If There's One Design Detail I Want to Steal for My Home in 2026, It's Going to Be the Incredible Paneling From This Colorful Patisserie in Taiwan That's Going Viral on Instagram

With traditional French pastries, opulent Milanese design, and a bustling Taipei setting, Season proves how cross-cultural inspirations can come together to create a beautiful, cohesive design.

In the design, the team at Ecru Studios created not just a cafe, but a show. It's a dramatic exploration across time and place, a multi-sensory experience to indulge and lose yourself within. It's no wonder this patisserie is going viral for its design online, especially for the dynamic, blue wall paneling that gives the space its shock of color.

This approach is a testament to the collaboration between Ecru Studios founders, Jin Chen and Randy Tu, and Chef Hung from Season. "We were drawn to the client’s vision and values,” the duo says. "Founded in 2011 by one of Taiwan’s first traditional French pastry chefs, Season was born from a desire to elevate the brand into something timeless and culturally layered."

They shared a passion for storytelling through design, and an interest in exploring the intersection between 18th-century European style and traditional East Asian design.

And while the space is richly layered and opulent in design, what truly sets this project apart is its ability to hold back. "One moment that stayed with us was during an early meeting with Chef Hung,” remembers Jin Chen, founder and principal designer at Ecru Studio. "He spoke about his years studying pastry in France, and how the philosophy he brought back to Taiwan wasn’t about decoration, but about restraint — knowing when to stop.

"That line became something of a quiet mantra throughout the design process. It reminded us to let certain materials breathe, to hold back when the space was already saying enough."

The Brief

Located in Taipei's Da’an District, this cafe remains deeply rooted in its direct surroundings. The most densely populated area of Taipei, it's known for its rich culinary culture, with cutting-edge fine dining and traditional food stalls standing side by side. It's an area where history and modernity collide.

This spirit of coexistence at least partially formed the basis for this cafe's concept. "Instead of referencing one era or style, we wanted Season to feel like a quiet accumulation of memories, something familiar, yet difficult to place in time," explains Jin. Much like the Da'an District itself, Season cannot be confined to just one moment in time; it combines historic influences with modern sensibilities.

This multi-faceted complexity within the design roots back to the initial concept behind the space — "The original brief was to create a space that feels layered rather than defined by a single narrative," says Jin.

Not only did their design brief begin with a fluid understanding of time, but also of place. "Alongside references from different periods, we also drew from Eastern spatial sensibilities — an emphasis on restraint, rhythm, and the beauty of what is left unsaid."

Understanding the power of holding back, of not giving it all away, and relying on some sense of restraint (much like the recent midimalism trend), is what creates such a relaxing, inviting atmosphere. "The aim was to design an interior where pastry is experienced slowly, almost ceremonially, within a setting that feels composed, tactile, and emotionally resonant," Jin explains.

The Inspiration

Season, and Ecru Studios' design style more broadly, can largely be understood as a cacophony of global influences, drawing as much on Western European design history as it does from traditional Eastern sensibilities.

In many ways, this approach is ingrained within the culture of Taipei. "The city is a place where different eras and cultures coexist effortlessly, much like the way Eastern and Western sensibilities overlap in everyday life," Jin explains.

This is seen within the cafe through the layered complexity of the space, with moments of brightness sandwiched between cocooning, earthy color palettes.

Upon first glance, the thick swathes of velvet curtains and fringed sofas bring to mind the design aesthetic of 18th-century Paris, with a distinctly Rococo-esque flourish. However, upon closer inspection, details like the swirling blue motifs on the wall and the geometric, wooden detailing bring a swanky, Art Deco feel to the place.

The team also drew inspiration from the Art Nouveau movement and traditional East Asian aesthetics. "The design is informed by multiple periods and sensibilities, layered together rather than quoted directly," they say.

In doing this, Jin and Randy essentially created a new, unique cultural language, a combination of different periods and aesthetics transformed into something distinctly their own.

"There are moments of restraint inspired by Jean-Michel Frank, alongside the fluidity and ornamented softness associated with Rococo and Art Nouveau," Jin says, "These are balanced by the geometry of Art Deco and the reduction of modern design, filtered through an East Asian appreciation for simplicity and proportion."

By bringing together these various influences, the team created a space in which Western and Eastern, modernity and tradition, and opulence and restraint can seamlessly coexist.

The Process

Typically, when attempting to create a timeless, unplaceable quality within a project, it's the original architecture of your property that will act as the biggest hurdle in achieving this. Whether your home is Edwardian, Georgian, or Victorian, it can be hard to escape the influence this architecture will have over your final design.

Contrastingly, in this project, the original architecture formed a blank canvas, offering space for creative freedom. Built in the 1970s, this space held the qualities typical of Taipei apartments — modest, simple, with no obvious decorative features.

But while the simplicity of the original structure offered Jin and Randy a sense of freedom, the physical constraints within the space provided a challenge. Spanning a relatively limited 100 square meters, the cafe had to exist within the confines of four distinct zones.

Instead of attempting to knock through these zones and create one, open-plan space, they chose to embrace these individual zones, infusing each with a distinctly unique function and design, while simultaneously maintaining a sense of continuity throughout them all, showing how to zone a room with color.

Emphasizing the sense of separation between these areas, thick swathes of fabric act as doorway curtains, with a dramatic theatricality that brings a sense of occasion to the space. Explaining the thought behind this, Jin says, "For Season, we approached the design as a kind of sensory theater: a place not just to consume, but to feel."

The concept of Season as a 'sensory theater' feels a particularly apt description of the final design. Wooden-clad cubbies with velvet seating act as the private boxes, and the red curtain-covered bar area has a secret, 'backstage' feel to it. The rooms unfold onto one another, inviting you to explore, sink into the plush, fringed seating, and watch the show unfold.

The ability to embrace and explore this spirit of theatricality within a design project is something that feels unique to commercial spaces.

"Designing a commercial space requires a different kind of sensitivity — one that balances brand identity, customer experience, and operational flow," Jin explains.

"Unlike residential projects, which are often more restrained by the client’s daily habits and personal comfort, commercial spaces actually allow us greater freedom to explore bold ideas in materials, storytelling, and spatial composition. We can be more expressive with color, scale, and detail — creating an environment that becomes part of the brand’s narrative and emotional memory."

The Design

"The blue was introduced as a moment of tension within an otherwise muted, gentle palette," explains Jin, which feels like a breath of fresh air, invigorating the space with a sense of movement and excitement.

This bright, cobalt blue has had various moments of design significance. It's reminiscent of the ultramarine shade of Yves Klein blue, as well as the decorative paintings on traditional Delft tiles. Jin says, "It echoes traditional pigments often found in Eastern ceramics and craft, while also carrying a clarity associated with modern and Art Deco interiors."

It provides a sense of contrast and continuity in the cafe, a repeated color motif across the four zones. "Within the space, the blue acts almost like a visual pause, grounding the softer elements and creating contrast without disrupting the overall calm," says Jin.

When I first saw this cafe, the one design element that stood out to me above all else, despite the endless moments of beauty, was undoubtedly the cobalt blue wall paneling.

"It echoes classical wall paneling, yet its simplicity and proportions are informed by modern design and Eastern architectural restraint," explains Jin. Although harking back to a traditional architectural feature, the striking shade and crisp, geometric design lend this modern wall paneling a contemporary, almost futuristic look. Repeated throughout the rooms, "Rather than standing out as a decorative element, the paneling becomes a quiet framework that holds the space together."

Intensifying this 'quiet framework', the shade is repeated, not on the panels cladding the lower walls, but instead sweeping across the walls in a simplistic, but striking wall mural. Acting as frames for the wall sconces, these swooping blue lines adorn and decorate the walls of the cafe.

"We worked with local artist Genggeng to create a hand-painted mural inspired by an ancient Shang Dynasty motif, and incorporated patterned textiles featuring symbolic Asian iconography — mystical signs and totems unique to regional visual traditions,” says Jin.

Alongside these distinctly Asian motifs and patterns, Jin and Randy create visual references to the iconic Milan cafes, with the custom wooden flooring and the decorative fringing and piped cushions.

Recreate the Look

"Ultimately, the space is a convergence of East and West, old and new, told through fabric, light, and layered storytelling," explains the design duo.

It's complex, layered, and above all, completely gorgeous, as well as a masterclass in contrast in interior design.