Storybook Papers: the stories behind the papers…
Each wallpaper in our new collection, Storybook Papers, has been inspired by historic artefacts, original artworks and fabric patterns, found in cherished historic houses in the care of the National Trust.
Learn more about how we created the collection in partnership with the National Trust, including working with Beatrix Potter’s original sketchbooks to create our Nip & Lassie and Potter’s Woodland wallpapers…
Designing the wallpapers
Usually, designing our National Trust Papers collections involves taking historic wallpaper designs and fragments found at National Trust properties, and reworking them for the modern interior. However, ‘Storybook Papers’ draws inspiration from an array of charming historic objects and reinterprets them as contemporary wallpaper designs.
The Little Greene Design Studio took items such as vintage tin cars (Road Trip), children’s wooden games (Balance) and a mechanical toy (Rodney Street), and carefully redrew them, transforming them into wallpapers that capture all the spirit and character of the originals.
The collection also directly references a fabric print and several original artworks by beloved children’s author and principal benefactor of the National Trust, Beatrix Potter, as well as children’s illustrator, Cecil Aldin.
Our ‘Animal Kingdom’ wallpaper
‘Animal Kingdom’ is one of eight new wallpapers in this collection. Full of life, energy and imagination, it playfully features polar bears and penguins alongside elephants, ostriches and tigers.
This quirky scene was originally found at Tyntesfield in North Somerset as a printed fabric dating from the 1930s. Tyntesfield was home to the Gibbs family for more than 150 years, and this pattern had been made into slip covers for furniture in the children’s nursery. To recreate this whimsical design, we have redrawn the fabric pattern and used a traditional printing method called ‘surface printing’ to produce the printed wallpaper.
Our Creative Director, Ruth, writes: “When we’re taking historic artefacts, it can be a challenge to transfer it from the past into something more modern, adapting it for the contemporary interior. There’s a number of ways that we do this – sometimes we redraw the design in a more modern style, and other times we simplify the design, taking some elements out. Or it could be just recolouring the design – creating classic colourways, neutral colourways, or something more contemporary.
We’re also thinking about how the paint colours work together with the wallpaper, and I think that really helps to make it feel more contemporary too. You can easily pick out many of the colours from these wallpapers and match them to Little Greene paints. But we always have to make sure – and we always keep it in our hearts – to respect the heritage and authenticity of those designs.”
Wallpapers inspired by Beatrix Potter
We are delighted that two enchanting designs in this collection feature original artworks from the unpublished sketchbooks of Beatrix Potter. Besides being an accomplished and prolific artist, Beatrix Potter also had a great love for nature and the outdoors. She bequeathed her rural cottage, Hill Top in Ambleside, to the National Trust, alongside 4000 acres of land and 15 farms in the Lake District countryside.
These two wallpaper designs evoke Beatrix Potter’s keen interest in the nature that surrounded her home in the Lake District, as well as the animals she kept herself. Ruth writes: “The dogs in our ‘Nip & Lassie’ wallpaper come from Beatrix Potter’s original sketches of her own two working collies at her home in Hill Top. The originals are very tiny in size, so we have enlarged them slightly and paired them with the Herdwick Sheep that are so synonymous with the Lake District, and of course the breed that she owned herself.”
Another wallpaper that features Beatrix Potter’s own artwork is Potter’s Woodland – a magical scene that is an ode to the charming character and imagination of her illustrations, as well as the beautiful wildlife from which she drew inspiration. Ruth continues: “We all know that Beatrix Potter was an accomplished and prolific artist, but she also had a huge love for wildlife, and you can really see that in our new ‘Potter’s Woodland’ mural. What’s special about this design is that it references the original paintings and unpublished artworks of Beatrix. She has so many sketchbooks which we were delighted to be able to look through for this piece.”
Explore the complete collection to read more about the stories behind each wallpaper, or order complimentary A4 samples to test in situ.
