Mark Alexander | Partition Wallcovering

Partition is a set of vertical divisions worked down the paper: narrow bands of varying width set beside one another, with the line between each one left soft rather than ruled. It is the simplest kind of pattern there is, with nothing to match across a wall and nothing to look at for long, just a rhythm that lifts the eye. The scale is generous enough that a run of it reads as proportion rather than as stripe.

The roll is 91 centimetres wide and 10.97 metres long, and there is no pattern repeat to match, which keeps both cutting and quantities straightforward. Three colourways: Powder, the palest and softest; Paprika, a warm earth red; and Indigo, deep and cool. Powder will open a room up. Paprika and Indigo are for rooms you want closed in, and both hold their colour better in artificial light than most papers of this weight.

We would take Powder across a bedroom, and use Paprika or Indigo in a cloakroom, a small study or a dining room where the walls are meant to be felt. The vertical rhythm adds height to a low room, which is worth remembering in a cottage or a converted attic. Plain linen at the window, painted woodwork, and no other pattern in the room. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

It is a paste-the-wall paper. Set the first drop against a plumb line, because vertical patterns are unforgiving of an out-of-true start and every drop after it follows the first. There is no repeat to match, so quantities come straight off wall height plus a trimming allowance. Expect a little tonal difference between panels; it is inherent rather than a fault. Order all rolls in one batch number and add a spare.

• Roll width: 91 cm
• Roll length: 10.97 m
• Pattern repeat: None — straight match
• Suitable for: Walls
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Collage IV, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 3 (Indigo, Paprika, Powder)