Mark Alexander | Sett

Sett is a tight natural wallcovering with a short, regular rhythm running up the drop. The fibre is laid in close bands that repeat every ten centimetres, so the wall reads as an even, closely worked surface rather than as a pattern. At arm's length you see the structure clearly. From the other side of a room it resolves into a single textured tone, which makes it the most disciplined of the Collage II papers and the easiest to live with over a large area.

Each roll is 91 centimetres wide and 7.32 metres long, with a 10 centimetre vertical repeat, which is short enough that it wastes very little. Two colourways are made: Lake, a soft mid-blue, and Vellum, a warm off-white. Because the fibre is natural, tone varies from panel to panel and between rolls. The short repeat makes that variation easier to distribute than it would be on a long-repeat design, but it is still there and should be expected.

We use Sett across all four walls of a hallway or a landing, where the short repeat keeps the surface calm around doors and returns, and behind a bed as a full-width panel. Vellum works in almost any scheme and is the safer of the two, while Lake suits a bathroom or a small room where a hint of colour helps. Plain curtains and a wool carpet are enough alongside it. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Hang Sett paste-the-wall with butted seams, matching on the 10 centimetre repeat. Short repeats are forgiving, but the join still needs to line up or the banding will step visibly across the wall. Check and record the batch number on every roll and order the whole room together. Reversing alternate drops evens the tone. Order one spare roll over the calculation for cutting and for later repair, and clean with a soft dry cloth only, as this surface will mark if it is wetted.

• Roll width: 91 cm
• Roll length: 7.32 metres
• Pattern repeat: 10 cm vertical
• Suitable for: Halls, landings, bedrooms, bathrooms
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Collage II, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 2 (Lake, Vellum)