colors
The Pantone Color of the Year for 2025, Mocha Mousse, signals a general shift away from grey, black, and stark white in design, and toward more earthy, organic colors. “It’s very soft, like skin or soil, and helps you feel grounded,” says Jamie Smith, founder of Happy Haüs Studios in Portland, OR. The warm brown hue is also comforting, offering hints of chocolate and coffee. It works well with other Pantone colors, like Cornsilk, Toasted Almond, and Wisdom Gray, Smith says.
The Benjamin Moore color of the year, Cinnamon Slate, is another great option to incorporate in interior paint colors, furniture, and artwork. It’s a similarly muted brown color, though it leans more toward purple than Pantone’s pick. The colors Benjamin Moore selected to pair with Cinnamon Slate also reflect the desire for warm, natural hues. “There’s an effort across the board to reference nature even in these deeply hued tones,” says Smith. “Even the Sea Salt, Glacier White, and Paris Rain [colors] have an organicness that feels different.”
Ultimately, the ideal color palette depends on the spa’s location, services, and goals. “There’s a color for any aesthetic—it’s just a matter of all the materials working cohesively to support the intention of the design, but generally, a more muted tone rather than too bright is going to support a more relaxed environment,” says Smith.
2. Sustainability
Sustainability in spa design is becoming increasingly important to spa owners and consumers alike, “because we’re moving not only toward longevity but legacy lifestyles,” says Kim Collier, co-founder of Collier Concepts. In other words, incorporating more sustainable building materials and energy into spas benefits current and future generations. “Conscious consumers are really looking for their money to be spent in alignment with their values,” Smith adds.
Working with local vendors and using recycled materials and those that can be found in the environment whenever possible can help reduce waste, create a healthier space, and reduce your carbon footprint.
3. Biophilic Design
Biophilic design, the practice of incorporating natural elements into built spaces, has been a key component of spas for centuries. But over the past decade, interest has grown considerably, given emerging research showing the connection between nature and wellness. “Biophilia is stronger than ever in spa design,” says Molly Forman, an interior designer at //3877 in Washington, D.C. However, simply adding a few plants or a moss wall won’t cut it, “It’s a more thoughtful approach that people want to see,” she says.
For example, water features serve as a natural white noise machine, helping to mask other sounds in the spa. Water is also a very soothing elemental feature that can create a relaxing environment, Smith notes. Large windows that give clients views of the outdoors, along with plenty of natural light, work well in areas surrounded by water and natural landscapes. However, spa owners can also create those landscapes by planting gardens that utilize local plants.
Using textiles, furniture, and building materials that incorporate organic shapes, fabrics, wood, and stone that are local to the area can also provide a connection to nature. “It gives you a deeper sense of grounding when you're intentionally building in response and in relation to the land,” says Smith.
4. Intentional Outdoor Spaces
Forman saw the demand for outdoor spaces skyrocket during the COVID pandemic—and interest keeps climbing. “Outdoor space used to be a very underutilized part of spa planning; we really thought of spas as indoor, and then COVID really changed that,” she says. During the pandemic, spa owners had to pivot to meet the demand for spa services by moving them into outdoor environments for safety.
Tracy Lee, president and founder of TLEE Spas + Wellness, and Michael Lahm, vice president and chief operating officer, designed the Willowbrook Spa at The Lake House in Canandaigua, New York, in the midst of COVID. “We created year-round outdoor sauna gardens that consisted of a barrel sauna, a fire pit, and a hot and cold shower that was available to individual user groups, so it’s a service that’s for sale without [the need for] therapists,” Lahm says.
Spas and clients continue to embrace outdoor spaces post-COVID, making them a key component in spa design. Outdoor spaces can work in different environments, including those with a wide range of temperature swings. To combat the cold, spa designers build heated pavers into floors, add firepits, and integrate heaters into ceilings and terraces. Misters, pools, and shaded areas help clients stay cool in hot environments.
Forman encourages clients not to discount the value of outdoor real estate, and to consider which services they can move into an outdoor space. Services that are less personalized, such as saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs, and pools tend to work best outdoors, she says. Moving those offerings outside can help free up indoor space for treatment rooms and leverage nature to improve the user experience.
5. Social Wellness Space
Bathhouses and saunas have been mainstays in spa culture for centuries. Today, spas are expanding the concept and creating new wellness spaces geared toward social interaction. “We’re turning the golf course into the spa,” Forman says.
Some spas stick to classic bathhouses and saunas, whereas others take a more creative approach. For example, the Art of Aufguss entertainment sauna at the Awana Spa at Resorts World Las Vegas, which Kim and Cary Collier helped develop, is a communal bathing area that provides 30-minute wellness experiences using heat, aromatherapy, music, lighting, and dancing towels. “That social wellness idea is just going bonkers, because it’s making money,” says Cary Collier. Social wellness spaces reduce labor costs, while offering value to clients. He says, “It’s adding a new revenue stream to spas that they desperately need.”
6. Smart Technology
As smart technology has gotten more advanced, it’s become easier to customize aspects such as lighting, music, and air quality to enhance the spa experience. Treatment rooms can be a great place to utilize smart technology in music and lighting. “You can have lights that hook up to equipment, so they automatically dim," says Forman, "You can also hook up the music to a timer and have it get louder or softer or change pace.” For example, the music might gradually soften and slow, and the lights dim throughout the treatment, and then gradually pick back up as the treatment nears the end to help clients perk up. “The trick with technology in the spa is that balance is key,” Smith says. “You still want the design to prioritize presence, touch, and atmosphere over automation, so it's great when technology can be intuitive and kind of work in the background.”