Street-front Shop

A café and lounge interior where the ceiling above the counter and the banquette seating is filled with hand-made paper lanterns. Shades hang at individual drop heights on a single black cord each, so the canopy reads as a soft, layered cluster rather than a straight row.

The specification mixes two tones on purpose: cool white-blue shades over the service counter, warmer cream shades over the seating. The same rice-paper construction is used throughout — only the dyed tone and the diameter change.

The point is what happens to light after it passes through cotton paper — it no longer feels harsh or flat. It scatters, softens, diffuses.

Mixed diameters create depth. Three or four different sizes stop the canopy reading as a flat plane.

Two tones zone the room. Cool over the counter, warm over the seating — no extra fixture needed.

Varying drop heights soften the ceiling. Following the ceiling recess keeps the cluster from looking hung at random.