On a busy, sun-drenched stretch of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a playful cafe steeped in the rich, comforting aromas of lavender and honey awaits local residents and design enthusiasts alike. Operating as a quiet and deliberate departure from the chaotic reality of city life, Dear Guest has firmly established itself in the vibrant Silver Lake neighborhood. Rather than feeling like a standard, everyday neighborhood bakery, the establishment feels more like stepping directly into the imaginative opening scene of a celebrated artistic film—a place where narrative, atmosphere, and hospitality intertwine seamlessly.
Designed from the ground up by the Los Angeles-based practice Studio Jialun Xiong, the 1,100-square-foot interior space successfully bridges two distinct aesthetic worlds. It blends the structural elegance and refined sophistication of 1930s Art Deco design with the dreamlike wonder, warmth, and whimsy characteristic of Studio Ghibli’s famous animated worlds. The resulting environment feelssuspended delicately between sweet nostalgia and modern playfulness. Every single interior element has been fully customized specifically for the location, which heavily contributes to its deeply welcoming, surprisingly familiar feel upon arrival.
Reflecting on the overarching vision for the project, designer Jialun Xiong notes the intentional emotional resonance woven into the layout. It is, as she describes it, almost like recalling a memory you cannot quite place. The objective was to craft somewhere that feels deliberately removed from the routine pace of everyday life, where playfulness comes alive primarily through bold choices in colors and unexpected shapes, while an overarching dreamlike quality ties the disparate visual threads together into a cohesive whole.
To achieve this unique atmosphere, the design team drew inspiration from diverse architectural and cultural traditions, notably looking toward Parisian boutique hotels and traditional Japanese ryokans. These carefully layered design references establish an environment that borrows deeply from historical hospitality rituals, extending far beyond surface-level aesthetics into how a visitor actually feels when moving through the room.
Customers begin their journey by entering through an outdoor seating area furnished with custom butter-yellow ombré tabletops and the studio’s newly introduced Extrusion Stools. This initial threshold immediately establishes a vibrant tone of color, pattern, and architectural play that carries forward consistently throughout the entire visitor experience. Once inside, visitors are greeted by a concierge-style pastry counter positioned thoughtfully near the front entrance. Here, traditional European crown molding is paired unexpectedly with a highly reflective silver ceiling, producing a subtle yet captivating surreal effect that disorients and delights the senses.
For Xiong, the pastry counter functions as the literal narrative anchor where the story of Dear Guest truly comes to life. She expresses a personal fondness for that specific sense of arrival and formal hospitality, noting the underlying ambition to construct an experience that transcends merely grabbing a quick coffee and pastry. In her view, this opening gesture captures the distinct personality of the overall project quite naturally.
Geometry and repetition serve as the central organizing principles at the heart of Dear Guest. Circles of varying sizes and soft, rounded forms appear repeatedly in custom mirrors, while strict grid patterns recur systematically throughout the wall panels, plush banquettes, custom lighting fixtures, and the main bar area. The result is a profound sense of deliberate intention, with each individual element thoughtfully curated to advance the unfolding visual narrative within the cafe.
Furnished almost exclusively with bespoke pieces designed by Studio Jialun Xiong, the interior boldly showcases the studio’s philosophy regarding color as an active form of creative expression. The soft, cheerful yellow of the Void Chair contrasts vividly against the rich cocoa-brown leather of the Skeleton Lounge Chair. Meanwhile, dark black glazed tiles and warm gray quartz countertops complement the pearlescent hot-glass tile backsplash that serves as the visual anchor of the main service bar. Despite managing a diverse and complex variety of saturated shades and tactile textures, the physical space successfully maintains a strong sense of architectural restraint and visual consistency.
Addressing the challenges of working with such a vibrant palette, Xiong explains that handling a richer array of colors actually elevates the importance of proportion, rhythm, and visual balance. The studio deliberately aimed for a layered interior that avoids slipping into maximalism, ensuring that a quiet, underlying sense of order continually brings all the visual components together into a harmonious state.
Looking closer at the bespoke details, a neat row of custom pendant lights is suspended gracefully above the dining tables, while a patinated bronze, star-shaped joinery detail subtly adorns the cabinetry situated on the opposite wall. Down the hall in the restroom, silver walls are embellished with hand-painted illustrations featuring classic motifs commonly discovered in grand hotels. Summarizing her design ethos, Xiong emphasizes a preference for mixing elements that feel comforting and familiar with details that lean slightly unusual or playful, leaving visitors with small, delightful discoveries to uncover as they spend time within the space.
