Ellie Cashman: Her Process, Her Floral Wallpaper
Wow. wow. wow. Just wow. I first saw it last year on Instagram in American restaurant Finca in Salt Lake City. This dark and lovely Ellie Cashman wallpaper shown below. Edgy, moody, overscale, smoky, floral. Love. It.
Both: CityHome Collective
It's intoxicating and beautiful. In fact, we wanted to order and install it in my home to create a room "look" for my next book coming out in the Decorate series, which will release in just a few months in September (I'll tell you more about book number 4 very soon!). We didn't end up having the time or the budget, but I still wanted to talk about it publicly. That's why I had to share it from Selina's new book yesterday on one of her pages. And this is why I have to share more impressions of it in lots of different spaces around the room to inspire you. All of this is Ellie Cashman wallpaper, not all the same pattern, but the same moody large blooms that designers and decorators all over are raving about.
Top L: Ellie Cashman Top R: Cupcakes and Cashmere Bottom L: Ellie Cashman Bottom R: Pinterest
But first, WHO IS ELLIE CASHMAN? She is an American artist with a Master of Fine Arts from New York University and was born in the same state as I was, Rhode Island, and like me, she expatriated to Europe (she moved to the Netherlands in 2007, I moved to Germany in 2009). Her current largest influence is the still life paintings from the Dutch golden age. She decided to turn her influence into patterns and created hyper realistic, over-scale wallpaper and it went viral on Pinterest in 2013 and since... well, her brand has become a major player in the world of wallpaper. Here is more about her humble beginnings as told by Ellie herself...
"When I designed my 'Dark Floral' wallpaper, I imagined it being used on an accent wall. I mocked it up in Photoshop as the backdrop for a rustic wood table and an Eames chair. What happened next, I hadn't imagined at all! That mockup went viral on Pinterest, and e-mails began to pour in from all around the world. People wanted to know where they could buy the wallpaper. This gave me the guts to go out on my own and find a partner to produce 'Dark Floral.' We were shipping the wallpaper around the world even before the web shop went live. And now, just a short time later, 'Dark Floral' has appeared on the pages of Vogue and Elle. So, real life has exceeded the capacity of my imagination. I feel truly lucky. This little wallpaper that could has had quite a journey so far, and it feels like it's just getting started."
I love stories like this! Ohhh the internet is so good to so many of us! She has since expanded her wallpaper collection into cushion covers, fabric and scarves.
Top L: Sarah Sherman Samuel. All others: Ellie Cashman
Styled by Selina Lake, Photographed by Rachel Whiting for Ryland Peters and Small/Botanical Style
Top L: Goop Pop-up shop, Chicago Top R: Jaimee Rose Interiors Bottom L: Pinterest Bottom R: Lucky Miam
Florist Nikki Tibbles Home in London via Dear Designer via Domus Nova
Do you wonder how she makes the patterns you see? I did too. Ellie explains below,
"To create my large-scale floral prints, I use a combination of traditional and digital art media. I start with a rough pencil sketch on paper, which I photograph and import into Photoshop. Using customized brushes, a Wacom tablet and pen, I then color and paint on a series of layers, building up from that original sketch to a finished design. This part of my process usually takes me about 6 months to a year. Once a print is complete, a new process begins: sourcing materials and applying it to different products. In this way, a design can evolve over a period of years."
Wonderful! All of these papers can be purchased online in Ellie's shop.
What example above do you like the most? Why? Would you use a dramatic wallpaper in your home like this? Where?
(Photos credited above)