ABOUT US

Founded in 1860 by Arthur Sanderson, Sanderson began as a business importing luxury papers, and has evolved to become one of the most renowned interior design and decorating brands worldwide. Since 1924, we have held a Royal Warrant for supplying fabrics, paint, and wallcoverings to the Royal Residences, an honour we’ve cherished for over 100 years.

From importing papers to establishing printing works and acquiring businesses, our illustrious history has cemented us as the founding brand at Sanderson Design Group, continuing Arthur Sanderson's legacy as a pioneer in acquisitions, which included the procurement of Morris & Co. in 1940.

Today, Sanderson paves the way for a future that continues to push the boundaries of heritage design. Known for exceptional quality, timelessness and quintessentially English style, we design and make beautifully crafted fabrics, wallcoverings, trimmings and paint for all. Layered in nostalgia, we continuously look back to move forward with exceptional designs that captivate a discerning global audience that recognises us as the home of iconic florals and illustrative botanicals.

Pushing the boundaries of heritage design since 1860

Our treasured archive houses a vast collection of fabrics, wallpaper, logbooks and printing blocks dating back to the 19th century, encapsulating our impressive history and providing a reference point for our design studio.

Embracing the Joy of Nostalgia

Our extensive portfolio of designs is layered in nostalgia. From the depths of the archive, joy blooms in historical designs that began with Arthur Sanderson's entrepreneurial spirit. Highly evocative, our patterns continue to stir fond memories across generations. A tongue-in-cheek appreciation for legacy designs in modern-day settings underpins this joy for nostalgic design. Out-of-the-box campaigns and collaborations thoughtfully encapsulate this.

Enduring Curiosity

Our adoration for collecting the curious and beautiful in pattern and print brings to the fore thoughts of far-off travels and journeys of design discovery. Global influences, first introduced by our founder, Arthur Sanderson, continue to adorn collections. Ikats, warp prints and motifs exemplify the enduring appeal of curiosity in design.

The Beauty and Abundance of Nature

Committed to depicting the beauty of the English Countryside, we embrace a passion for verdant pastures in beautifully evocative designs. Woodland walks, leafy trails and renowned gardens are expressed through hand-drawn designs, artistic techniques and exceptional finishes, brought together in palettes that speak of the great outdoors but sit naturally at home, in interiors.

Supporting British Craft

Harold, Arthur Sanderson’s son, was instrumental in Sanderson's early success and left a legacy of supporting emerging design talent. To this day, we uplift artistry across the sector through charitable and creative initiatives, including our support of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.

1860

In Islington, London, Arthur Sanderson establishes himself as an importer of French wallpapers. Merchandise features expensive, luxurious wallpapers, such as the panoramic and imitation leather papers manufactured by Paul Balin of Paris, for whom Sanderson is the sole agent in England.

1865

Sanderson moves to 52 Berners Street, which will become an expansive showroom for the brand. Sets of wallpaper for use below the dado rail, as filling above and with a frieze, became one of the era's key decorating aesthetics.

1868

Arthur Sanderson begins having designs commission printed by block printers in England.

1879

Sanderson acquires land at Chiswick and builds a wallpaper factory.

1881

John, Arthur Bengough, and Harold are involved in the business, now called Arthur Sanderson & Sons. Arthur Sanderson dies in 1882. Years later, he is still held in high regard by the decorating trade, many of whom owed much to his advice and entrepreneurial counsel.

1886

Japanese papers begin to be imported, and papers from Germany soon followed. The building boom in Britain dramatically increases the demand for affordable wallpaper. The following year, Sanderson issues its first stand book of machine-printed wallpaper of ‘exceptional quality and taste’.

1892

Construction begins on a new four-storey factory at the Sanderson site. Harold Sanderson oversees production and design and introduces freelance designs, including A.F. Brophy, Christopher Dresser, George Charles Haité, The Silver Studio, and C.F.A. Voysey.

1902

A modern factory designed by the English architect Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941) is built opposite the Chiswick factory, extending the four-storey building. The only industrial building Voysey ever designed, it still stands as the home of Sanderson Design Group following a restoration.

1911

Sanderson begins advertising in colour, one of the first companies to do so. The same year, Harold Sanderson applies for a patent to improve the apparatus/machines to produce printed and embossed wallpapers. By embossing webs of paper joined together by an adhesive, the embossing process is improved. A rotary printing machine patent is filed in August 1931 for multicoloured rotary printing machines to contain a pressure cylinder and further rollers to produce new printing effects.

1914

Rose & Peony is first produced as a wallpaper.

1919

A textile printing factory is established at Uxbridge, producing Sanderson's range of fabrics. These are first called ‘Eton Rural Cretonnes’ and later ‘Eton Rural Fabrics’.

1924

Arthur Bengough Sanderson becomes the holder of the first Royal Warrant for Sanderson as Purveyor of Wallpapers and Paints to King George V. This is said to be the first warrant granted for the supply of these products.

1928

A fire destroys the Chiswick factory, and by 1930, a new wallpaper factory is completed at Perivale. A collaboration with Disney Studio begins at the turn of the decade.

1935

Dersine Fancy Papers are introduced.

1940

Sanderson purchases Morris & Co., which had gone into voluntary liquidation the previous year. Sanderson buys the wallpaper business and the rights to use the company name, acquiring blocks, logbooks, and existing stock. During the Second World War, a massive paper shortage and rationing meant no new Sanderson pattern books were issued. The Sanderson factories engage in war work.

1951

A second Royal Warrant is granted. Sanderson products appear in the Festival of Britain on London’s South Bank, where the Royal Festival Hall is decorated exclusively with the company's paper. Imported textiles are introduced; those with designs by Picasso and Gio Ponti are among the fabrics. Another Royal Warrant renewal is confirmed in 1955.

1953

Chatsworth, an iconic Kenneth Truman design, is produced. Truman, who headed the Sanderson design studio in the 1950s and 60s, played an essential role in establishing the signature Sanderson floral style.

1957

Chelsea is designed: the ultimate rose bouquet.

1960

Sanderson celebrates its Centenary in a long-awaited new building at 58-60 Berners Street, designed by Slater & Uren (now the Sanderson Hotel). The occasion is marked with an exhibition and special collections at ‘the world's most fabulous showroom’.

1971

The Pat Etheridge design, Protea, is produced. The ‘Very Jilly Cooper, Very Sanderson’ advertisement, appearing in 1976, shows the famed novelist at home surrounded by Time Was wallpaper and curtains.

1984

Sanderson opens its own decorators’ showroom in New York, at the peak of the fashion for the English-country-house style.

1992

Following the closure of the Berners Street showroom, a new Sanderson showroom and shop opens on Brompton Road in London’s Knightsbridge. It relocates to Kings Road in 2001 and Chelsea Harbour Design Centre in 2005.

2010

2010 Sanderson celebrates its 150th anniversary with a special collection of fabrics and wallpapers inspired by its archive, a three-month-long exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London, and the publishing of a book written by Mary Schoeser.

2020

Work with the National Trust begins marking a long and close relationship. Sanderson’s One Sixty collection marks its 160th year, featuring some of Sanderson’s most iconic designs.

2021

The Very Sanderson campaign launches, a modern take on the original advertising campaign shot in 1976 with Jilly Cooper. Rugby international Maro Itoje, is the face of the campaign.

2023

A banner year for Sanderson, a new campaign—Layers of Legacy—conceptualised by artistic director and photographer Damian Foxe brings the brand’s legacy of iconic designs to the fore.

Sanderson reignites its relationship with Disney for a brand-new collection of whimsical, archival designs and brings trimmings back to the portfolio in a collaboration with design studio Salvesen Graham.

2024

Sanderson reveals Sanderson x Giles Deacon, a collection with the London-based couture designer and illustrator known for deftly mixing fashion, fine art, and theatre. In a twist of the unexpected, sublimely theatrical, eccentrically refined, and classically elegant fabrics and wallcoverings take centre stage in an enduringly beautiful decorating story.

Working with long-time collaborators, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, the first QEST Sanderson Rising Star Craft Award is launched. Contemporary embroidery artist, Hanny Newton, is the inaugural winner.

By the end of 2024, Sanderson Design Group has moved into its new home, the meticulously restored Voysey House on Sanderson’s Lane, Chiswick. Sanderson also receives a new Royal Warrant by Appointment to His Majesty King Charles III, marking 100 years of continued service to the Royal Household.

2025

Sanderson walks the runway at Milan Fashion Week for Moschino x Sanderson with a series of pieces incorporating Sanderson classics with a Moschino twist. Archival designs, including the rare beauty Etchings & Roses and the ever-iconic Stapleton Park from 1990, feature in the fashion house’s collection, showing mischievous additions of aeroplanes and floral faces by Moschino in amongst the blooms. An unearthed archive design by Austrian textile artist Mea Angerer, Eton Poppy, created in 1928, is shown for the first time, incorporated into the womenswear show with playful black sheep in the poppy heads.

Highgrove by Sanderson launches, a notable collection drawing inspiration from the extraordinary flora and fauna of Highgrove Gardens, a series of gardens restored, nurtured and transformed over 45 years by His Majesty King Charles III.

Today, Sanderson continues to innovate in designing and manufacturing its printed wallpapers and fabrics at its own UK factories, Anstey Wallpaper Company in Loughborough and Standfast & Barracks in Lancaster.