NEW Sandberg wallpapers

Have a peep at these wallpapers from Sandberg‘s brand new ‘Raphaël II’ collection….

This trellis-patterned one (above) is called Robin, while the beautiful blue one (below) is Zacharias:

This last one reminds me a bit of Fornasetti’s Mediterranea design, although the houses here look Swedish instead of Italian. It’s called Metropolis:

What a lovely new range. It’ll be out in the spring. – Ellie

100% Design HIGHLIGHTS

Stuck to the usually grubby and miserable windows of Earls Court tube station are wallpaper panels – pink roses, trailing silver leaves and blooms in shades of plum and charcoal. 100% Design is here:

This is the pretty Countess wallpaper, from Graham and Brown‘s new Elixir collection, and very nice it is too. Another paper in the range worth checking out is the stunning Mirage design, featuring silhouetted trees and a sort of misty early-morning-valley effect – very beautiful. Especially in the mustard and grey colourway, which is practically EDIBLE:

Having accidentally eclipsed Barbara Hulanicki while a poor photographer was attempting to capture her, I moved swiftly on to the Korea Design Pavilion, where I got chatting to the 15 young, innovative designers there. I was particularly taken with 601Bisang, a stationery company, and I PRAY that their stunning letterpress notebooks, numbered post-it notes and rolls of colourful ‘glass tape’ are snapped up by British buyers – I’m sure they will be…

These little leaf notebooks have leaves printed on all the pages and are inspired by old-fashioned flower presses. SO nice. I also liked the fun ‘RELATION-SHEEP’ stool from the charming designArtist Soh – designed for two friends to sit on, it looks like two sheep kissing. (You might recognise his book tree shelving unit in one of these photos, which he showed last year).

I also loved the wonderful ‘Ta-Rae‘ lighting (made from spools of thread in traditional Korean colours with thimbles for light-pulls) from Design Virus…

Next, I spoke to the lovely people at Print, Tuft and Fold who had been charged with designing some very cool seating cubes for the exhibition’s entrance hall. Covered in gorgeous geometric patterns as well as city skylines and icons, they were proving popular for perching. Zoe Beck’s new London and New York wallpapers were stunning, Claire Alderdice’s new rugs were beautiful, and Kim Bassett’s latest origami-inspired cushions a delight. Woah, so many adjectives. But I can’t help getting as bit over-excited about these things…

I had a nice natter with Joshua Ritchie, husband of textile designer Caroline Ritchie of Corita Rose. I’ve been a fan of Caroline’s eye-wateringly bright fabrics, furnishings and accessories since I spotted them at Tent last year. Channelling Mexican art, circus fonts, Medieval poetry and tattoo symbols, her work is unique and VERY eye-catching! Joshua showed me her new curtain design, with the John Dryden quotation: JOY RULED THE DAY AND LOVE THE NIGHT…

I paid a little visit to the Roca stall to see the incredible light wave installation there and to hear all about the new Roca flagship showroom due to open in Chelsea soon, then headed to Camilla Meijer‘s stand to see her new wallpaper designs. The two new collections, called Victoria and Summer Garden, are every bit as stunning as her previous ranges…

I love this show, but after a while, my energy evaporated as per. My arm started to ache from the weight of press releases, my hair went all frizzy from heat/rain, I felt dehydrated, and I got a bit freaked out by the disgusting new ‘Utter Pots’ from Thelermont Hupton (of Handjob Hooks fame) which are basically little vases with lips, teeth and gaping orifices. Disturbing…

Time to trek back to SE1 and cover my desk with tape from 601Bisang. It doesn’t take much to make me happy. – Ellie

NEW wallpapers to drool over

Our post about the wonderful Studio Nommo papers a few weeks back proved extremely popular and got picked up by loads of other lovely people on t’internet with exceedingly good taste, creating a veritable network of wallpaper addicts all around the globe. SO I thought we’d have another little wallpaper love sesh today…

These stunners are new designs from Netherlands-based Studio Ditte (famous for their Scrapwood design), stocked in the UK at Catkin Collection. This vintage plate one reminds me of that fabulous wrapping paper I picked up at Oliver Bonas a few weeks back – LOVE it.

Imagine this cute birdy paper in a child’s bedroom…you could even hang a few real bird boxes painted in bright colours on the opposite wall for a fun touch.

This Russian-style ribbons wallpaper is perfect for this year’s huge Folk revival. Such vibrant colours!

And let’s finish with a peek at another new Studio Ditte design – buttons…

So many papers in the world, and not enough alcoves. SIGH. – Ellie

NEW Harlequin wallpapers

Feast your eyes on these delicious new retro wallpapers from Harlequin, lovely people.

My favourite is the top left design, the aqua-coloured lampshades wallpaper – it’s called Illuminate, from the new Identity collection. How cool does it look with a white lampshade in front of it…you could ‘get the look’ with IKEA’s classic Knappa pendant light, £19.99.

So, that’s another wallpaper I’ve fallen for! How am I ever going to actually commit to any single design with temptation like this at every corner!? My all-time favourite is still Cole & Son‘s Cow Parsley, which is on the feature wall in our living room. What’s your number one wallpaper of all time? Are you fickle when it comes to your walls, or do you have an enduring classic you’ll never tire of? – Ellie