Moon Gang — This Bali Hotel Makes Tropical Interiors Feel Modern
The pink-shaded Strawberry Moon, symbol of abundance, union, and harmony, wasn’t the only thing to hypnotize Bali’s cultural and spiritual capital, Ubud, this June 29. As Moon Gang, a 5-suite luxury stay immersed in its lush rice fields and winding jungles, debuted in the village, it became instantly clear that a new cult destination was born — or so it was for us at Livingetc.
The boutique hotel, designed by Sydney interior design studio YSG, finds its home in a former private holiday residence that had deteriorated over the years. Acquired by Australian multidisciplinary platform Firstbase Studio, it was transformed into a spirited sanctuary rooted in “Indonesia’s ancient and modern health, music and spiritual rituals, with a utopian spin,” the group shared.
Sleeping up to ten guests, this intimate, airy retreat packs a vinyl-led hi-fi sound experience, complete with a DIY DJ station, and a panoramic outdoor spa into a sojourn that will be hard to forget. Once a bare concrete bunker, Moon Gang is now a contemporary tropical utopia — what would come out if Space Age and Boho design and Japanese modernism had a child. It is also one of the most exciting hotel openings of 2026.
Your first touchpoint with the intimate world of Moon Gang, the hotel’s reception is exemplary in dissolving the boundaries between the inside and the outdoors.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
Produced in collaboration with 15 of the country’s most innovative artisans and makers with locally sourced, eco-conscious materials, the interiors of Moon Gang read as a letter to the future of interiors, catching a glimpse into what the design world could — and should — become: whimsical, climate- and nature-responsible, and yet, undeniably original. Become part of that transition and let your surroundings indoors with the three decor ideas listed below.
1. Move Over, Chemical Dyes — Embrace Plants as the Secret to Pollution-Free, Textile Extravaganza
As we’ve all just experienced in London, curtains take on a whole new meaning and function in hot-climate countries. Moon Gang’s plant-dyed ones prove that screening your rooms from sunshine need not impact your home aesthetic — but can amplify it.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
Light, imaginative, and iridescent, these handmade swathes of fabric add extra charm to any room without releasing chemicals into the environment.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
It’s hard to look at pictures of hotel Moon Gang without being taken by the crisp curtains that, cascading as if in a slow dance from its high ceilings, drape the space almost in its entirety. And so it’s no surprise this was also the first detail to have me think of the destination as a masterclass in future-forward interiors.
Commissioned by YSG for Moon Gang, these custom curtains were hand-dyed by the Balinese textile specialists at Pagi Motley, founded by Andika Putra in 2019 with the goal of “increasing people’s awareness of the dangerous chemical usage on textiles” and its impact on soil.
To color them, they used natural pigments derived from botanical ingredients like indigo, mango, coconut, and ketapang leaves, applying them by hand directly onto the fabric to obtain watercolor-like abstract impressions ranging from marigold and earthy tones to matcha green, aqua, and deep-sea blue. An artisanal process whose manual essence yields results that are unrepeatable and fully unique.
LiBluPlantDyeing
Plant and Hand Dyed Ombre Sheer Curtains in Green Blue Gradient
Into Moon Gang’s breezy-cool look? Try this at home by browsing Etsy’s kaleidoscopic selection of hand-dyed curtains, fabrics, and rugs, this green blue gradient model being one of my personal favorite buys.
LiBuPlantDyeing
Handmade Indigo Plant Dyed Noren Curtain, Japanese Style Room Divider, Eco-Friendly Linen Window Cover
For something more restrained, go color-block-y. Also obtained from indigo dye, this LiBuPlantDyeing curtain set marries functionality, sustainability, and style. It makes me think of essentially beautiful Japanese bedrooms, and would look wonderful styled with lots of chunky, mismatched wooden furniture.
OrientIndigo
Customize Japanese Noren Curtain in Pink & Purple
Another example of how colorful curtains can completely reshape the mood of a room, this OrientIndigo floating set in pink and purple works great as both actual curtains, or as an impalpable, see-through room door or separee.
2. Bring on the Porthole Window — And Let Light and Air Through à la James Turrell
The Sun Dust suite in all of its breezy-chic charm, with expansive curtained doors and a Pantheon-like ceiling porthole.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
The earth-based limeplaster YSG used to breathe new life into the cement architecture of the mansion that now houses Moon Gang — a structural trick that allowed the studio to restore aesthetically damaged walls while giving it a crafty, adobe-style touch — isn’t the only design element of the stay to ensure its interiors stay fresh at all times; so do the Space Age-y organic portholes that, carved into existing structures of the property, create a direct connection between the hotel environments and its tropical outdoors.
Now, blame it on the recently unveiled As Seen Below – The Dome, American artist James Turrell’s 100th ‘skyspace’ artwork, and his most ambitious yet, but I can’t help looking at porthole windows as a key component of innovative interiors.
Taking the form of a monumental ceiling porthole positioned in the subterranean expansion beneath the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and opening up to a cerulean sky-like view, this installation seeks to reveal “that human vision is not like an objective camera: what we see inside arises through the controlled meeting of light, space, and the senses”.
Installation view of James Turrell’s As Seen Below (2026), currently displayed at ARoS, Aarhus, Denmark.
(Image credit: Adam Mørk. Courtesy of the artist and ARoS, Aarhus)
The fantastical details of the Nongkrong Lounge, where local craft sets the scene for music-filled nights, thanks to the in-house, vinyl-powered hi-fi setup and DIY DJ station.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
The same, of course, is true of what we perceive in a home interior, or, like in this case, inside a hotel, something portholes can contribute to altering, and largely in a positive sense. The uneven, glass-less porthole located on the left outer end of the music-filled Nongkrong Lounge, for instance, reframes the inside of the communal area as nothing but an extension of what lies around it — thriving vegetation, undulating tree trunks, and the green-themed Amang Pool Club.
In the suite named Sun Dust, drenched in dense indigo from wooden walls to curtains and artwork, and boasting a distinctively Japanese-infused look, something similar occurs. Casting shadows on a bamboo-base futon bed, a roof porthole stretches the beamed roof beyond its top, just like Apollodorus of Damascus is believed to have done in envisioning the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome back in 126 AD.
Whether implemented for their surreal effect or due to temperature-related concerns, porthole windows provide structural integrity and prevent cracks by evenly distributing pressure. They maximize natural light in tight spaces, improve ventilation without compromising safety, and even add a striking, space-saving architectural feature sure to attract the attention of your guests. No wonder so many design destinations, from Los Angeles’ Melrose Hill district and Madelynn Ringo’s NYC wellness design projects to Vietnamese restaurant Lai Rai in Peckham, are going full ‘Turrell’.
3. Think Old as New — And Let Yourself Be Surprised by the Past Lives of Materials and Furniture
The spectacular POS and display joinery of Moon Gang’s Cosmic Kiosk, custom-designed by YSG and handcrafted by Weedoo from recycled plastic bottle tops.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
Upcycled plastic has been transformed into sculptural loungers now styled in Moon Gang’s lush pool club.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
Perhaps, the greatest lesson Moon Gang’s interiors hold is never to look at objects that have been discarded as something void of potential. Many of the boldest furnishings you’ll encounter in the hotel were made from recycled materials: from the terrazzo-like speckled surface of the Concierge Desk and the Cosmic Kiosk’s POS — bespoke designs realized in collaboration with recycled plastic bottle sheets by Balinese waste-recycling company Weedoo — and the reclaimed timber furniture bringing catching your eye with its odd shapes and uneven silhouettes — custom-designed by YSG and produced by Furnistool Bali — to the BYO Living-manufactured pool loungers, side tables, and bench seats crafted from the Sydney studio’s bespoke designs in recycled plastic.
Rather than hiding or minimizing the use of plastic in the organic scheme of Moon Gang, YSG took a different, more daring approach, and addressed its extensive production by reworking it into something else. At the jungle-like Moon Gang’s Ambang Pool Club, upcycled plastic is the real protagonist; its heritage-inspired knitted outdoor furniture demonstrates that the best way to reduce the negative impact of design is putting a spin on what’s there already.
The benefits of reappropriating these materials aren’t purely aesthetic: essentially beautiful and tactile at heart, the shou sugi ban elements integrated in the scheme (timber slabs made rot-, insect-, moisture-, and UV-resistant through surface charring with fire) guarantee natural weatherproofing without chemical treatment. Finally, the bedside Cloud Pendants that adorn suites like the Velvet Mood, dreamed up by YSG and sculpted from dyed banana leaf paper by studio Greenman Banana, are emblematic of how agricultural waste can be reinterpreted as one-off lighting elements that add instant atmosphere and awe.
DUSK
Akari Origami Easy-Fit Ceiling Light Shade in White
Films like A24’s cult hit The Drama confirm that the charm of pedant paper lanterns like Isamu Noguchi’s is yet to fade, and so does Moon Gang’s cloud-shaped ceiling lamps. With their banana leaf-made shades, they are the perfect addition for a home that feels natural, atmospheric, and crafty. This DUSK alternative will help you recreate the look in your rooms.
Normann Copenhagen
End Table Bit Stack From 100% Recycled Plastic
The confetti surfaces of Moon Gang’s Reception Desk and Cosmic Kiosk are among my favorite design inclusions from the hotel. This Normann Copenhagen stool-cum-coffee table is crafted from 100% recycled plastic for a similar statement look.
DecorPointArt
African Wood Stool: West African Interior Decor
The reclaimed timber accents present throughout Moon Gang make every sojourn there extra tactile, personal, and perfectly imperfect. This African wooden stool available via Etsy lets you get in on the mood with its textural surface and organic finish.
The tiled floors of Moon Gang are another must-steal lesson in contemporary craft.
(Image credit: Tommaso Riva. Design: YSG. Editorial Styling: Lisa Scappin)
Completing Moon Gang’s transportative interior scheme are soft seating and cushions upholstered in fabrics designed by Raf Simons for Kvadrat, and others bearing the signature of leading Italian textile house Rubelli. Surprise statement touches by other designers, like a sculptural standing lamp by Alexis Dornier, also feed into the stay’s colorful triumph.
But really it’s the nature-inspired decor that, impressing more with less, takes the prize this time around: could a new era of hospitality design be on the rise? Hard to tell, but if it were, we know Bali would be leading the charge.
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