Wabi-Sabi Rice Paper Floor Lamp 180cm

Rice paper does something glass and fabric cannot: it scatters light through its own fibres, so the whole shade becomes the light source and the grain of the paper stays visible. This lamp is 180cm tall with a 38cm shade, tall enough to stand as the single strong vertical in a room and wide enough to light the space around it properly rather than just glowing decoratively in a corner.

The frame is bamboo and iron, left deliberately irregular in the wabi-sabi manner, so no two pieces look machine-identical. The paper is stretched over a ribbed former, which is what gives the surface its faint horizontal banding when lit. Warm white light at 3000K keeps the paper looking cream rather than blue-white, and the effect at night is closer to a lantern than to a lamp.

It takes an E27 bulb and one is included, and the whole thing covers about 5-10 square metres as ambient light. Paper is the obvious caution here: keep the lamp away from curtains, radiators and anything that might knock it over, use an LED bulb rather than a hot filament one, and dust the shade with a soft dry brush only, never a damp cloth.

• Height 180cm; shade diameter 38cm
• Rice paper shade on a bamboo and iron frame; each piece varies slightly
• E27 socket with warm white 3000K LED bulb supplied; AC 90-260V
• Supplied for UK mains; fit or use a UK-approved plug or adapter, which is not supplied
• Lights an area of roughly 5-10 square metres
• Use an LED bulb only; keep the paper shade clear of curtains, heaters and open flame
• Dust with a soft dry brush; never wipe the paper with a damp cloth