Mark Alexander | Tipi Wallcovering

Tipi sits in Mark Alexander's Grasscloth Prints collection, so the design is printed onto a woven natural-fibre ground rather than a smooth paper. The repeat is 21.3 centimetres, which is small by the standards of this collection, and the effect on a wall is close to an all-over texture. The grass beneath breaks the printed edges very slightly, so nothing looks machine-made. It is a good wallcovering for a room where you want quiet activity on the wall rather than a statement.

Rolls are 91 centimetres wide and 7.32 metres long, with a 21.3 centimetre vertical repeat to allow for. There are three colourways. Parchment is the warm off-white and the easiest of the three to live with over a whole room. Powder is cooler and paler. Indigo is the deep blue, and it changes considerably between daylight and lamplight, so it is worth looking at a sample in the evening before committing to it.

We use it over a whole room more often than on a single wall, because the small repeat holds together better that way: a spare bedroom, a dressing room, a cloakroom. It also lines the inside of a wardrobe or an alcove well. Pair it with plain linen at the window, matt joinery and a jute or wool floor. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Paste the wall rather than the paper, and use a paperhanger with grasscloth experience, since the face marks if it is worked wet. Order every roll in one batch, check the batch numbers match before cutting, and hold a spare roll back for repairs. Panel-to-panel colour variation in the grass ground is part of the material and cannot be eliminated, so lay the rolls out and sequence the drops before anything goes on the wall.

• Roll size: 91 cm wide x 7.32 m long
• Pattern repeat: 21.3 cm vertical
• Suitable for: Full rooms, feature walls, cloakrooms, dressing rooms
• Care: Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth
• Collection: Grasscloth Prints, Mark Alexander
• Colourways: 3 (Indigo, Powder, Parchment)