Creating the finest-quality wallpapers through a rare combination of original machinery and modern printing techniques, Cole & Son Wallpaper has generated a legacy of excellence in the realm of wallpaper design for more than a century. With more or less 1,800 block print designs and 350 screen print designs in their archive, Cole & Son is the leading purveyor of historic and contemporary wallpapers in the industry today.

The Cole & Son Wallpaper History:  The story of Cole & Son began in 1875 in a wallpaper mill located in North London. Established by John Perry the company created its first pattern book on the same year, featuring hand blocked designs inspired by the works of Christopher Dresser. Cole & Son Wallpaper provided papers for many of the biggest companies in the area during the 19th century, such as Sanderson, Jeffrey & Co and Shand Kydd. While the company first became popular for their hand block printed wallpapers and stripes and jaspes inspired by French designs, John Perry also pioneered a process that allowed the imitation of silk on walls. Due to the expense involved in putting up actual silk fabrics on walls, Cole & Son was able to come up with an effective alternative, which employed mica as primary material for the wallcovering. The founder also revived the time-honored flocking process in printing wallpapers, first introduced in Holland during the 17th century.

Creating a Cole & Son Wallpaper: Specializing in fine-quality block printed and screen printed wallpapers Cole & Son is known for their historic and contemporary collections, created through a painstaking process that has produced daring originals beginning the 19th century. The current offerings of Cole & Son Wallpaper include classic, contemporary, and designer wallpapers, preferred by designers worldwide for their quality and design ingenuity. The company also keeps an archive of traditional designs, in dazzling florals, geometric patterns and elegant plains.  The wallpapers by Cole & Son are produced through different kinds of printing techniques, each with its own unique advantages. For exclusive papers, the company uses a traditional process called block printing, which results in a rare depth of color and graining. The screen printing process is utilized for a more detailed quality. This has also led to several collaborations with celebrated designers in the past, with many of the wallpapers archived in the contemporary collection by Cole & Son today. The company is also known to use flock printing and surface printing in many of their designs. Another popular traditional technique employed by Cole & Son Wallpaper is in the production of custom made stripes, which has already produced more than 150 designs to date.

Memorable Clients and Collaborations: The eminence of Cole & Son in the wallpaper industry dates back to the 19th century, when they provided designer papers for the biggest businesses during the time including Shand Kydd and Jeffrey & Co. With the establishment of the first screen print studio in 1949 the company was able to produce wild designs which became popular in the following decade. It was during this point that Cole & Son Wallpaper worked with various artists such as John Drummond and Peggy Argus. Today, some of their most memorable wallpaper collections are the result of collaborations with world-renowned designers, including Vivienne Westwood and Tom Dixon.