Mark Alexander | Burlap Wallcovering

Burlap is a coarse open weave of natural fibre mounted on a paper backing, and it has the honest utilitarian look the name suggests. The strands are thick, the weave is loose enough to see through in places, and the backing colour shows between them, which is part of how each colourway is built. It gives a wall a substantial dry texture with real depth to it, closer to a cloth than to a paper in the hand.

Rolls are 91 centimetres wide and 7.32 metres long, with no repeat to match. There are ten colourways: Natural, Chalk, Whitewash and Parchment at the pale end, Stone and Loam through the neutrals, Typhoon a cool grey, Celadon a soft green, Ocean a deep blue, and Paprika the one warm earth colour. With a weave this open, shading between panels is pronounced and inherent, and should be planned for rather than avoided.

We use Burlap where a room wants weight, so a study, a dining room, or a snug lined on all four sides, and behind joinery where the texture reads against a painted frame. Natural and Stone do the quiet version; Ocean and Loam make an evening room. It pairs with wool, linen and unfinished timber, and with nothing shiny at all. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Paste the wall and hang each drop dry. Because the weave is open, work carefully at the seams, butting them precisely so the strand pattern continues and never overlapping. Keep paste off the face, as the fibre will hold a mark and will not clean. Order every roll in one order on a single batch number, reverse alternate drops if shading is strong, and keep one spare roll for repairs.

• Roll width: 91 cm
• Roll length: 7.32 m
• Pattern repeat: None — free match
• Application: Paste-the-wall
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Grasscloth II, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 10 (Natural, Chalk, Stone, Celadon, Ocean and 5 more)