There is a particular kind of beauty that Colefax & Fowler has made its own — unhurried, deeply considered, and rooted in the English country house tradition that has captivated American interior designers and homeowners for generations. Founded in London in 1934 by Sybil Colefax and John Fowler, the house became the defining voice of English decorating style in the twentieth century, and its influence on American interiors — from the drawing rooms of the Upper East Side to the shingled summer houses of the Hamptons — has been profound and enduring.
At Lionheart Wallpaper, we carry one of the most comprehensive Colefax & Fowler collections available in the United States. Browse the full Colefax & Fowler Wallpaper collection and discover why this most English of houses continues to set the standard for refined interior design on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Philosophy: Understated Perfection
John Fowler famously described his decorating philosophy as “humble elegance” — a phrase that captures the Colefax & Fowler aesthetic with remarkable precision. These are not designs that shout. They are patterns that whisper, that reward attention, that improve with time. In a design landscape increasingly dominated by the loud and the transient, Colefax & Fowler offers something genuinely counter-cultural: restraint as a form of confidence.
For the US customer, this philosophy resonates deeply. The most enduring American interiors — those that appear in the pages of design books decades after they were created — share this quality of considered understatement. Colefax & Fowler provides the vocabulary to achieve it.
The Botanicals: Wisteria and Woodland
The botanical print is the heart of the Colefax & Fowler collection, and the Alderney Wallpaper is among its finest expressions. A graceful trailing wisteria design with delicate botanical detail, it is available in a soft cream that brings quiet elegance to any wall — the kind of pattern that looks as though it has always been there, as though the room was designed around it.
In aqua, the same design takes on a fresher, more contemporary quality — equally at home in a coastal New England bedroom as in a more formal drawing room setting.
At the pinnacle of the botanical range sits the extraordinary Arbour Sisal Wallpaper — a beautifully painted woodland scene on a luxurious sisal ground that draws on the grand 18th century tradition of bespoke hand-painted scenic wallpapers. Available in green, old blue, and beige, it is a design of genuine rarity: the kind of wallpaper that transforms a room into an experience. For the US customer seeking something truly exceptional for a dining room, library, or principal bedroom, Arbour is simply without equal.
The Stripes: Classically Proportioned
No English decorating house has ever handled the stripe with more authority than Colefax & Fowler, and the current collection offers several that deserve particular attention.
The Alton Stripe Wallpaper is an elegant wide stripe printed on a strie background, with a narrow contrasting edge colour that brings a quiet sense of formality to the design. In aqua and beige it is fresh and versatile; in pink and green it becomes something altogether more garden-room in spirit — the perfect choice for a sunroom or a breakfast room that opens onto the outdoors.
The Alys Wallpaper takes a more relaxed approach — surface printed to recapture the textured mark-making of a block print, it is an informal decorative stripe adapted from a Colefax & Fowler block print fabric. Available in leaf, navy, old blue, pink, and silver, it is one of the most versatile designs in the collection: equally at home in a hallway, a bedroom, or a study.
The Plains and Textures: The Art of the Background
One of Colefax & Fowler’s most underappreciated skills is its mastery of the plain — the background wallpaper that makes everything else in a room sing. The Appledore Wallpaper is a textured vinyl that combines a grass cloth emboss with subtle woven textures to create a linen effect — available in cream, navy, old blue, and silver. It is the kind of wallpaper that professional interior designers reach for when they want a wall that adds warmth and depth without competing with the furniture, the art, or the view.
The Appledore Stripe Wallpaper adds a discreet tonal shadow stripe to the same base — barely there, but unmistakably present. In cream it is the perfect foil for antique furniture and oil paintings; in navy it brings a quiet authority to a more formal space.
Practical Excellence for the US Market
Every roll in the Colefax & Fowler wallpaper collection at Lionheart Wallpaper is 20.47 inches wide and 11 yards long — with the exception of the Arbour Sisal, which comes in a wider 33.46-inch format. Pricing ranges from $220 per roll for the botanical and stripe designs up to $1,300 per roll for the exceptional Arbour Sisal scenic wallpaper. All designs are paste-the-wall, and professional installation is recommended to achieve the best results with these premium papers.
Where to Begin
For a bedroom of quiet, enduring beauty, Alderney in cream or aqua is the natural starting point. For a dining room or library that makes a lasting impression, Arbour Sisal is simply unmatched. For a hallway or study that balances formality with warmth, Alton Stripe or Alys offer the perfect solution. And for a background that makes everything else in the room look better, Appledore is the professional’s choice.
Browse the complete Colefax & Fowler Wallpaper collection at Lionheart Wallpaper — and bring the most enduring tradition in English decorating to your American home.