Our new Briar Collection launches

I am delighted to have launched the new Briar Collection. The collection introduces two new linens, Briar and Clover, and two new wallcoverings, the Clover wallpaper and our first paper-backed linen, Linen Check.

 

The first step towards this collection came when we were refurbishing an old farmhouse on the estate here at Inchyra.  You may know that we also run a wedding barn here and have three houses for guests to stay in for the weekend.  It's great fun for me as it gives me three whole houses to decorate with my fabric and wallpapers.  Home Farm is the latest of these and it was fully refurbished in 2022.  During the works we found an incredibly pretty floral wallpaper hidden behind the shutters in one bedroom.  It had obviously been there for many many years - I would date it to the 1920s or 30s and to be it definitely has an Arts & Crafts feel. 

 

  

 

So Briar, as it became know, was the starting point.  I usually build each collection with a particular room in mind and for this one I was picturing an eaved attic bedroom.  Next to the party was Clover, a design based on an 18th century blockprint in my collection.  I've been longing to bring this back to life and this was the right place for it.  We think Clover is going to be so useful that we've produced it in seven colourways in both a linen and a wallpaper. 

  

These two designs could have been enough but I felt this was the right moment for something I've been toying with for ages: a paper-backed linen wallcovering.  Our Vintage Check linen has been so popular over the years and I thought it would be fun to create something that would put it on walls.  Enter our Linen Check wallcovering - five colours of wide-width paper-backed linen which make fabric walling much more accessible.  

 

 

 

The collection took much longer than anticipated to release and this was all down to Clover.  It was agony getting the right colours on the wallpaper and we ran more strike offs (the test print for any design) for this one design than for anything else we've ever released.  Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to get right. I'm happy we persevered - I once released colourways in a design that I really wasn't happy with and lived to regret it - we've just recoloured them and the relief for me is palpable! 

 

 

 

I've also added two new colourways in the growing Linen Print wallpaper - this paper is essentially a very beautiful alternative to paint - a plain but with the texture of linen in the print - and I plan to add colourways with each new collection.  It has been wonderful to see this paper going up in clients' houses - it's hard to put into words how good it looks but it brings a wonderful softness to an interior that a paint just can't achieve.  

 

I hope that you love the collection as much as we do.  

 

Caroline x