Mark Alexander | Hyacinth Wallcovering

Hyacinth is woven from water hyacinth, a broad, flat natural fibre that gives a much bigger texture than grasscloth. The strands are wide and slightly uneven, and where they overlap the wall picks up shadow rather than shine. Handled loose it feels closer to matting than to paper, and it behaves that way on the wall. It is the most sculptural of the natural wallcoverings we use, and it wants a wall with reasonable light to show what it is doing.

Each roll is 91 centimetres wide and 10.97 metres long, and there is no pattern repeat. Four colourways: Harvest, a pale straw; Bronze and Metal, both mid-tones with a slightly grey cast; and Indigo, the darkest. Water hyacinth is a natural material and takes colour unevenly, so panel-to-panel variation is pronounced with this one in particular. It is inherent to the fibre and should be planned into the hang.

We use Hyacinth on a single wall — behind a bed, behind a dining sideboard, inside a deep alcove — where its scale can be read properly. It is not a paper for a corridor. Put it with plain plaster elsewhere, a linen curtain and a lamp set to throw light across it rather than straight at it. It rewards a wall you look at from a distance. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Hang paste-the-wall and handle the rolls carefully, as wide fibre strands can lift at the cut edge: trim with a fresh blade and press the seams properly. Keep paste well away from the face. Order all rolls together, check every batch number, and reverse alternate panels to blend the tonal shifts. Add one spare roll, because this is a material you will not want to re-order in a different batch.

• Roll width: 91 cm
• Roll length: 10.97 m
• Pattern repeat: None — woven texture
• Suitable for: Walls, feature walls, joinery panels
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Collage III, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 4 (Bronze, Harvest, Metal, Indigo)