Cole & Son | Eden Stripe

Eden Stripe was drawn to sit beside something else. Martyn Lawrence Bullard designed it as the quiet companion to the Trees of Eden panels, and its job is to carry a room around the corners from a scenic wall without arguing with it.

It is a semi-plain: a stripe soft enough at the edges that from any distance it reads as a worked ground rather than as a pattern. The line has a slight irregularity, which keeps the wall from looking mechanical, and the tone shifts gently between the bands so the surface holds depth without incident. It hangs random match, which is the genuinely useful part. There is no repeat to line up, less waste at the ceiling line, and a much easier job on walls that are out of true.

Used on its own it is a serviceable, quietly architectural paper for a bedroom, a dressing room or a landing. Used as intended, on the walls flanking a panelled scheme, it does what a good stripe has always done, which is to give the eye somewhere to rest. It is also one of the more economical papers in the range to hang, which counts for something on a large stair.