Owning at least one paper light is a rite of passage for many of us. Whether you’re spending a small fortune on a giant Noguchi pendant or you have fond memories of covering the bare bulbs in a student house with £1 IKEA lanterns; there’s a timeless and almost universally-liked appeal to uncomplicated paper lighting.
In summer, they have an organic feel and a weightlessness that lends itself to bright days, crumpled linens and natural textures. In winter, they emit a warm and subdued light that could make even the most sparsely decorated room feel cosy and enveloping. They’re unpretentious and visually quiet in their simplicity, yet they’re often the statement piece in a room – an unintentional talking point. They look equally at home everywhere from Japan to Scandinavia, the UK to the US. Wherever they’re placed, paper lights looks like they belong. There’s a sense of ease.
Like any good design classic, paper lights aren’t linked to a particular trend or period in time. Hang a rice paper pendant from the ceiling and it could be thirty years old or it could be three months old. US-based stylist Athena Calderone recently shared a series of Instagram images of the different lights she’s used above her dining table, asking her followers for their thoughts. Someone described the paper shade as being “the least spectacular” and yet it was their favourite because “it makes the room feel like home”.
Other examples of excellent paper lighting are Sandra Bullock’s New York townhouse designed by Ashe Leandro, 8 Holland Street founder Tobis Vernon’s Somerset cottage, Heckfield Place hotel, the Eames House in California, Bao restaurant in King’s Cross, Abisola Omole’s former Islington store, a tiny flat designed by Beata Heuman, Atelier Ellis founder Cassandra Ellis’s home and content creator Brittany Bathgate’s Norwich home.
Paper lights are one of the oldest decorating tricks in the book – they existed long before the arrival of lightbulbs or reasonably priced Swedish meatballs. A really long time before. Originating in China; paper and bamboo lanterns have been made for festivals and celebrations since the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD). It’s testament to the design that modern paper lighting remains so similar to its ancestors in both material and construction.
If you’re in any way immersed (or at least interested) in the world of interior design; chances are there’s one name that springs to mind immediately when you think of paper lights. Isamu Noguchi – the late Japanese-American artist who revolutionised paper lighting in the 1950s with his Akari Light Sculptures.
Noguchi developed the prototypes for his iconic paper lights in 1951 after a visit to Gifu, which is a town in Japan known for its manufacture of paper lanterns. Over the years, Noguchi created over 100 different lights for his collection, ranging from standing lamps that resemble a teetering stack of blocks to hanging pendants in UFO-like shapes. Most are off-white but some are colourful and decorative, giving a nod to the East Asian tradition of painting letters or symbols on to paper lights.
Even now, more than 80 years later, Noguchi’s designs continue to be hand-made by a team of craftsmen in Gifu. They’re still produced in relatively small numbers, using strips of washi paper (derived from mulberry tree bark) glued to a bamboo frame. This goes some way to explaining their painfully long lead times of around a year, six months if you’re lucky.
At the Noguchi exhibition in London’s Barbican Centre back in 2021, the artist’s lighting designs hung en-masse throughout the art gallery, bathing the room in a soft glow. A particularly large, round light sculpture in one of the spaces had visitors entranced as they walked by, in the same way you might pause to admire a full moon in the night sky.
Having progressed through the paper lighting ranks over the years, from IKEA to Habitat and then to HAY, this writer eventually saved up to buy the original – a much-longed-for Akari 75D. I don’t regret it for a second. To me, it’s exquisite. I admire it in the same way I would a piece of art. The lamp’s cheaper high-street copies are often optic-white and perfectly neat. The paper can also look very thin. The Noguchi shade is a creamy off-white, so it’s less severe, plus the paper itself has a pleasing thickness and character, with crinkled joins along the seams and creases that give it an effortless, lived-in look. 1stDibs usually has a variety of rare or vintage Akari lights for sale and if you’re buying brand new, try Nest or Aram Store for a good selection. Though, the widest variety of designs can be found at the Noguchi Museum shop in Long Island City, New York.
The late industrial German designer Ingo Maurer was nicknamed “the poet of light” and he’s recognised as one of the world’s great lighting designers. Maurer experimented with many different and unusual mediums and his white paper designs are incredibly beautiful, with a visual lightness and sculptural quality. They feel especially desirable at the moment, alongside the renewed popularity of pared-back nineties and early noughties interiors. Intentionally creased and oversized, these minimalist lights are hand-made in Munich using Japanese paper. The Lampampe table lamp is particularly striking, as is the Floatation suspension lamp. The designer’s Mamo Nouchies table lamp is unbelievably delicate – a work of art.
If you’re on a budget or time is of the essence, the HAY pendant shade is great value for money, especially if you have the ceiling height and space to handle their largest size, which gives a particular sense of drama. There are many affordable options on Etsy, as well as trusty old IKEA and H&M Home. For a contemporary alternative to a classic globe, try Ferm Living, Kave Home, Santa & Cole, HAY’s cube lamp
For a child’s bedroom, take inspiration from lampshade brand Hum London, who worked on a commission for Rixo’s flagship store on the King’s Road, painting colourful Matisse-inspired motifs on large rice paper shades. If you buy an inexpensive IKEA shade, it could be a craft idea for a rainy day. Otherwise, &Tradition has a printed light along similar lines. Habitat also have a selection of cheerful and decorative designs for children.
The real joy of a paper light is its versatility. It will complement any room and any style of architecture, it will remain relevant as your tastes and interiors change. If you move from a bright loft apartment filled with Modernist furniture to a creaky little cottage with an abundance of colour and busy pattern; a paper light will suit both. Our homes should feel like sanctuaries and the gentle material and opaque glow of a paper light has the comforting feeling of a candle – like a source of warmth in the corner of a room on a winter morning.
