Workshop journal
Workshop journal: choosing lamps, materials, cafés
Notes from the four makers: how high to hang, 2700K or 3000K, rattan or paper, lamps for cafés and homestays.
- Start here · 8 min read · Đặng Thu Hà
Lighting a café under 80 m²: one pool of light per table
Why evenly lit cafés feel like offices, how to hang one lamp per table, 2700K or 3000K for a café, splitting the switches, and installing without closing for a day.
- Start here · 8 min read · Huỳnh Thị Mến
Rattan pendant lights: what to look for and how to keep them
How to tell a carefully woven shade, how rattan, seagrass and bamboo differ, damp-proofing, cleaning, and why a rattan lamp does not belong in a bathroom.
- Start here · 10 min read · Đặng Thu Hà
Pendants for the living and dining room: three numbers to know
How far above the table, how wide compared with the table, how much light, and an open or closed shade. With a lookup table by table size and ceiling height.
- 22 Sept 2026Export rattan lamps and small-workshop lamps: where they differExport goods are made in batches to a foreign buyer's spec; a small workshop makes one lamp for one room. What to check in the weave, frame, cable and socket.Materials · 5 min
- 1 Sept 2026Raw brass darkens over the years, and that is normalWhy uncoated brass lamp frames change colour, whether you can keep them bright, and when a matte black or white frame makes more sense.Materials · 5 min
- 25 Aug 2026A bedside lamp in dó paper: light through bark paperDó paper is made from the bark of the dó tree: strong, fibrous, resistant to insects. Why light through it is soft, which bulbs to use, where to avoid it.Materials · 6 min
- 18 Aug 20262700K or 3000K: choosing warm light for a bedroom2700K is the yellowish white of an old incandescent bulb, 3000K a warm white with less yellow. Which room suits which, what the box says, and why we use 2700K.Choosing lamps · 5 min
- 11 Aug 2026Choosing lamps for a homestay in a cold, damp town like Đà LạtBedside lamps you can read by without glare when lying down, 4 W or 6 W bulbs, materials that tolerate damp, and how we crate and install from Saigon.Cafés and stays · 5 min
- 21 Jul 2026Fifteen 6 W bulbs, twelve hours a day: the electricity billWork it out yourself: watts times hours times the business tariff. Example: the 90 W set at Thềm Chiều café, using EVN's tariff and the 2026 peak hours.Cafés and stays · 6 min
- 30 Jun 2026Rattan, seagrass or bamboo: three fibres, three kinds of lightRattan bends and can be woven open, so light escapes sideways. Seagrass weaves tight and sends light down. Bamboo is stiff and suits geometric shades.Materials · 5 min
- 12 May 2026Rattan lamps in the rainy season: preventing and treating mouldWhy rattan takes on moisture, where not to hang it, monthly cleaning, and what to do if spots appear on the shade. What our warranty covers.Materials · 5 min
- 24 Mar 2026A 2.6 m ceiling can take a pendant, if it hangs in the right placeOver a table, yes; over a walkway, no. Working out cable length for 2.6 and 2.7 m ceilings, and choosing a flat shade or a tall one.Choosing lamps · 6 min
- 17 Mar 2026How high above the table, and how many pendants for a long oneAbout 70 to 80 cm from tabletop to the bottom of the shade. One or two pendants over a 1.6 m table, spacing, and what to do when the ceiling outlet is off-centre.Choosing lamps · 6 min