Little Greene wallpaper

How Little Greene wallpaper gets its color depth

Little Greene wallpaper comes out of a paint house, and that shows on the wall. The name goes back to 1773, to The Little Greene Dye Works on the banks of the Irk and the Irwell in Manchester. Its present form dates to 1996, founded by the chemist David Mottershead, who moved the business into interiors in 2001. Manchester is still the base, and the paint is still made in the brand’s own factory in North Wales, below Mount Snowdon. Colors are mixed saturated rather than bright, so a deep ground keeps its warmth under a lamp.

Archive patterns in the Little Greene collections

The designs are redrawn from original English patterns of the 18th and 19th centuries, printed with traditional and digital techniques. The National Trust collaboration shows it most clearly: patterns traced in the archives of historic houses, reissued in current colorways, gathered in National Trust Papers. The same archive work carries through London Wallpapers V and London Wallpapers IV, and through Archive Trails II and Revolution Papers. These are compact series, six to a dozen papers apiece, so open several before you settle on one.

Where these designs work in an American home

A powder room is the easiest place to start: small, and forgiving of a dark archive pattern. In an entryway the matte, paper-like surface shows its grain up close and reads as pattern from the stairs. North-facing rooms are where the deep greens and inks earn their keep, as long as you put warm light on them; that is the light this palette was built for. A sunny breakfast nook is where paler stripes stop looking timid.

Carrying one shade from the wall onto the trim

The papers and the paint card are matched to each other, so a tone lifted out of a pattern can run on across the baseboard or a wainscot panel. That is why it pays to browse Little Greene paint alongside the papers, not after them. Working toward a palette rather than a brand? Our green wallpaper selection shows how that depth behaves in other ranges.

Ordering Little Greene from Europe

Selected Wallpapers is an official dealer for the brand. Order samples before you commit; light in your own room settles it faster than a screen. Roll size and pattern repeat sit on every product page, so read both before you count, and allow extra where the repeat is large. Fresh drywall wants sealing first, or the paste sinks in and seams pull. Duties and taxes are included in the price shown, and orders ship from the Netherlands. Unsure how a repeat lands on a short wall? Write to us and we will work it out.