We all know and love Farrow & Ball’s paint, but did you know they also do beautiful handcrafted wallpaper too? They’ve been creating their signature paint colours in Dorset since 1946, but it was only in the 1990s that they started to introduce wallpaper. Using traditional trough and block printing methods, and of course their own paint, they’ve built up a portfolio of charming designs, from contemporary stripes and bold botanical shapes to pretty florals and more traditional paisley patterns.
This week I was very lucky to get invited down to the international launch of 3 new designs at their headquarters in Dorset with the Amara blog awards. In celebration of Farrow & Ball’s 70th anniversary, they’ve been reflecting back on their early origins and have taken inspiration from the 1940s for the new collection. Each design – the retro scallops of ‘Arcade’, the quaint countryside scenes of ‘Gable’ and the dazzling geometrics of ‘Enigma – embrace the paradoxical feel of the post-war period, says Farrow & Ball, when people were simultaneously ‘looking forward while stepping back’.
All three designs are traditionally block printed using Farrow & Ball paints to give a lovely tactile feel to the wallpaper. They’re each available in seven colourways, ranging from delicate neutrals and muted pastels to more bolder tones (can you tell which I preferred?).
Arcade
Arcade, above, is one of my favourites of the new designs. Inspired by the art deco movement, it features a beautiful scallop design that gently dances across the length of the paper. It’s soft and romantic, with a mid-century feel. (more on the other two patterns, after a little behind-the-scenes tour…)
During our day down in Wimborne, Dorset, we took a tour of the stunning country house Deans Court that has been in the Hanham family for nearly 500 years. Rooms are decked out in Farrow & Ball colours, while weddings are hosted in the grounds and organic produce is grown in a walled kitchen garden. After a delicious lunch at their cafe, housed in a 1930s garage, with a shop in a converted squash court, it was on to Farrow & Ball HQ for a factory tour.
Housed in a modest group of warehouses on a small industrial estate, Farrow & Ball HQ has retained the feel of a small, family-run independent business. Everything, right down to the sample pots, are made here in Dorset.
You can tell they have a passion for their craft, using traditional methods and producing everything to the highest quality. A quality control team ensures paints and wallpapers are near to perfection, and they have much tighter tolerances than many other paint companies out there.
There was no toxic fumes either as I expected – their 132 shades of eco-friendly, water-based paint contain low or minimal VOC.
The lengthy process starts with wallpaper being fed through a machine and painted with one of their 70 base coats. It is then rolled through an oven and dried before the pattern stage.
The trough method is used for striped and dragged patterns, flat bed block printing for large-scale designs with long pattern repeats, and roller block printing for really intricate shapes and forms. Trough painting releases paint through foam paints onto moving sheets of wallpaper, whereas flat bed block printing uses etched blocks that are carefully pressed onto the paper like stamps. Roller block printing uses engraved cylinders coated in paint that are then rolled on the paper to produce the pattern.
The final stage is coating each wallpaper in a specially formulated glaze to protect it and make it more durable.
Here’s some more of the finished wallpapers in situ, including the picturesque Gable below and the retro Enigma with its bold geometric design. They’re all available now from Farrow & Ball.
Gable
Inspired by an old American wallpaper, but tweeked to represent the bucolic British countryside, Gable features a playful pattern of quaint country cottages, picket fences and farmyard animals. The name comes from the pitched roof farm in the middle of this scene of rolling hills. The jolly, nostalgic pattern is filled with detail from woolly sheep to flocks of doves. It would make a charming addition to any childs’ room or perhaps a lively feature wall in a bathroom.
Enigma
Inspired by the encoding machine famously deciphered at Bletchley Park by British mathematician Alan Turing during World War II, Enigma features a bold geometric pattern. From rich dark blue and glamourous gold, to softer shades of white and Peignoir, the design of interlocking rectangles and squares is eye-catching and captivating.
Which would you go for, any take your fancy?
And finally… It’s the last chance to vote in the Amara blog awards – voting closes at 5pm today! I’m excited to be nominated in for Best Design Inspiration blog, but need your help getting to the next stage, the shortlist. It only takes 5 secs to vote, simply click on the icon below. Thank you for your support!
All images of the factory: cate st hill, lifestyle imagery courtesy Farrow & Ball
