Art in Dialogue: Curating Meaningful Interiors Through Wallpaper and Art

There is a certain magic to the rooms that stay with us. Rarely are they the result of a single decorative gesture. Instead, they emerge through layers, with colour, texture, pattern, and art building upon one another to create spaces that feel deeply personal and entirely unique.  

This is the idea explored in our latest film, in conversation with Cole & Son Managing Director, Yelena Ford, and Georgia Spray, founder of Partnership Editions. 

The layering of pattern and texture sits at the heart of Formations, our collection of handcrafted geometrics and archival reinterpretations. For Yelena Ford, wallpaper is never simply a decorative finish, rather, it becomes part of the fabric of a home itself, something that evolves alongside the objects, furnishings, and the artworks that surround it. The result is a space that feels "genuine and honest" rather than overly engineered. 

It is a philosophy shared by Georgia Spray who founded Partnership Editions in 2016 with the ambition of demystifying the art world and making it accessible to all. Georgia's curatorial approach is not rooted in rigid rules, but in instinct, atmosphere, and storytelling.

"I don't think you need to necessarily be too worried about matching," Georgia explains. "It's more about texture and mood and what kind of atmosphere you want to create in a space." Rather than seeking perfect coordination, she advocates allowing pieces to find common ground through materiality, craftsmanship, colour, or simply a shared feeling. 

This principle is beautifully demonstrated throughout the imagery created for Formations. Against the organic geometry of Inlay, Bethany Holmes' expressive Held Between Petals introduces a striking sense of movement. Whilst the artwork's gestural energy contrasts with the wallpaper's structured composition, both are connected through their palette. Georgia describes it as "a wonderful marriage" between artistic spontaneity and the precision of wallpaper craftsmanship, whilst Yelena notes how the artwork's "organic free-flowing expression" both complements and challenges the geometry behind it. 

Elsewhere, Brendan Lancaster's Palette Knives is paired with Cole's Colour Card, a wallpaper derived from an original Cole & Son paint shade card discovered in the archive. Here, the relationship is less about colour and more about subject matter. Lancaster's quiet depiction of an artist's tools provides what Yelena calls a "peaceful intervention" within the wallpaper's joyful vibrancy, whilst Georgia highlights the playful connection between the palette knives and the historic colour references behind the design. The pairing demonstrates that art can sometimes act not as an extension of a wallpaper, but as a deliberate pause within it. 

In the dining nook, Ines Fernandez de Cordova's Ofrenda 1 and Ofrenda 5 sit against the enveloping richness of Tesserae. At first glance, the connection is less obvious. Yet this is perhaps where the dialogue between art and wallpaper becomes most intriguing. Georgia points to the artist's intricate photopolymer etching process, which creates a distinctive grain and texture, whilst Yelena highlights the layering and craftsmanship embedded within the wallpaper itself. Together, the works demonstrate how successful pairings are often rooted not in visual similarity but in shared creative processes. As Yelena observes, "sometimes that conversation between the pattern and the artwork isn't something visual, it could be process driven." 

A similarly nuanced relationship emerges between Diamond Maze and Kanica's Textile Geometries II and Textile Geometries III. Both explore geometric forms, yet through entirely different materials. The softness of hand-dyed woven yarn contrasts with the wallpaper's printed surface, creating what Georgia describes as "a very tactile experience" whilst maintaining a strong visual dialogue. Yelena notes that both share a commitment to craftsmanship, reinforcing the idea that materiality can be every bit as important as palette when curating a room. 

For Angled Planes, paired with Lily Rose Fine's portrait, Leggy, the conversation shifts once again. Yelena is drawn to the wallpaper's confident scale and enveloping warmth, whilst Georgia champions the power of portraiture within interiors, suggesting that living with an unknown sitter invites curiosity and narrative into a room. The result is a pairing that feels at once contemporary and timeless, bringing together archival inspiration and modern sensibility in a way that echoes the broader ethos of Formations. 

Perhaps the most overtly architectural pairing can be found between Fresco Trellis and the ceramic works of Daniel Dzonu Clarke, including Winds of Change, Aeolic Beams, Sundrift, Mira's Loop, and Symphonie Ten. Yelena describes the wallpaper's softened geometry and sea sponge-applied texture as a reinterpretation of a classic trellis, bringing warmth and dimension to a traditionally formal motif. Georgia, meanwhile, notes how Clarke's works draw on architectural forms rendered in clay, balancing structure with an earthy tactility. Both observe a shared desire to soften angularity, proving that geometry need not feel austere. Instead, it can be layered with warmth, texture, and humanity. 

It emerges that decorating is less about adhering to rules and more about cultivating relationships between the objects we choose to live with. Wallpaper and art each possess the ability to set a room's tone, establish its identity, and shape its atmosphere. Yet their greatest strength lies in the dialogue between them.

"As you layer the art on top," Georgia says, "you can let things play out quite naturally." Yelena echoes the sentiment, describing how spaces become truly personal when every element exists "in genuine dialogue." Together, they offer a more liberated approach to interiors, one that values individuality over perfection and instinct over prescription.

In this way, Formations is not simply a wallpaper collection. It is an invitation to curate, layer, and evolve. To create rooms that tell stories. And to recognise that the most memorable interiors are rarely those built around a single idea, but those shaped by many voices speaking in harmony together.