10 Minutes with … Cole & Son

Super excited to showcase one of our favourite wallpaper brands today, Cole & Son. We love this prestigious company’s wallpapers and we love even more the rich stories behind each. You really are investing and buying something special when you purchase one of their wallpapers.

117/7020 Alcazar Gardens Seville, 117/8024 Piccadilly Seville @coleandson

Holly, a Cole & Son representative, has kindly answered some questions for us today. Whenever she comes into the office we book out an hour out on the calendar and glop over all the amazing wallpapers – they certainly are a treat for the eyes.

We, as interior designers, know a great wallpaper and we both have walls marked out in our homes for a Cole & Son. The only issue is there are so many to choose from and we actually never get round to actually doing our own homes. It’s a bit like having a partner who is a builder, but never gets round to putting that shelf up – ha-ha! If we did, however, have to pick one, below are our choices.

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114/9017 Chiavi Segrete, 114/9019 Chiava Segrete

When we do get round to doing it though, we will proudly display our wallpapers and admire their beauty much like a piece of art. Let’s just say there will be a lot more dinner parties at the Nelson and Long households and phrases being thrown around like “Martha, have you seen my Cole & Son”.

People are drawn to their wallpapers and we think that it’s because the company values and designs align with so many. You look at this company and see beauty, decadence and prestige and these may be traits that you want your home to embody too – I know that we do. We also love the fact that their wallpapers are iconic and timeless.

Well, let’s start with the some history, then on to the interview.

Cole & Son was founded in 1875 by John Perry, son of a Cambridgeshire merchant. In those days the company was situated in Islington, north London, an area famous for the 190 hand block printing companies working there in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Today, the Cole & Son archive consists of approximately 1,800 block print designs, 350 screen print designs and a huge quantity of original drawings and wallpapers, representing all the styles from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Amongst these are some of the most important historic wallpaper designs in the world. Cole & Son has provided wallpapers for many historic houses including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.

Holly will telling you a little bit about what she’s been doing during lockdown, showing us how she has used Cole & Son wallpaper in her house and answering a few interesting questions about trends amongst other things. Also at the bottom of the blog we have some amazing snaps of the Cole & Son showroom, which walls are adorned in their latest collection Seville.

Take it away Holly…

HS: In lockdown I have been doing a lot of decorating myself & I am pleased with my choices – I have used the new dark teal colourway of Piccadilly from Seville in my kitchen & it looks amazing up & used the black Leopard Walk in our downstairs loo, which is so moody, I’m chuffed to bits.

NL: Do you have a favourite wallpaper?

HS: Currently it is Forest from the Botanical Collection ref: 115/9028, this is a beautiful rich green digital multi-layered print & so beautifully drawn, I love it!

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NL: What is Cole & Son’s most popular wallcovering and why?

HS: Woods – the original black & white colourway which is now over 50 years old! This is our most iconic/recognisable paper and is so versatile, it suits most houses. Ref: 69/12147

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NL: Why, in your opinion, would you choose a wallcovering over paint?

HS: Wallpaper gives much more choice of texture and brings warmth to a room, whereas paint is flat & 1 dimensional. So much personality can be injected into a room through pattern & colour using a wallpaper and you can change the whole feel of an area just with a small amount of cleverly chosen wallpaper. Paste the wall wallpaper is actually quicker to hang than painting layers of paint too.

NL: What is the coolest/most prestigious place one of your wallcoverings have been installed?

SH: Our papers get used all over the world in such a variety of projects, from palaces to super yachts, hotels, private houses, bars & restaurants. Probably the most prestigious would be The White House or Buckingham Palace, the coolest maybe in various Kardashian’s homes.