The Sanderson x Giles Deacon collaboration pairs a couture designer's eye with one of the richest pattern archives in British decorating. In this guide we look at what Giles Deacon brought to the partnership, where the designs come from, and how the wallpapers differ from one another, so you can work out which one belongs on your walls.
A couture designer in the Sanderson archive
What makes this collection interesting is how it was built. Rather than starting from a blank page, Giles Deacon went into the Sanderson archive and picked out designs to repaint, recolour and reimagine. Several of the wallpapers are archive originals given a new twist, while others are signature Deacon motifs translated onto paper for the first time.
You can see his hand in the details. Cupid's Beau Wallpaper repaints the archive design Etchings & Roses in a botanical illustration style, reproducing rare engraved prints from Mulhouse with miniature insects scattered throughout. Deacon then adds his own illustrative bows and calligraphy, including his signature 'G'. It is a lovely example of the whole collaboration in one roll: old engraving, new handwriting.
Tansy Bloom Wallpaper tells a similar story. It reimagines the archive design Hykenham, repainted by hand for the collaboration. The original floral is by Kenneth Truman, a master designer who joined Sanderson in 1939, and the drawing shows off his remarkable skill with botanical detail.
Florals and chintz, rethought
If you love a traditional English floral but want it to feel fresh, start here. Lakeland Paradis Wallpaper comes from an original block-print design in the Sanderson archive: a classic early twentieth-century chintz bursting with roses and rosebuds, iris, carnations, poppies, cyclamen and pansies. It has been recoloured with depth and shadow against strong grounds, so it reads as rich rather than sugary.
Trelliage Wallpaper combines two naturalistic 19th-century archive patterns, a flowering trellis of undulating branches and a set of finely detailed Victorian botanical studies. Deacon calls it "classicism recontextualised", which sums up the mood nicely. For something more worn and relaxed, Fringed Tulip Toile Wallpaper is a distressed, batik-style print of double-headed parrot tulips and roses in weathered form. Its stripped-back look mimics extract printing, a block-printing process that removes colour.
A practical tip: busy florals like these sit most comfortably in rooms where you want to feel wrapped up, such as a bedroom, a snug or a small dining room. Keep the woodwork and ceiling quiet and let the paper do the talking.
Illusion, myth and storytelling
Deacon enjoys playing with the eye, and a handful of the wallpapers are pure theatre. Wilsford Wallpaper comes from a Sanderson collection of mid to late 19th-century trompe-l'oeil papers depicting curtains, bows, ribbons and tassels, chosen because of his love of subverting design tropes. Andromeda's Cup Wallpaper is also drawn in trompe-l'oeil: an archive cup overflowing with florals, framed by swags, tassels and acanthus leaves, and digitally printed on a wide-width paper.
For a real conversation starter, Aurelia's Grail Wallpaper places Aurelia, dressed in heavy embellished jacquard, at the centre of a fantasy world of Tudor beasts, unicorns, yales, capuchins, pygmy parrots and Japanese Chin dogs. And if you have a single wall to fill, Pygmalion Wallpaper is a three-metre, four-panel mural in one Alabaster colourway, retelling the myth of the King of Cyprus whose ivory figure was brought to life by Aphrodite.
Deacon's own signatures: stripes and eggs
Two designs come straight from the designer's own vocabulary. Aperigon Parade Wallpaper brings his Aperigon stripe to the wall: bold, exaggerated and large in scale, but softened by an ethereal palette. It plays the sartorial stripe against the frivolity of a sawtooth edge, and works well in a hallway or bedroom. Oology Portal Wallpaper takes its name from the study and collecting of birds' eggs, capturing both the strength and fragility of the shell and nodding to the Victorian love of collecting beautiful things.
Stripes like Aperigon Parade are also a useful partner to the busier patterns. Use the stripe in a hallway and a floral in the room beyond, and the two will feel related without competing.
Explore the collection
You can see every design together in our Sanderson x Giles Deacon wallpapers collection, and if you are planning curtains or cushions to match, the Sanderson x Giles Deacon fabrics are well worth a look too. Pop into the shop in Somerset or get in touch with the team, and we will happily help you narrow down the right pattern for your room.
