Recently we added wallpaper by Josephine Munsey to our shop. We consider Josephine to be one of the most talented young British wallpaper and fabric designers. Her work combines masterful designer craftsmanship with refreshing themes. Josephine Munsey's wallpapers are eye-catching, but thanks to her skilful colour combinations they never push themselves into the foreground and can therefore be used for many different interiors designs.
The history of the Josephine Munsey brand is still young. In 2020, Josephine founded her own label together with her husband Greg, who looks after the distribution of the products. Before she had already spent several years designing well-known patterns for fabrics and wallpapers for Cole & Son and Designers Guild with great success.
We were already convinced by the 6 designs from Josephine Munsey's introductory collection. That is why we were the first shop in German-speaking countries to include the brand to our range of products.
The striking underwater designs Octopoda and Underwater Jungle quickly became favourites among our customers. A number of projects have also been implemented in the hospitality industry using Josephine Munsey's expressive wallpapers. Josephine stunningly combines traditional, almost classic British wallpaper design with new ideas. When looking at some of her patterns, such as Labyrinth, we also sense the wonderful tongue-in-cheek approach by its creator.
Many of her designs are drawn almost photographic in detail, in the style of old natural history books, which Josephine then painstakingly colours with finely matched, mutually accentuating, bright colours. Josephine Munsey's wallpapers are real statement wallpapers that radiate freshness even after years and leave their mark on the room without pushing themselves too much into the foreground.
All of Josephine Munsey's designs start with a simple sketch of the repeat, which she draws in pencil. She deliberately takes her time for this. The repeat is the central element of every wallpaper design, since it determines the effect the wallpaper will ultimately have in the room. Some of Josephine Munsey's designs therefore take several weeks from the first repeat sketch to the drawing of the complete pattern.
While many designers today develop their patterns digitally on the screen right from the start, Josephine deliberately still takes a classical approach here: For her, thinking from the repeat is one of the special features of the centuries-old art of wallpaper design that is worth preserving.
The subsequent work steps are carried out digitally at Josephine Munsey, too. Therefore an individual colour scheme for the wallpapers, adapted to special room situations can also be realised in collaboration with the designer. Thanks to the highly specialised printing company near Manchester that works with Josephine Munsey, it is also possible to print on non-standard materials. The size of the pattern can also be adapted to the needs of the room. Even the implementation of individual patterns is possible.
The UK based production also ensures that the wallpapers meet the high standards for environmentally friendly materials, printing inks and production methods.
The ideas for Josephine's designs come from her sketchbooks, which she has been keeping for many years, and a large archive of paintings and photographs. She also draws inspiration from her travels or the woodlands surrounding her studio in the gentle hills of Stroud in the West of England. The iconic Bombes Fernery design was inspired, among other things, by a collection of ferns in her mother's garden.
With sophisticated composition techniques and her years of experience, Josephine has created numerous wallpapers for her own label, which follow the spirit of sustainability by retaining their design impact to the room even after years. For us, many of them have what it takes to become design classics.
Image Sources: Josephine Munsey