I have a similar setting. I was trained in lighting years ago, I’m not a lighting designer though.
Basically you need task lighting, general lighting and mood lighting. When I do massage, I turn off my overhead lights which provide all over general lighting and I just have my task light creating a puddle of light in one area and my mood lighting. My task light is a flexible over couch daylight lamp and I can turn it to point at the ceiling or to the wall or to point down. So I can use it as a ceiling uplighter or to spot light over a painting which is my go to.
This gives me enough light to show the client into the room and not have her falling over her handbag. I turn my task light off after she’s on the couch.
My mood lighting is illuminated shelves - I’ve got teak wood and Copper IKEA flexi lights clamped to the shelves. I’ve also got several salt lamps and another IKEA lamp with a wicker shade, sort of like a waste paper basket. I lie my wicker lamp on its side so there are interesting fern like, shadow patterns thrown onto the wall behind.
I also have an Indian carved folding screen, painted ebony. I have it open against a wall with all my trailing cables stashed behind it. I have a soft light behind the screen. The contrast of the dark carving and light behind makes an interesting feature.
There are lots of ways you can improvise with inexpensive lighting effects, especially if you use led light bulbs or fairy lights which are hot but less of a fire hazard as the other kinds. You can put a baby table lamp in a waste paper basket and drape a scarf or sarong over. Or make a mini screen out of black cardboard (or painted cereal box) with patterned holes in a outline - say yin and yang. Just stand the cardboard in front of the lamp, not too close as it will get hot. You can put tea lights in lacey cut out holders to create extra “texture”. You can make your own holders by bashing holes in the sides of washed out tin cans in interesting patterns. For safety the top of the flame should be well below the height of the can sides.
When I started in business my salon wasn’t all that. We “dressed” the space with a fist full of tea lights popped into anything we could think of - on saucers with shells and crystals scattered around, in sand filled bowls with zen like patterns drawn on to the sand, in glass jars saved from the recycling. Fairy lights are safer.
Try lights at floor level. Be careful that you’re not turning dust bunnies into a feature or showcasing things you don’t want to highlight. There are all sorts of ways you can conceal or dress up ugly furniture feet.
Finally, you could consider softening your overhead head light by pinning some muslin to the ceiling. It’ll need regular washing as it will attract dust but you could maybe fix a curtain pole to the ceiling (or across the room if the space is narrow) either end of the light fitting and drape muslin in a kind of hammock to create a four poster bed effect. If you use muslin 3 x wider than the width of the pole, the gathers of fabric will soften the light behind quite a bit.
