William Morris’s Morris & Co. wallpaper has had incredible staying power. And now, for those ready for a fresh take on the Arts and Crafts genre, there’s Ellen Merchant’s growing line of nature-inspired patterns.
The rising young British textile and wallpaper designer is a traditionalist with a sense of verve. She works out of an old barn in East Sussex where she hand draws her work and figures out the repeats. She then has the patterns fabricated in ways Morris would recognize and approve: the fabric is screen printed in London in a sequence of layers; a fourth-generation family outfit in Lancashire uses engraved rollers to make the wallpaper.
“My designs celebrate the handmade, color, and the joy of pattern,” says Merchant, who is offering her line in the US for the first time at Studio Four NYC. A capsule collection is also available at Anthropologie (scroll to the end for a glimpse).
Photography courtesy of Studio Four NYC and Ellen Merchant.
Above: Bluebells Wallpaper is available in three background colors: this is Chalk; see all three below. Studio Four NYC sells to retail clients as well as to the trade: wallpaper is $215 per roll retail.
Merchant writes: “My wallpaper is produced using a traditional roller printing technique dating back 100 years, a process that has changed very little in that time. We print on FSC-approved paper using nontoxic, water-based inks that maintain all the charm and character of the original hand-blocked design.”
Above: Merchant’s patterns are available as fabric (100-percent linen) as well as wallpaper; $245-285 per yard. This is Nomad Fabric and Nomad Extra-Wide Wallpaper in a palette called Jamboree. Merchant notes, “While the same inks are used on both the fabric and wallpaper, the colors on the wallpaper appear lighter and softer. They are not identical, but work beautifully together.”
Above: Posy Wallpaper and companion Posy Fabric.
Above: Bluebells Wallpaper in Butter
Above: This Art and Craft-inspired pattern began as a hand-printed linocut. Shown here: Poppies Wallpaper and Poppies Fabric in Fresca.
Above: Merchant studied at Central Saint Martins and Camberwell College of Art and went on to earn her MA in textiles from The Royal College of Art. She opened her own studio in London in 2021, and has since moved her operations to a barn in East Sussex.
Above: A sampling of Ellen Merchant patterns and colorways available from Studio Four NYC. In the UK, Merchant has her own online shop.
Above: Merchant’s exclusive wallpaper and soft goods collection for Anthropologie is available in the US and UK with slightly different offerings in each country: made-in-the US Ellen Merchant Green Wallpaper is $99 per roll and an Ellen Merchant Cottage Throw Blanket in the same pattern is £98.
Above: An Ellen Merchant Cottage Cotton Percale Sheet Set is $188 from Anthropologie in the US for a full-size set. Ellen Merchant Cottage Curtains start at £78 from Anthropologie in the UK.
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