Mark Alexander | Gesture Wallcovering

Gesture is a single broad mark repeated down the drop: a sweep with a thick start and a dry, broken finish, the way a loaded brush behaves as it runs out. Nothing about it is neat. The marks overlap one another and leave the ground showing between them, and the edges are ragged rather than defined. At 80 centimetres the repeat is short, so a wall reads as one worked surface rather than as a series of separate strokes.

The roll is 86 centimetres wide and 7.2 metres long, with an 80 centimetre vertical repeat. Three colourways: Natural, where the mark is barely deeper than the ground it sits on; Whitewash, cooler and paler still; and Toad, a soft olive green and the only one of the three to bring colour into a room. Natural and Whitewash are both usable over four walls. Toad we would keep to a single wall.

We use papers like this behind a bed, in a dressing room, or in a hall that needs something on the walls but nothing to look at directly. It sits well over painted panelling and under a plain cornice. Keep the room quiet around it, with linen, wool and a single piece of art, because the paper is already doing the work. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

It is applied paste-the-wall. Set out from a plumb line and mark the 80 centimetre repeat before cutting, and calculate quantities on full repeats rather than on wall height. Tone varies slightly between panels, which is inherent in the way the surface is made, so plan for it rather than trying to sort rolls into a match. Order the whole job in one batch number and add a spare roll.

• Roll width: 86 cm
• Roll length: 7.2 m
• Pattern repeat: 80 cm vertical
• Suitable for: Walls
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Collage IV, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 3 (Natural, Toad, Whitewash)