The stories behind Storybook Papers: featuring wallpapers inspired by Beatrix Potter
Each wallpaper design in our new collection, Storybook Papers, has been inspired by historic artefacts. From original artworks to fabric patterns, inspiration was 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. Be inspired by Beatrix Potter’s original sketchbooks, transformed into our Nip & Lassie and Potter’s Woodland wallpapers. Or embrace a beautiful animal-print wallpaper for nurseries or family spaces, with the 1930s design, ‘Animal Kingdom’. Explore the stories behind each of these historic children’s wallpaper designs.
Designing wallpaper for children’s bedrooms
Designing our National Trust Papers collections usually begins with historic wallpaper designs. We find conserved historic wallpapers and wallpaper fragments at National Trust properties, and rework them for the modern interior. However, ‘Storybook Papers’ draws inspiration from an array of charming historic objects instead. In this collection, we have reinterpreted vintage toys, original sketches and fabrics 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. This process transformed unexpected items into whimsical wallpapers that capture all the spirit and character of the originals.
The collection also directly references a fabric print in our Animal Kingdom wallpaper, and other designs feature several original artworks. These include sketches from beloved children’s author and principal benefactor of the National Trust, Beatrix Potter, and children’s illustrator, Cecil Aldin.
Learn more about our ongoing partnership with the National Trust.
‘Animal Kingdom’ wallpaper: inspired by a vintage 1930s fabric
‘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’. The printed wallpaper is a playful design, perfect for children’s bedrooms and beyond.
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.”
Beatrix Potter: wallpapers inspired by the beloved author
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, which has inspired Little Greene shades like Ambleside and Sage & Onions. Her donation also included 4000 acres of land and 15 farms in the Lake District countryside.
In this collection, our Potter’s Woodland and Nip & Lassie wallpapers feature original artworks from Beatrix Potter’s unpublished sketchbooks. These two designs evoke her 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.”
A magical, mural wallpaper, Potter’s Woodland 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 A4 samples to test in situ.
