# The Potion Shop

> An alchemist's shop with a working counter, a wall of potions, and nowhere to hide the mess.

https://narunest.com/portfolio/the-potion-shop

Style: Shopfront, Cozy

The idea: A shop that reads as a shop the moment you step in — stock on the walls, work on the counter, and no attempt to look tidy.

The room is built around one long counter that runs most of its length. Everything a customer needs is on it or behind it: sorted stock at one end, the working end at the other, and the alchemist's own clutter in between. There's no back room, so the whole trade happens in view.

Colour does the organising. The potion racks are graded so the wall reads as a band of colour against the deep red damask, while the boxed goods stay deliberately neutral and recede. Almost everything bright in the room is either stock or flame.

Light comes from four sources with no ambient fill — the latticed windows, the candles, the fire, and the potions themselves. The corners stay dark, which is what keeps a small dense room from feeling like a display case.

What went into it:
- One long counter doing all the work — display, service and workbench along a single run
- Potion racks graded by colour so the wall reads as one band against the red damask
- A wall of apothecary drawers behind the counter, left as unbroken texture
- The lit cauldron sits at floor level, keeping its light below eye line
- Hanging herbs and a planted shelf above the windows to close the room in at the top
- Seasonal dressing kept to the top surfaces, so it can be swapped without touching the layout

Photographs:
- The shop floor along the counter — boxed goods stacked ready to go out, a rack of coloured potions and an open flame beyond (caption: Stock waiting to go out, and the whole shop behind it.)
- The shop seen from the doorway — a long counter, racks of coloured potions and a curved dark-wood bookcase (caption: The whole trade, visible from the door.)
- The counter's working end, with a fanged cauldron glowing at floor level and a draped round table beside it (caption: The working end, deliberately untidy.)
- A stained-glass rose window above a row of lit candles, set against a wall of apothecary drawers (caption: Stained glass and candles against the drawer wall.)
- Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves beside an occult print, with two glowing orbs on stands (caption: Reference material, and a secret entrance.)
- Shelves of coloured potions and hanging herbs lit by glowing foliage, with a carved pumpkin above (caption: Stock graded by colour, lit by glowing foliage.)
- The counter run seen down its length, drawer wall and latticed window beyond
- A shelf of stoppered jars beside red candles and a pale crystal (caption: Detail: jars, candles and crystals.)