I had such a nice exchange with Victoria Cramsie at PaperBoy recently, I have to share some of her wallpaper designs for boys. These papers are made by Robert Hamlin-Wright at his small factory in Norfolk, England and they’re made to order, so after you place your order it will take 4-6 weeks for it to arrive. This hand screen printed wallpaper is FSC accredited sustainable forest paper, in a nutshell this means, “Your paper has come from a forest that is managed to the highest standards to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations“.

Victoria’s wallpaper is geared towards boys, as you can tell, but I still liked it enough to share it here on decor8 despite how little I show kid’s design. These photos feature Victoria and her two boys, Rory and Archie, another sweet thing about homegrown companies is when family members are photographed in some of the product shots, don’t you think?

Here is what inspired Victoria’s line: “Her boys outgrew their nursery style room and needed a place that they (and their mother) could be proud of. So she thought about what made a beautiful house. A place with a few lovely, classic things. A place with designs and materials that sing. That’s filled with colors and shapes that have a sense of harmony and intrigue. That makes you feel somehow calmer, more comfortable. As if the world is really rather fine. Somewhere that might even make you smile. And she thought wouldn’t it be great if you could find designs that did this for the boys? But she couldn’t find any. She was looking for boys’ wallpaper that felt handmade, but wasn’t folksy or whimsical or twee. Something more pleasing than tacky, standard licensed wares. But affordable, too. Something classic, even iconic, but with an edge. Modern, but with room for nostalgia. Enough fun for little kids yet cool enough for bigger ones. And lovely enough to fit in with a beautiful, grown-up design scheme. Well made, slightly subversive. And funny. So she gave up looking and started to create. She liked the handmade look so she drew images by hand. The boys she asked liked ‘edgy’ images, from graffiti to slightly scary skeletons. And more classic images like pets, puppets and dinosaurs. And they responded in a surprisingly sophisticated way to color, simplicity and texture. She came up with designs that would appeal to boys from preschool to teens. Something for after the fluffy bunny stage that would see them through until they painted their bedrooms black.”

Bravo, Victoria! So many successful business are born out of frustration — you can’t find what you want out there so you create it yourself. Then you learn that so many others were in fact looking for the same thing. I guess the moral of this story is to spend less time complaining and more time doing, right? If something is lacking out there, and you are passionate and talented enough to fill it, then by golly – do it!

Congrats on your new line!

(images: paperboy)

13 Responses to “PaperBoy Wallpaper”

1 Justine commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:50 am

I LOVE this wallpaper – not just for boys, I’d say. Pretty good for thirty-something women, too – I can see the silver and grey version of the hand shadow puppets on my study wall…
2 Anna commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:56 am

I think this wallpaper is great. It meets a real gap in the market – I have 2 boys myself and I struggle for things to fit the bill.

Particularly like the dinosaur print – will try and convince my 3 year old to have it as a feature wall (although the term will probably be lost on him…..)

Thanks for sharing.
Anna´s last blog ..Designer doormat
3 decor8 commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 10:03 am

Justine — Cool! :) That would be cute!!!
4 Laura commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 11:26 am

Very cool! I love to find examples of sustainable design… every little bit helps. :)
5 Jaimie commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

I’m always interested in new wallpaper designs! I used this dog wallpaper in my son’s room:

http://thibautdesign.com/Collection/patternDetailWall.aspx?pid=687&prdId=3847

Like those PaperBoy designs, I liked it because it felt youthful without being too babyish.
6 Miss B commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

Oh gosh the shadow puppets wallpaper is so inspired, just love it!
Miss B´s last blog ..PETITE COTERIE
7 Jane commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

I love it. I am redoing son’s room and these are quite inspired. Esp the dinosaur one. xoxo
Jane´s last blog ..Do you need one of these rooms?
8 samantha hahn commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

Perfect considering I’m having a boy of my own in the next couple of weeks. Time to start thinking about room decor. Love these papers.
samantha hahn´s last blog ..Old Devices: New work
9 lindsay commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

If I had a boy I’d love the dino paper.
lindsay´s last blog ..Art Supplies.
10 Victoria commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 7:04 pm

I like these a lot. But why for boys? Can’t girls like dinosaurs? I did as a little girl. Why not market it for kids? Is something wrong with a girl or her parents if they want to put these in her room?
11 Gretchen commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

Yes! Decor for boys! You don’t realize it until you’re trying to decorate for them, but there really isn’t much out there. I’ve seen this firsthand with my kid brothers as they’ve grown up. One of them just started college, and it was nearly impossible to find dorm furniture/ bedding that wasn’t obviously for girls. Yes, “pretty” is fun, but too many boys are left out of the fun of decorating!
Gretchen´s last blog ..Grocery Bag Art
12 maria1975 commented:
October 13th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

Really cute papers :) I really like the one with the cats, dogs, bunnies, & turtles.
13 kate commented:
October 14th, 2009 at 11:02 am

I love the shadow puppet ones! So clever. I would totally hang these even if I had a girl. Well done. Thanks for sharing these!
kate´s last blog ..M is for Monogrammed Needlepoint Pillow

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