What Does a Wallpaper Archive Look Like When It Is Edited Down?
Last updated: 30 October 2026
In short: Often, yes. Cole & Son's new Formations collection, covered by Country & Town House on 19 October 2026, refines the house's 1950s geometric archive. Head of design Chase Hafer calls it “a way of reintroducing that richness, refining the original grids and patterns.” Editing takes an eye, because someone must choose what is worth repeating across a wall. A pattern drawn from one painting begins with that same choice.
What did Cole & Son do with its own archive?
Country & Town House (Carole Annett, 19 October 2026) describes Formations, a new Cole & Son collection that reinterprets geometric designs from the house's archive. The reference point is the 1950s, when the company had its own screen-printing studio and design director Richard Spelling invited Royal College of Art students to develop designs.
Chase Hafer, Cole & Son's head of design, frames the collection against a reputation. “There can be a perception that Cole & Son is only about maximalist colour and pattern,” Hafer says. Formations, in Hafer's words, “is a way of reintroducing that richness, refining the original grids and patterns.”
Is restraint the 2026 story, or one house's choice?
One collection does not make a season, and this post will not claim it does. What the report shows is a heritage house editing its own material, keeping the grid and the pattern and refining them, and not adding more on top. Hafer describes the starting point as story: “It always starts with the story we want to tell.”
Editing is a skill of the eye. Someone has to decide which part of a source is worth repeating across a wall, and which is not.
Why would a paint card become a wallpaper?
Colour Card is based on a mid-century paint chart from the archive. “It was never intended as a wallpaper,” Hafer says. Of its palette, Hafer says, “The colour card hues are bright and optimistic and the names are joyful: Tuscan Red, Mimosa, Lapis.”
Wavelet began with an archival document showing a single crescent shape. Hafer says of the source, “The original was hand printed, so it had a beautiful imperfection.” The palette, Hafer adds, was built to combine warm and cool tones.
The lesson of both patterns is the same. A strong repeat can begin from a thing nobody planned as a repeat, as long as someone with an eye lifts the right part.
What does a pattern drawn from one painting add?
Each of this studio's wallpaper patterns begins as mark-making or a close snapshot from one of my original paintings, so the source is singular and the wall reads as evocative, rich and deep for that reason. The editing happens at the start: I choose which part of a worked surface is worth repeating, and the repeat keeps the irregular edges and layered color of the paint.
To be exact about the product, the wallcovering is not hand-painted. A hand-painted original becomes a printed pattern, and a manufacturer prints it on 20 oz Type II commercial-grade vinyl with an embossed face and a slight strié shimmer over a laminated fabric backing. It is scrubbable and moisture-resistant, and suited to high-traffic walls.
How should a designer judge an edited pattern?
Start with samples, in the room's own light. Rolls are 24" wide, pre-trimmed and unpasted, with a 52" width for commercial work, and print-on-demand takes roughly two weeks. The trade can request a custom colorway and scale, and up to five free samples are available.
See the wallpaper collection, learn how the Trade Program works for designers, and read the studio's story.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cole & Son's Formations collection?
According to Country & Town House (19 October 2026), Formations is a new Cole & Son collection that reinterprets geometric designs from the house's archive, with 1950s geometric work as a key reference. It includes Wavelet and Colour Card.
Can a wallpaper pattern come from something that was not a wallpaper?
Yes. Cole & Son's head of design, Chase Hafer, says of Colour Card, “It was never intended as a wallpaper.” It is based on a mid-century paint chart from the house's archive.
Is this wallpaper hand-painted?
No. Each pattern begins as mark-making or a close snapshot from one of Angela Simeone's original paintings, and a manufacturer prints it on vinyl.
Can designers get a custom colorway or scale?
Yes. Custom colorway and scale are available to the trade, along with up to five free samples. Rolls are 24" wide, pre-trimmed and unpasted, with a 52" width for commercial work.