Wallpaper is a great way to make a room come alive and showcase your personality and aesthetic through the choice of colours and patterns. It can be a piece of art in its own right. But, choosing a wallpaper for your home can be daunting as there are so many things to consider – from pattern and price, to scale and colour, as well as sustainability credentials.
The wallpaper needs to be the right scale so that it doesn’t overwhelm the room but makes enough impact, the colours need to work with your furniture and home accessories, and the chosen shades should be based on how much natural light the space in question usually gets so that it doesn’t end up appearing too dark.
And that doesn’t even cover the overwhelming price aspect, the amount of choice available on today’s market to choose from and how sustainable the brand and particular wallpaper are – what kind of paper is it printed on? Is it FSC-certified? What inks does it use? Is it non-toxic? Is it coated with any plastic elements? – just to name a few.
So, to make the process a little easier and smoother, we’ve rounded up 15 favourite wallpaper brands of varied styles and aesthetics, all of which we believe do a pretty great job at all, or at least some, of the aspects we’ve just mentioned. And we’re confident there is something for everybody in this beautiful shortlist.
1838 Wallcoverings
Rooted in tradition, 1838 Wallcoverings is a luxury wallpaper brand named after the year the first wallpaper machine was pioneered. Founded much more recently in 2015 by brother and sister duo, James and Abigail Watson, the company’s wallpapers are printed at its Lancashire factory using four surface print machines which are over 100 years old and only few of which are left in the world.
Coming from a family with rich wallpaper printing experience across its last four generations, the two owners opted for the surface print technique because it results in a hand-painted effect, which is most evident in their mural designs, mostly depicting foreign lands filled with palm trees, tropical flora and exotic birds printed with water-based, non-toxic inks free from VOCs. This technique also originates from the year 1838.
The company is not only FSC-certified, using non-woven bases made from wood pulp and natural fibres, but it’s also part of the FSC Chain of Custody. And the brand is also a 0% to landfill manufacturer with any waste created in the making of its wallpapers being sent to be recycled to make energy.
Abigail Borg
Abigail BorgFocusing largely on illustration-style floral and other botanical motifs, Abigail Borg is a wallpaper and fabric designer based in Birmingham. Her timeless, intricate designs are all drawn by hand, one of which has won her a British Design Award for the Best British Pattern.
Setting up her Birmingham design studio in 2009 after a short stint in London, Abigail’s work has never been driven by trends, which is why her wallpapers work just as well today as they did 15 years ago and as they will in another 15 years from now. This is demonstrated by the levels of popularity of some of her original patterns and new collections like Kappar, a seagrass-inspired design launched at the end of January, being very comparable.
Abigail’s wallpapers are all made in the UK, printed with water-based inks on FSC-certified paper free of any vinyl or PVC coating.
IG: @abigailborg
Abigail Edwards
Abigail EdwardsSustainability is central to Abigail Edwards’ work. Each of the Gloucestershire-based designer’s wallpapers are printed in England at one of the few remaining traditional family-run printers, using water-based inks free of toxins and FSC-certified paper from sustainably managed forests.
Having trained as a pattern designer and later working as an interior stylist and writer for publications about interiors and homeware brands, the award-winning designer has been hand-drawing her patterns in her studio, which are later turned into wallpapers, fabrics or tiles, since 2011.
Abigail’s style is delicate, serene and harmonious, often inspired by nature and fairytales. Her latest Shells collection, launched at the beginning of the month, is inspired by seashells collected on various holidays and aims to transport you to the peaceful, happy moments at the beach.
IG: @abigailjedwards
Annika Reed Studio
Annika Reed StudioIn Annika Reed’s own words, her wallpaper designs are for those who love a life less ordinary. Annika established her London studio in 2018 after being pregnant with her daughter and searching for an imaginative wallpaper to decorate her nursery with, which was sophisticated, yet fun and quirky but without being too childish. Of course, she failed to find such a design and with a degree in fine art printmaking under her belt, she ended up making it herself.
Now, Annika specialises in woodblock-printed wallpapers and textiles, a technique that she acquired during a residency at the University of Shanghai in China. The method consists of hand-drawing a design onto a piece of Asian food and then carving the pattern into the wood that’s then used to print with non-toxic inks. The result is a richly coloured, painterly print.
Her latest collection, Dancing Queen, was designed in Annika’s new studio in Somerset, inspired by the lively yet rhythmic nature of dance.
Bobbi Beck
Bobbi BeckThe only common thread uniting Bobbi Beck’s very varied wallpaper designs is their boldness – whether that’s colourful, 1970s-inspired graphic patterns, immersive, painterly jungle murals or blooming tree branches surrounded by hummingbirds.
The sustainable, luxury wallpaper brand is led by its CEO and creative director James Mellan-Matulewicz, who oversees a team of designers working out of the company’s Cornwall-based design and print studio, which is carbon neutral since sustainability is so important to the brand identity. Bobbi Beck is very transparent about its sustainable efforts, creating a whole page on its website about the subject.
Each design is made to order and printed on paper sourced from certified sustainable forests using water-based, non-toxic inks. The company’s packaging is 100% plastic-free and recyclable, while 90% of its wallpapers are PVC-free.
Deborah Bowness
Deborah BownessDeborah Bowness has been designing and making wallpaper since 1999, following her studies in surface pattern and textile design and constructed textiles at Leeds College of Art & Design and Royal College of Art. Given her background in art, Deborah’s wallpaper designs are artistic too and push the envelope of what a wallpaper can look like.
Based in the coastal town of St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, Deborah makes wallpapers that play with illusion, blending into interiors and interacting with a space without the obvious look of a wallpaper. From life-sized dresses seemingly hung on the wall to a fully tiled effect, Deborah’s designs never cease to play and trick the eye in the best way possible.
IG: @deborah_bowness
Lust Home
Lust HomeLust Home wallpapers are designed with a bit of wow factor in mind – or as the brand itself calls it, it’s wallpaper that makes you go ‘ooh la la’. Each pattern is bold, coloured in vibrant shades, often inspired by funky 1970s interior styles.
Sold exclusively online, Lust Home specialises in original wallpaper designs created and printed in-house in the UK. Taking inspiration from people and customers and seeing how they live, the brand’s patterns are often right on trend, whether that’s psychedelic chequered designs or softer gingham, which is traditional for textiles rather than wall coverings. But at the same time, the wallpapers are made to be durable and stand the test of time.
Printed on FSC-certified paper, the company uses food-safe inks free from VOCs. All of Lust Home’s packaging is also recyclable in the brand’s effort for sustainability.
IG: @lust.home
Mini Moderns
Mini Moderns Mini Moderns creates pattern with a story. Started in London in 2006 by two designers, Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire, the duo sources inspiration for their wallpapers and other home accessories from the mid-century modern aesthetic of the 1950s and 60s, along with vintage toy motifs, childhood memories, travel and literature. This results in retro-style whimsical and repetitive motifs like from city houses to a cabin surrounded by trees of the woods.
Keith and Mark are so fond of mid-century modern that they even published a book on the subject with Kyle Books, titled ‘Mid-century Modern Living: The Mini Moderns Guide to Patterns and Style’.
Produced in the UK to keep the company’s carbon footprint to a minimum, Mini Moderns’ designs are made locally by people with whom the designers have a long-standing relationship.
IG: @minimoderns
Minibeau
MinibeauBefore starting Minibeau, founder Jen Rivers had been running an illustration and print studio for 15 years called Paper & Cloth, creating designs for brands such as Anthropologie and Boden.
After creating for others for so many years, Jen wanted to design products for her own brand that would benefit the curious, little creatures that children are. And that’s how Minibeau, a brand of wallpapers and wall art for children made with a story at its heart, was born as we’ve explored in its small business story here.
Everything Jen and her collective of designers create is to nurture children’s creativity, imagination and their creative thinking skills, done through intricate, whimsical yet stylish patterns filled with storytelling, which the founder believes are often overlooked and undervalued yet so important.
Jen was inspired by her own experience of the joy of stories told to her by family members when she was a child, as well as a more recent experience as a parent herself. She loves the sense of stepping into whole other world when opening the door to a child’s room and that’s something she wants to encourage through her work and the playful characters her team of designers bring to life.
MissPrint
MissPrintStarted in 2005 by mother and daughter Yvonne and Rebecca Drury, MissPrint is a wallpaper, fabric and home accessories brand created while Rebecca was still studying textile design at university. Before becoming one of their bold, graphic and colourful wallpapers, each pattern starts its life as a simple drawing in one of Rebecca sketchbooks, inspired by the likes of mid-century design, Scandinavian folk art and Mother Nature.
And because of the duo’s commitment to nature, environmentally-friendly practices are at the heart of the business. Each wallpaper is printed in the UK using non-toxic water-based inks with organic pigments free of heavy metals, and either FSC or PEFC-certified (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) paper without any PVC coating.
IG: @missprint_ltd
Ohpopsi
OhpopsiFounded in 2011 in Stockport, wallpaper and mural brand Ohpopsi seeks to bring bold colours into people’s homes through its designs, all made in the UK. From larger-than-life florals in bright hues to graphic motifs like a sea of people’s silhouettes in vibrant primary colours or softer pastel shades, Ohpopsi has got it all.
The brand believes that a home should express the personality of its owner and have a positive energy about it and wallpaper is Ohpopsi’s chosen tool to achieve just that. And there is something for everybody in its range, even the little ones in your family, whether they like brightly painted forest botanicals or safari animals.
IG: @ohpopsi
PaperMint
PaperMintPaperMint was established in 2016 by a father and daughter pair, Alexandra and Jean Marc Bruel. The founders combine their experience – art from Alexandra’s side, having studied at the Gobelins school of visual communications and art in Paris, and 20-year managerial experience in interior design from Jean Marc.
However, this isn’t their first joint venture as in 2008, the founders started Piu Design, a graphic design agency which still carries the PaperMint brand today.
PaperMint isn’t afraid of grandiose, large-scale designs, which is why its specialty are nature-inspired murals that transport you to the likes of Tuscany landscapes and the fields of Provence. But patterned wallpapers are also readily available with motifs drawing historical eras and art movements such as art deco, as well as nature again.
IG: @papermint_paris
Photowall
PhotowallBrothers Niklas and Charlie Johansson want to help people reflect their personality through wall art. Seeing walls as a giant canvas and an opportunity for their customers to express themselves, the pair established Photowall in 2006. Based in Stockholm, where their wallpapers and wall murals are both designed and produced, the brand is fully digital, inspired by the founders’ technical background and interest in design.
Using digital printing technology enables Photowall to create bespoke wall art for its customers, printing anything from a custom-made pattern to an enlarged photo, in addition to its core collection of wallpapers and murals. Even though the company is led by Niklas and Charlie, the designs are made by various artists, designers and illustrators as the brothers want to give different creative voices a platform. That results in a very diverse range in which everyone is bound to find something they like.
Photowall is also highly committed to sustainable practices and does so with complete transparency. The production and the brand’s HQ are both run by 100% renewable energy and every design is made to order. And the website states that its operational emissions are 23 tons of CO2 per year which is equal to five passenger cars.
Roomblush
RoomblushBelgian brand Roomblush may be inspired by Scandinavian aesthetic but with an added Flemish twist brought in by the company’s founder Eline Rousseau’s background. Started in 2013, Roomblush’s name expressed the idea of putting makeup on a room in the form of wallpaper.
Having studied graphic design in Antwerp, Eline went on to co-manage a design agency. But after 8 years, Eline left to pursue a new adventure and her passion for interiors and Roomblush was born.
Specialising in designs for children’s rooms and nurseries, given the whimsical and imaginative, yet gentle patterns depicting everything from hand-painted rainbows to a sleuth of bears or a fluffle of bunnies, the wallpapers can also be used in rooms of creatively minded adults. Produced locally in Belgium, each roll of wallpaper is made to order to avoid waste, printed on FSC-certified non-woven paper without PVC, with water-based inks.
IG: @roomblush
Sandberg Wallpaper
Sandberg WallpaperFounded in 1976 by the Sandberg family, Sandberg calls its designs ‘Swedish wallpaper art’ rather than just wallpapers. The brand’s soft and serene style is steeped in the Scandinavian, and specifically Swedish, aesthetic and motifs, often taken from the country’s landscape and surrounding nature, depicted with the utmost attention to detail. And for this, the company has been appointed as a Purveyor to the Royal Court of Sweden, an honour reserved for the highest class of Swedish quality and design.
Located in the city of Borås near Gothenburg, today the company’s wallpapers are created by designers Sara Bergqvist and Karolina Kroon, who are both driven by telling stories and bringing an artistic approach to Sandberg’s creative, beautiful patterns drawing on the brand’s long heritage.
