GP & J Baker | Penny

Penny is one of the smallest figures in the House Small Prints II book, a coin-sized motif taken from GP & J Baker's own archive and redrawn for the collection. The repeat runs 10.5 centimetres vertically, so from a few paces away it reads as an even, quiet texture rather than a pattern you are meant to study. That is the useful thing about a paper like this. It gives a wall something to do without committing the room to a statement.

It is printed on a 100 per cent non-woven ground, 52 centimetres wide, with a 10.5 centimetre vertical repeat. Non-woven carries its own stability, which means it hangs flat, does not expand on the wall and strips off dry in full lengths when the room is next done. Five colourways: Blue, Aqua, Blush, Ochre and Aqua/Pink. Blue and Aqua are the steadier choices for a whole room, Blush and Ochre warm up a north-facing space, and Aqua/Pink is the two-tone option we would keep for something smaller.

We tend to put small prints like this in the rooms people move through rather than sit in, so a hall, a back staircase, a cloakroom or the inside of a wardrobe run. It also works overhead in a bedroom, where the short repeat stops the pattern crowding you when you are lying under it. Paint the woodwork from the ground colour rather than the motif and the whole thing settles down. Sold by the roll; order a sample before committing to a full room.

Paste the wall rather than the paper: the dry length goes up, slides into position and takes less time on a ladder. The repeat is short enough that wastage is negligible, so you can work to tight quantities. A four metre wall at 2.6 metres high needs eight drops, which is three rolls if the roll runs the usual 10 metres. Order the whole job in one batch and check the batch number on every roll.

• Composition: 100% non-woven
• Roll width: 52 cm (20.4 in)
• Pattern repeat: 10.5 cm vertical
• Care: Spongeable; follow the manufacturer's hanging guide
• Collection: House Small Prints II Wallpaper, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 5 (Blue, Aqua, Blush, Ochre, Aqua/Pink)