Behind The Scenes Of My First Wallpaper And Fabric Pattern Commission

This was a really exciting post to write, for as long as I can remember I’ve always had an affinity for interior design in particular wallpaper and fabric design. I come from a very creative family with a love for high-quality art and decor which have inspired me endlessly growing up. Graduating from uni a couple of years ago now with a degree in interior design, styling the home, and designing products for home interiors is something I can see myself continuing for many many years.

The past year has not been the best for most of us and with the wedding side of my business on a slight hold, this 2020 summer project proved to be the best experience to fill that time and learn some new skills for future work.

When Grace from Seb Maxwell Interiors got in touch with me over email to design some wallpaper patterns I was so flattered and grateful that she had chosen to trust me with creating work for her new business. From our first conversation I could immediately tell that we were on the same wavelength with the styles and colours, she really was my ideal client even sending through a mood-board with some of her ideas linked with my illustrations. After this initial stage, she trusted me to go full reign with my ideas for the 3 patterns.

So first things first, from the spec and mood-board provided by Grace I then proceeded to make some more developed mood-board concepts for each pattern.

The first one was to be eclectic, quirky, and colourful. Featuring dressed animals inspired by one of my earlier drawings of Mr Magpie seen below…

The second was to be a little softer colour-wise with pastel tones and a focus on birds each adorned with various pearl necklaces and fascinators. Modernised with the addition of pom-poms hanging from each branch. This colour palette and style was loosely inspired by one of my studio wedding stationery collections ‘Pouvoir des Fleurs’.

Finally, the last one was to be an entirely botanical tapestry in the arts and crafts style again inspired by one of my studio wedding stationery collections: ‘Banquet’. With the initial idea for monochromatic colour palettes for each colourway, this then evolved into a slightly larger colour palette. I initially thought this would be the more muted of the three patterns but now looking at it I’d definitely say it would provide a little drama and texture to a statement wall.

I illustrated the work on my iPad at 42cm x 42cm, 300dpi which I then flattened to a tiff format in adobe photoshop for the specified printing requirements. I used adobe illustrator to experiment with how the pattern would repeat, going back to my iPad to amend any inconsistencies with the illustration or colour combinations.

Excuse my dad’s foot in the background, here’s a work-in-progress shot of each pattern side by side on my iPad pro. As you can see there were some slight hairlines between some of the patterns which I amended during the finalisation process. Throughout the design and illustration stages, I continually sent drafts to Grace to ensure our visions aligned and that she was happy with how the pattern was progressing. A vital part of any design job is to keep your client in the loop, especially at critical design stages this saves both parties time and money, luckily with this project, there were very few if any amends and I felt that by sharing mood boards in the early stages with specifics on colours, themes and sketches of the elements, I could deliver on Graces requirements.

The final product!

And now the most exciting part, seeing all the hard work come to fruition! Here are Freya Niamh Designs new wallpapers for Seb Maxwell Interiors:

I’m so so happy with how the wallpapers have come out, the quality of the toll coated non-woven paper is absolutely incredible and would stand as a great impression for your guests when coming into your home. I think my favourites overall are the thistle down papers, I’m still undecided on which colour though. Samples of each paper are available to order on the Seb Maxwell Interiors website, where you’ll also find a wide array of other talented illustrators wallpapers. Fabrics will be coming soon I’ve been told which I’m super excited for! I’ll definitely be sending some over to mum to get upholstering with.

So there we have it, my first collection of wallpapers for Seb Maxwell Interiors! I absolutely loved this experience and can’t wait for many more in the future. Let me know in the comments which print is your favourite and which room you’d put it in? I’m obsessed with statement spare bathrooms at the moment and I think the jungle prom would look wild in a small moody lit bathroom.

As always thanks so much for reading and have a lovely day!

Lots of love,

Hannah XOXO