November 2011 New ‘Traditional Home’ Wallpapers!
Six Wallpapers from 1860’s to 1940’s
Historic Style is introducing these six new wallpaper designs that go back as far as 1830, with others from the 1860’s and up into the some popular designs from the 1940’s and 1950’s!
“Plumbago” is a naturalistic floral design from the 1890’s, based on the popular conservatory plant, which was introduced from South Africa in Victorian times.
“Wisteria” features a neutral grey colourway, as well as three strong colourways, including one with a black background, a popular and dramatic choice in the 1940’s and 50’s.
“Bleeding Heart” wallpaper is presented in a subtle tone-on-tone design in three colourways, taking its inspiration from the delicate leaves and flowers of this perennial shade plant, which was introduced to England in 1857.
“Oak Leaves” wallpaper – also in four colourways – has the attractive and distinctive shading in the leaves that was popular in the 1860’s.
“Button Tufting” simulates tufted silk, and harks back to the glamour of Hollywood, and the luxurious ‘boudoir’ sets used in the movies of the 1940’s and 50’s.
“Clandon” is a lightly formal design that can be used in many rooms – from bedrooms to dining rooms - very successfully. It dates back to the early 19th century.
To see all of the new wallpapers, click on the ‘Traditional Home’ section of the Historic Style online catalogue menu, and then follow the NEW tags in the MENU of ‘Traditional Home’ designs to see your favourites:
September, 2011
New wallpapers and fabrics!
William Morris and Traditional Home designs
An extraordinary collection of William Morris' iconic wallpapers and fabrics are once again available for our customers. Thirteen rich designs have been reproduced from the archival originals - dating from Morris' earliest designs from the 1860's - through to 1890's and later designs - like "Meadowsweet" - by J. H. Dearle, who served as Design Director for Morris & Co.
Popular Morris designs are once again available. "Golden Lily", always fashionable, is now available in wallpaper in six new colourways, and "Fruit" is now produced in three new colourways in wallpaper, including one with an iridescent blue ground colour.
"Pimpernel", a large-scale wallpaper design from 1876, and once used in Morris' own Dining Room at Kelmscott House in London, now comes in five new colourways, while "Kennet", one of Morris' trailing designs, is now printed in four fabric colorways.
"Artichoke" is a huge-scale design in wallpaper, available in three colourways, and can be used for a bold design statement for a large room.
New Morris fabrics include the spectacular "Peacock & Dragon" weave in wool, a design from 1878, and "Marigold" in linen, originally designed in 1875, is suitable for draperies or domestic upholstery. "Acanthus", a design from 1875, has been woven in cotton, with a dash of nylon for strength, in a tapestry weave for upholstery.
"Strawberry Thief" in cotton is once again available, which will please all of you who have been asking for it for the last couple of years. We are pleased to once again be able to offer it.
These new wallpapers and fabrics prove that William Morris' designs (which have never been out of production) have a timeless appeal that has as much cachet today as they did in the late 19th century, proving once again - (as if it needs to be) - that good design is timeless and will never go out of style.
We are pleased to offer some wonderful wallpapers from as early as the 1830's to exotic oriental-inspired wallpaper designs from the 1920's.
If you are looking for a distinctive and dramatic flourish for your interiors, consider applying a historic design to your walls. Compatible with modern design, these patterns encompass both documentary and archival colourings, as well as new colourways.
Check out "Moonlight Geisha" and "Gondola Lanterns" as two examples of the fascination for oriental exoticism in the 1920's.
"Gothic Trellis" is a design that works in rooms from the 1830's through to the 1860's, and it comes in five colourways. Use it in hallways, Dining Rooms, or breakfast rooms.
Wallpaper designs are constantly revived. Even though a design originates from a particular time period, any design is adaptable and useable in other design periods, or even contemporary rooms! Have fun with design in your interior spaces - if you like the colours and design of a wallpaper, do not be afraid to use it.
How dull it is to paint everything in neutral shades when you long for colour and design!
• A Victorian Ceiling paper; • A reintroduced William Morris wallpaper and fabric; • and a new Mid-century modern section of wallpapers and fabrics!
A new Victorian Ceiling Paper for those late 19th century enthusiasts!
Finally! A ceiling paper from the 1890's - in three colourways too - cream, red or old gold.
Ceiling papers were non-directional. That is, you could stand anywhere in the room and look up, and the design would look similar, no matter where in the room you were standing. They generally coordinated with the wall and border papers as well. But as the ceiling papers are so rare to find today, we are pleased to be able to offer this design in three colourways - each touched with gilt or silver to add a little shine to the ceiling, just as they did in the last decade of the 19th century.
You could also use this design - especially the cream paper - for the first few years into the 20th century, when colours lightened, but designs remained traditional.
Not seen in our online catalogue since 2002, "Indian" has made a comeback! Designed by William Morris in 1870, this perennially popular design is now available in four colourways - in both wallpaper and a matching linen union fabric. Background colours are black; red; navy and eggplant.
The linen union fabric is a sturdy blend of linen, cotton and a bit of nylon for extra strength, which means it is very durable as an upholstery fabric. For a feature sofa, or a focal point chair, or even dramatically patterned heavy drapes, this is the fabric to use.
The wallpapers coordinate very closely with the fabrics as well, so an overall handsome room is available to create. Or, if a feature wall is desired, this design has a good impact to be a focal point in a room.
"Indian" wallpaper in red and cream on a Navy background
With all of the current interest in the modern lines and brilliant colours that came out of the middle years of the 20th century, Historic Style has been searching for some of the best designs we could find from the 1950's and 1960's. The patterns are clean, the colours bright, and the designs reflect the positive developments of the period. Technological developments such as television broadcasting and space travel added their inspiration for kicky designs throughout the 1950's and 60's.
For the 1950's think satellite legs on television sets, and rounded oblongs that reflected the newly broadcast images that infiltrated our living rooms for the first time. Cowboy prints harked back to TV westerns, and fashion designs from Paris made their way onto fabrics. Even flamingos added tropical grace to wallpapers.
In the 1960's, the colours were brighter, and took inspiration from India-inspired palettes, including hot colours like shocking pinks, rich purples, and bright oranges. The mood was tropical, and popularized by celebrating Hawaii becoming the 50th state in 1959, and the tourism that developed there in the early 1960's. Social change, and the influence of popular culture - like Grateful Dead posters - also influenced wallpaper and fabric designs for up-to-date interiors.
So. if you are restoring a wonderful post and beam home from the period, or just want to add some retro-modern energy to an apartment or loft, please look at our new Mid-century pages in our Traditional Home section. More selections will be added in the weeks ahead!
We are very pleased to introduce to Historic Style two more colourways of an old design!
Gallier Diamond wallpaper, up to now, has only been available on our online catalogue in one colourway. Now we have added two more colourways for greater choice!
Gallier Diamond Handprint Wallpaper was designed about 1860. It was used in the James Gallier House in New Orleans, which is a historic House Museum open to the public. James Gallier was an architect in early New Orleans and he designed this house for himself in 1857.
James Gallier House in New Orleans
When planning wallpaper for a heritage house, it is often good to have the confidence that a wallpaper is a true document design from a known source.
This wallpaper is Hand-screened and comes in 28" x 15' rolls
(68.5 cm x 4.57 m). It has a pattern repeat of 13 3/8” (34 cm); and comes untrimmed (28” wide on a wider piece of paper).
Being an untrimmed wallpaper, we recommend that a skilled professional installer be employed - but the results will be worth it!
To see all three colourways of this wallpaper, please see: Gallier Diamond
Enjoy the new choices of historic designs for your home!
October 22, 2009
New William Morris Fabrics and Wallpapers!
We are pleased to be adding even more William Morris fabrics and wallpapers on the actual 20th anniversary of our company.
Our first addition is two new linen fabrics in Morris' 'Snakeshead' design. In 100% linen, they show Morris' interpretation of the beautiful 'Snakeshead' fritillary flower, a small member of the Lily family that grew in the water meadows around Oxford.
The second design includes two new soft colourways in the 'Thistle' wool fabric. The cream and ivory colourways add two neutral choices to this soft and luxurious fabric. 'Thistle' was designed in 1897 by Morris' chief designer, John H. Dearle.
The third new addition is a new adaptation of William Morris' 'Cray' design of 1884. Simplified to a graceful outline of the original design, the new 'Cray Outline' wallpaper provides a soft, neutral, contemporary alternative to the more richly coloured historic patterns.
For a few years we have been sending out a Sale and Clearance section with our Newsletter. This has proved popular, and we continue to give our Newsletter readers first access to our Sale and Clearance items.
After a month, we will place remaining Sale and Clearance items here. The items listed are usually discontinued, and this is the last remaining stock. Sometimes the item will be the last of a certain colourway. In all cases, the prices are good!
Quantities are always limited, and we recommend a phone call or email to check availability.
If you want to receive our Newsletter to get first access to the Sale and Clearance items, please sign up here.
Happy bargain hunting!
April 27, 2009
21st Century wallpapers and fabrics!
A Glasgow-style wallpaper!
Wallpaper designs are frequently revived. William Morris based some of his designs on early 16th century Italian or English patterns. Garlands of roses from the Georgian period reappeared in the 1950's. And now, in the early part of the 21st century, wallpaper designs from the 1890's and the 1940's and 1950's are being revived.
Given new twists with colour and scale, the new patterns retain their appeal, but can take their place easily in contemporary interiors.
Historic Style will include some of these new wallpapers and fabrics when their design ancestry is based or inspired by a traditional design.
This wallpaper design from the 1890 - 1910 period is inspired by the Glasgow rose patterns popularized by the Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Though not designed by him, the design would complement his fabrics, and be at home in interiors inspired by his designs.
William de Morgan (1839-1917) was Britain's most talented pottery and tile designer. A life-long friend of William Morris, he designed tiles for Morris & Co. from 1863-1872 with galleons and fish being popular motifs.
His 'Galleon' set of tiles connect to make a frieze of "fantastical" ships, suitable for bathrooms, fireplaces, or other decorative wall applications.
The first is "Larkspur Boughs". It comes in a printed cotton in seven colourways, and has been inspired by William Morris' "Larkspur" wallpaper design of 1872. This fresh new fabric design coordinates with the "Larkspur" wallpaper and can be used for drapes, cushions or light-use upholstery.
The second fabric is "Paragon". This bold, mid-century design comes in four colourways, and can be used for drapes, cushions or light-use upholstery. It is a printed cotton fabric, and there is a very subtle shimmer in the inks of the 'shadows' of the design.
January 19, 2009 Style At Home features William Morris Wallpaper!
Samantha Pynn, Design Editor for Style At Home magazine, and host for "Pure Design" on House & Garden TV, chose William Morris's "Pink & Rose" wallpaper - which he designed in 1890 - for the redesign of a classic 1920's English Tudor home. This fresh wallpaper was coupled with an ivory white paint on the trim and wainscoting and a matching green on the french doors.
The wallpaper has the look and feel of a hand-blocked paper and is made of paper (not vinyl) that is produced from sustainably managed forests.
The "Pink & Rose" wallpaper comes in four colourways.
New Product! to see the new designs.
