Rooted in a profound love of colour, pattern and print, Ellen Merchant creates hand-drawn interior textiles designed to be both uplifting and enduring. Her work centres on playful botanical motifs and a richly decorative aesthetic, drawing quiet inspiration from the British Arts and Crafts movement. The result is a distinctive balance—at once nostalgic and gently contemporary—where heritage craftsmanship meets a refined modern sensibility. At every stage of her process, Ellen prioritises the integrity and character of hand-printing. This commitment brings a sense of vitality to her work, with each design carrying the mark and spirit of its making.
Originally from Dorset, Ellen moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins and Camberwell College of Arts. After a few years working as a fashion print designer, she was drawn toward creating textiles with greater purpose and longevity. In 2019, she further developed her practice at the Royal College of Art, where she completed an MA in Textiles. Ellen established her London studio in 2021, with a focus on producing timeless, high-quality interior textiles—designed and made in England using traditional techniques. In 2024, Ellen relocated to the East Sussex coast, where the surrounding landscape—its rolling countryside and shifting coastal light—continues to inform and inspire her work.
Ellen has been acknowledged as a ‘rising star’ in the decorative arts. Her work has been featured in House & Garden, Homes & Gardens, Elle Decoration, Living etc, Country Life, the English Home and The Telegraph, amongst other titles.
FABRIC
All of our fabrics are silk-screen printed in West London at a fabric and wallpaper print specialists founded in 1963. Screen printing is a traditional print process where each colour in the pattern is translated onto a large mesh screen to form a flat stencil, which is then laid onto the fabric to have ink passed through it to print the image. This is repeated continuously down the length of the fabric to create the seamless pattern. Additional screens are added one by one to layer each colour, resulting in a beautifully tactile and hand-finished look, including the charm of natural variations and small imperfections within the print. The inks we used are water-based and we choose to print on 100% linen. Not only is it luxurious and durable for use in interiors, but flax is one of the most sustainable raw materials.
WALLPAPER
We print our standard width wallpapers in Lancashire with a 4 generation, family run printers who pioneered the original 100+ year old traditional surface print machinery. Surface printing is now a mechanised process using the same equipment that would have originally been steam powered, fusing high quality printing with hand crafted character.
The process uses engraved rollers which pass continuously over the ink and onto the paper. It is very close in technique to the way that Ellen prints and trials her designs in her studio with a carved lino tile on her offset litho press, enabling her to achieve the same aesthetic and feel to her wallpapers but on a larger, more consistent scale for production. All of the colours are mixed by eye and the machinery required a team of incredibly skilled and experienced printers to operate it. This wet on wet process creates a textured and tactile impression on the surface of the paper, celebrating a unique and highly skilled method of wallpaper printing.
INSPIRATION
“ I like to clash influences from past and present, I think that’s what yields the most interesting results. I find inspiration for colours everywhere – from art, things people wear, combinations in everyday life. It’s important to me that my designs and colour choices are uplifting and interesting. I want to create artwork that becomes a part of people's memories; something they will enjoy looking at everyday, and want to live amongst for years to come.”
