Raffia wallpaper

Raffia wallpaper is the finest of the grasscloth family: palm fiber, hand-laid onto a paper backing, with a sheen that shifts as you walk past it. Where a coarse grasscloth reads as rustic, raffia reads as tailored — which is why it turns up in dining rooms and dressing rooms rather than beach houses.

What sets raffia apart from other grasscloth

The fibers are narrower and laid closer together, so the surface is more even and the light plays across it rather than catching in ridges. Color sits differently too: because raffia takes dye deeply, the deep tones stay rich instead of going muddy, and the naturals keep a warm, honeyed cast.

Like all natural wallcoverings, it is matched by batch, and panels vary. That variation is the material, not a defect — the mills sort and number the panels so you hang them in sequence.

Living with raffia wallpaper

Raffia wallpaper takes light beautifully and handles humidity well, so a dining room or a powder room is fine; a shower wall is not. It does mark, so a hallway where suitcases go past is the wrong spot. Several designs come with a protective coating from the mill — worth asking about if the wall will be touched daily.

Sizes in feet and inches

Natural wallcoverings are usually supplied in shorter, wider formats than printed paper: commonly around 36 in wide (91 cm) in lengths from roughly 20 to 33 ft (6 to 10 m). Order by wall area rather than by roll count, add a margin, and buy the whole wall from one batch — a later reorder will not match.

Where to look next

The rest of the natural family: jute wallpaper for a coarser weave, paperweave wallpaper for a flatter, more uniform surface, and cork wallcovering for warmth with give. Phillip Jeffries and Elitis lead this category; Nobilis and Thibaut carry strong ranges too. These surfaces sit naturally in beige and brown.

Ordering from the US

Order samples: no two panels are identical, and a photograph flattens exactly the quality you are buying. Duties and taxes are included in the price shown; orders ship insured from the Netherlands.