You have an artistic/retail design background; was it an easy transition to designing and making wallpapers?

Yes and no. A lot of the skills I have developed are really useful; being able to visualise and draw has given us the ability to control the whole process of the design. We keep it all as hands on as possible, which is personally more rewarding. What we lacked was experience with pattern and screen printing, both pretty vital to what we wanted to do. While this could have been a drawback we have also used it to our advantage, it has given us the freedom to experiment and try things we may not have; and part of what we want to create are designs that are different.

You’ve not long introduced three new designs, where do find inspiration?

Often it’s artwork, my own or other people’s. In a way we see our wallpaper more as art, the designs are on a bigger scale rather than being a smaller pattern that imparts a more traditional feel. It’s quite an eclectic collection; we don’t feel the need to follow a particular style, we just choose something we would like to see on our walls. My wife Helen is a huge support, and while she is very busy being a winemaker and mum, she finds time to help out. Helen has a great feel for style and inspires me with her passion and energy.

For every design that you take forward, how many would you reject?

We tend to choose an idea or two and develop them to a finished artwork state, and I’ll mock up visuals of how the pattern will look on a bigger area. Its only once we are happy with the concept that we manufacture the screens and actually print the paper. We have kept all the designs we have created so far, we print to order so for each design it just means holding onto those screens.

Do you have any ‘wallpaper designer’ heroes?

Florence Broadhurst, what an amazing character and the designs that she and her studio came up with are outrageous, beautiful and striking. Flavour Paper, an American wallpaper company, they have their own designs (and the most amazing studio in NY) and print for designers like Lenny Kravitz and Dan Funderburgh, who has a range which is quirky, beautiful and fun, very cool.

What does the future hold for PaperHands; any plans to take over the world?

Taking over the world isn’t my thing. I really just want to make the stuff I love, the type of paper I would like to have on my walls. Hopefully, other people like it too.

If I knew then what I know now…

Where do I start; the real challenge has been getting the production to work smoothly. Some of the things we have learnt in the printing have fed back into how the designs are set up; and there have been a couple of techniques I have tried that weren’t feasible. But I love that it’s so hands on and that its different every day, though at times it has me pulling my hair out.