International Wallpaper Week 2021, 4-10 Oct

This week celebrates the 5th year of International Wallpaper Week 2021. Originally launched as National Wallpaper Week in 2016, by wallpaper manufacturer Graham & Brown, the annual event is a chance to celebrate all that is great in the world of wallpaper, from its design, craft and heritage to how it can transform a space. To celebrate the event we asked our interior design team to choose some of their favourite wallpapers from 2021 to inspire everyone to fall in love with wallpaper.   

 

Haiku - Philip Jeffries

Luxury wallpaper brand Philip Jeffries often lead the way with innovation, style and beauty in wallpapers and their collections this year are no exception. The biggest challenge for our designers was picking a single wallpaper from all they have to offer, in the end the vote went to Haiku, a breathtakingly beautiful wall panel showing large scale cherry blossoms and twisting branches against an emerald sky. The design is in the style of a Japanese sumi-e ink wash painting. Two other stand-out wallcoverings from Philip Jeffries were in contention for inclusion on this list, the stunning Styled in Studs, a wallcovering with hand rivetted studs in a geometric design inspired by cain chairs, and Burled Chevron, thinly sliced poplar veneers which have been washed with colour before being hand laid in an angular pattern on metallic grounds for a touch of glamour. If you want to be inspired Philip Jeffries is a great starting point, the range of materials, designs and textures is simply incredible. As an added bonus Philip Jeffries' latest incredible designs, including Haiku, can be downloaded as a free wallpaper for Zoom meetings, so you can try out the designs before you buy and take a poll from your friends and colleagues on your next call.

 

 

Tropical Leaf - Mind The Gap

Its hard to believe Mind The Gap are only in their fifth year, this Romanian based luxury interiors brands arrived on the scene in 2016 with a bang and have been growing in popularity every year. This trendsetting brand is recognised globally for their distinctive and unique style of home furnishings inspired by global culture and the iconic creations of mankind. The brand puts their unique style down to their Romanian roots and its position as a crossroads between East and West, with a rich and diverse cultural tradition, and these influences are certainly evident in their noteworthy Transylvanian Roots collection released earlier in the year. However, the wallpaper our designers opted for was Tropical Leaf, this simple wallpaper design with a lush arrangement of oversized tropical vegetation seemed to capture the trend for botanical papers, with an on-trend colour palette, and delicate brushstrokes on the leaves giving the design real depth, keeping it visually interesting but with an overall simplicity which makes it a very versatile wallpaper. 

 

Samal Helix – Arte

Arte are renowned for their beautiful wallpapers but the Samal wallcoverings simply take your breath away when seen in person. Each of the four Samal wallcoverings is made from mother of pearl shells which catch and reflect the light to stunning effect. Three of the designs are geometric patterns with the fourth being a wave pattern reminiscent of Seigaiha ripples. Out of the four possible Samal designs are designers opted for Helix, its geometric T-shaped design really brings the wallpaper to life, with 3-dimensional cubes appearing to protrude from the wall, which when combined with the reflective shells and their natural variations results in a stunning wallcovering which appears to change as the light in the room changes.  

 

 

Dandelion Clocks – Sanderson

Dandelion Clocks has remained one of Sanderson’s top selling fabrics and wallpapers ever since Fiona Howard created this fun 50’s retro pattern in 2009. Dandelion Clock is a classic because in its beautiful simplicity it perfectly captures the design style of the 1950s. This year Sanderson treated us to Dandelion Clocks wallpaper in six colourways as part of the Sanderson 160 collection, a celebration of 160 years since the founding of Sanderson. The colourways chosen by Sanderson all preserve the design’s retro appeal with sympathetic 1950s colour palettes and our choice shown below is Blackcurrant. Out of the 6 designs on offer this year four were existing colourways, Chaffinch, Blackcurrant, Red, and Slate, and two were new colourways, Coral, a mix of pink, orange and red Dandelion heads, and Metallic Smoke, with browns, beige and greys. 

 

 

Fullerton – Osborne & Little

Osborne & Little are known for their exquisite wallpaper designs and their collections for 2021 included the impressive Empyrea and Japanese inspired Kanoko. After some deliberation our designers chose Fullerton as their favourite Osborne & Little paper this year. The floral design is as an all-over design of garden flowers, featuring chrysanthemums, peonies, anemones, tiger tulips and violets. There were plenty of fantastic floral wallpapers to choose from this year but what made the designers pick this over other floral wallpapers was the wonderful colours and the way the shading on each flower really makes them come to life giving a real sense of depth to the design, the fact that there is a matching fabric collection is a real bonus giving lots of opportunities to work this into an interior design scheme. 

 

 

Kensington Palace – Zoffany

Japanese influence has continued to be popular this year, with most of the luxury wallpaper brands launching at least one Japanese inspired collection or series of wallpapers. Two noteworthy collections with Japanese influence which you may not have already seen are Arte’s Tokyo Blue collection, which includes a stunning denim wallcovering with embroidered Indigo Macaques, and Scion's Japandi wallpaper and fabric collection, a fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian style, with a focus on simplicity, natural elements and comfort. However, the Japanese inspired wallpaper which got our designers vote this year was Zoffany’s Eastern Palace wallpaper by Sam Wilde. This magnificent wallpaper, released as part of Zoffany’s Kensington Walk collection, depicts Japans four main islands, each represented by the four seasons, in a design which is full of ancient shinto shrines, temples and monuments, beside which sits a rich tapestry of endemic seasonal flora and topiary. Beneath the islands lie sleeping giant kami, represented by the animals only found in Japan, the elusive giant catfish, giant salamander, samurai crab and stone turtle. The design, which is in a traditional Japanese style, is also printed on grasscloth adding a wonderful tactile dimension. This is a breathtakingly beautiful wallcovering, with so much detail there is always something new to discover, but kept tranquil and serene by the simple indigo colouring.

 

 

Willow – Morris & Co.

Morris & Co’s wallpapers have stood the test of time, never out of fashion, as testament to this the brand has just released their Simply Morris collection celebrating 160 years since the founding of the company by William Morris.  However, the paper we have chosen is Willow in yellow, which formed part of the Queens Square collection, a selection of papers chosen by renowned architect Ben Pentreath. Willow is one of the most recognisable of all Morris designs, first produced in 1874 it has been popular ever since. But what attracted our designers to this particular colourway was the uplifting sunshine yellow which gives the design a modern contemporary feel.

 

 

Minakari Rosewood – Designers Guild

The penultimate wallpaper our designers chose was Minakari in Rosewood from Designers Guild. The design is full of beautifully painted blooms and trailing leaves but with an overlaying design delicately changing the colours to subtly reveal a geometric pattern, giving a contemporary update to floral wallpapers. There is also a matching fabric. 

 

 

Afrika Kingdom – Cole & Son

The final wallpaper in our highlights of 2021 is Cole & Son’s soon to be released Afrika Kingdom wallpaper, part of their Jabula collection created in partnership with luxury lifestyle brand Ardmore. Any one of the wallpapers in this collection could have made the list with their fantastic celebration of African flora and fauna of the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, each one showcasing the fabulous Ardmore design style, but the our designers opted for Afrika Kingdom in metallic bronze which evokes the golden hour on the savanna.

 

We hope you have enjoyed seeing our designers top picks and it has inspired you to check out the other fantastic luxury and branded wallpapers on offer. With greater variety than ever before now is the perfect time to rediscover the beauty of wallpapers.