How Farrow & Ball Makes Luxury Wallpaper

September 20, 2022

While you might not notice it day-to-day, a wallpaper contributes greatly to the overall atmosphere of a room. But have you ever wondered what goes into the production of luxury wallpapers?

Read on to learn more about how Farrow & Ball have been doing it for decades.

The Story of Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball is a world-renowned manufacturer of paints and wallpapers. John Farrow and Richard Ball established this British company right after World War II in 1946 by supplying paint for the Ford Motor Company. Farrow and Ball later expanded into artisanal wallpapers in the 90s.

Today, the brand has grown in popularity to the point that showrooms are now publicly available in London, New York, Paris, and Toronto.

The current factory, which resides in Dorset, England, prides itself on its dedication to environmental causes. The wallpapers come from responsibly sourced paper and are fully recyclable. They also use a water-based eco-friendly paint.

How We Craft Our Farrow and Ball Wallpapers

Farrow and Ball wallpapers all begin with high-quality rolls of paper. The first layer of colour acts as the base tone, which the company often selects from its collection of paints. From there, the printing process can go one of three ways:

Flatbed. Based on vintage techniques, this printing method carves designs onto blocks and covers them in paint before pressing them onto the paper.
Roller-block. This similar approach uses a cylinder rolled onto the wallpaper for more intricate designs.
Trough. Pigmented paint flows through a wallpaper trough to create a striped effect. Trough printing often occurs twice for a two-tone finish.

Our Recommendations For Wallpapers in Every Room

Having trouble pinpointing the perfect wallpaper for your rooms? Farrow and Ball crafts all our designs in-house. Here are our suggestions.

Living rooms deserve designs that you’d love to see daily. Our sophisticated Atacama gives off a country-style look, while amongst the metallic wallpapers the shine of Amime reflects the setting sun beautifully.
Bedrooms can either have a contemporary look (Blostma) or a more vintage, floral one (Uppark).
Hallways benefit from wallpaper that accentuates the size and height of the space. Our Feather Grass design does just that, reaching up to the ceiling.