Is Wallpaper Handmade if the Original Was Painted by Hand?
Angela Simeone · Last updated: 12 October 2026
In short: Handmade is a precise word. In this studio, only the source artwork is handmade: each pattern begins as an original painting, and the finished wallcovering is printed by a manufacturer onto vinyl. Wallpaper houses are pairing with working painters and leaning on handcraft language this season, which makes the distinction worth stating plainly. Name what the hand did, and the pattern keeps its integrity.
Why is handmade the word wallpaper houses are reaching for?
Because designers are asking for walls that feel made. On Phillip Jeffries' Fall 2026 Journey collection page, published in August, the house says the collection "transforms walls into works of art through texture, movement, and handcrafted detail," with raffia, hemp, paper and wood "elevated through innovative techniques." It is a collection I admire for what it does with natural material, and it shows where the conversation has gone: handcraft is now the headline.
Emily Mould, director of design at Romo Group, put the appetite in a sentence for Livingetc: "People are looking for designs that feel layered and nuanced." Layered and nuanced are qualities the eye reads as a hand's work.
Are working painters now designing the pattern?
Increasingly. Business of Home's April 2026 roundup of collaborative designs reports that Stout Textiles pairs its new Scribbles wallpaper with textile designer Kristen Leigh and its Balsam wallpaper with watercolor artist Victoria Larson. Two named working artists, rather than an anonymous studio hand, are the starting point of the pattern. You can read the roundup at Business of Home.
Chloe Vince, senior decorating consultant at House of Hackney, describes the same turn from another angle: "more and more people are opting to invite nature into their homes." Nature arrives on a wall most convincingly when somebody looked at it first.
So what does handmade actually mean on a wall?
It means naming what the hand did. John Ruskin, writing about the makers of Gothic stone in The Stones of Venice, argued that "imperfection is in some sort essential to all that we know of life." A mark made by a person carries that imperfection, and a precise description protects it.
In this studio the claim is exact. Each pattern begins as mark-making on an original painting, made by hand in oil and mixed media. The wallcovering itself is printed by a manufacturer onto 20 oz Type II commercial-grade vinyl, with an embossed face and a laminated fabric backing. I do not call the wallpaper hand-painted, because it is not; I call it a pattern drawn from an original painting, because it is.
That precision is the point. A wall that says exactly what happened to it earns the trust of the designer who specifies it and the client who lives with it.
How do you choose a pattern that started as a painting?
Look at the original first, then at how the pattern repeats it. Scale changes the mood: a larger repeat reads like a painting seen from across the room, and a smaller one like a texture that rewards a closer look. Ask for a sample and live with it on the wall for a week before committing to a roll. Rolls are 24" wide, pre-trimmed and unpasted, with a 52" width for commercial projects.
→ Browse the collection: Artist-designed wallpaper by Angela Simeone · For designers: Trade Program · Meet the painter: About Angela
Frequently asked questions
Is wallpaper handmade if the pattern started as a painting?
Only the source artwork is handmade. In this studio each pattern begins as an original painting, and the finished wallcovering is printed by a manufacturer onto vinyl, so it is described as a pattern drawn from an original painting rather than as hand-painted wallpaper.
What is artist-designed wallpaper?
Wallpaper whose pattern comes from a working artist's own paintings or paints, rather than from an in-house pattern studio. Wallcovering houses have recently launched patterns with named painters and watercolor artists.
How do you pick a wallpaper that feels handmade?
Look for patterns that start from a real mark, such as a brushstroke, a wash or a layered surface, and ask what the hand actually did. Order a sample and live with it on the wall before you commit to a roll.
What is the wallpaper printed on?
20 oz Type II commercial-grade vinyl with an embossed face and a laminated fabric backing, in 24-inch rolls (52 inches for commercial projects).