de Gournay wallpaper is luxury artisan-made, hand-painted wallcovering known for its exceptional design, use of rare materials (such as silk) and of very special craft techniques (such as hand embroidery). Each project is produced to order, tailored both to fit a client's space and to suit their tastes through a vast array of custom design options and expert assistance from the de Gournay design team. The result of de Gournay’s absolute commitment to craft without compromise is that many regard these as the finest wallcoverings in the world.

Yes, de Gournay hand-paints every stage of its wallpapers in house, using its own skilled artisan employees. Hand craftsmanship is central to the brand's approach, giving each panel distinctive character, depth and detail that cannot be replicated by mechanical processes.

de Gournay artisans use a wide variety of the finest, carefully chosen materials for different purposes, including handmade papers for texture, pure silk for sheen and handle, precious metal leaf, glass beads, antique pigments and purpose-made, environmentally responsible paint mediums. Depending on the design, these materials are combined in layers to create the bespoke wallcoverings de Gournay is known for.

de Gournay wallpaper is considered a luxury wallcovering because the design and creation process from inception to delivery is handcrafted, made to order and highly customised. The company specialises in hand-painted designs and bespoke wallcoverings that can be tailored to a client's space, including custom colours, backgrounds, dimensions, layouts, and even entirely unique designs. Each project can be planned specifically for a room through de Gournay's Tailored service, which adapts the artwork and panel layout to the architecture of the space for a truly bespoke result.

de Gournay is unique in its field through owning the entire vertical process from design to production. All de Gournay artisans are full-time employees, invested in the brand and invested in by the brand. This commitment both ways ensures consistently very high standards in every product.

Stock de Gournay wallpaper is held at de Gournay's logistics centre in Wiltshire, England, from where courier delivery is possible to any corner of the globe within a few days, and next day to the UK or the US East Coast. The in-stock selection covers something from every design Collection but of course represents a tiny fraction of the options available to order.

de Gournay’s designers help clients create visually strong products made with great craft. The intention is for these wallcoverings to remain highly valued by generations of future property owners. de Gournay products tend to be chosen by leading interior designers for some of the world's most prestigious projects, so a de Gournay room associates a property with the very best, which can add to its appeal when it comes to be sold. de Gournay also offers long-term support of its products through its repair & maintenance scheme, designed to keep them looking their best for years to come. As a result, many clients view a de Gournay installation as much more than a wallpaper: it is a bespoke art investment to be enjoyed for many years.

The luxury house de Gournay was founded by Claud Cecil Gurney in 1986. Mr. Gurney originally set out to find artisans who could restore some antique, 18th-century Chinese Chinoiserie wallpaper in his Knightsbridge Central London home. When he struggled to find anyone with the necessary skills in Europe, he travelled directly to China. There, he located master artists who still preserved the traditional, painstaking hand-painting techniques. He named the company "de Gournay" using the medieval French spelling of his own family surname.

de Gournay offers the loan of full sample panel drops to help clients evaluate designs, colourways and backgrounds before ordering. If you have not found what you are looking for, or are going down the popular customisation route, de Gournay will make a sample to your own specifications.

The custom nature of de Gournay’s business is such that even the most popular designs are only made a handful of times each year, and the tailored fit and colour options mean each version is clearly unique. The original Chinoiserie Collection designs Earlham and St Laurent and the Plum Blossom design from our Japanese & Korean collection are the most frequently chosen.

Yes. Alongside its wallpapers, de Gournay hand-paints and hand-embroiders fabrics on pure silks, linen and other natural fibres, for curtains, blinds, upholstery, cushions, bedspreads and wall upholstery. Most de Gournay designs can be ordered as hand-painted fabric in the same colour palettes as the wallpapers, so a room's walls and textiles can be designed together. The range also extends to furniture and other handcrafted pieces for the interior.

Yes. de Gournay embroiders and beads wallcoverings as well as fabrics, with every stitch and bead sewn by hand, one at a time, by de Gournay's own embroiderers, so there are no loose threads or poorly attached beads. The work is done on grounds of silk, wool, cotton and linen chosen for their appearance, handle, strength and longevity, and de Gournay can also embroider onto a client's own fabric subject to testing. Because embroidery and beading sit raised above the surface, they are best placed away from areas of frequent wear, and like every de Gournay design they can be customised to suit the project.

To order de Gournay wallpaper, contact your nearest de Gournay showroom or representative, who will guide the project from first choice to production. de Gournay prepares a quotation and, for a straight run of panels, a Design Miniature drawing showing the chosen panels at the specified height. Once these are approved, you sign an Order Acknowledgement confirming every detail and pay a 50% deposit, and the order enters production. For Tailored projects, de Gournay's Architecture & Design team works from accurate room elevations and floor plans to produce an Elevational Design Miniature (EDM): a drawing of every wall showing exactly how the design will sit around windows, doors and other features. Where a design has been customised, a large sample section is also made for approval before production begins. Lead times are confirmed once the signed Order Acknowledgement has been received.

Yes. de Gournay showrooms in London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Beirut and Shanghai welcome clients to see the wallcoverings and fabrics in person, and local representatives cover many other regions. The showroom team can help choose designs, colours, backgrounds and customisation options, and arrange the loan of full sample panels before an order is placed. A visit is especially worthwhile because the depth of hand-painting, the sheen of silk and the shine of metal leaf cannot be judged properly from a screen or a printed page.

Yes. de Gournay publishes collection books for its wallpapers and fabrics, showing each design in its standard colourway on a selection of backgrounds, alongside special colourways drawn from recent custom projects. de Gournay showrooms can also show a far wider selection of designs from completed custom projects, earlier collections and the de Gournay archive. Because printed pages can never fully capture hand-painted colour, metal leaf or silk, de Gournay recommends viewing a full sample panel before ordering. For the latest collection books, contact a de Gournay showroom or visit degournay.com.

Yes. Customisation is at the heart of de Gournay's work and is available on every design. Clients can change the design colours, the background colour and construction, the design height and the panel layout, or move, remove and add design elements, all the way to an entirely new design drawn from their own references or from de Gournay's extensive archive. Through the Tailored service, the design is adapted to the exact dimensions and architecture of the room, with favourite sections placed exactly where the client wants them.

Yes. de Gournay works closely with interior designers, architects and other design professionals from first concept to installation. Its experts give free advice on questions such as how a design can make a room feel taller, whether it should sit above a dado, or how to make it feel more contemporary or more historic. de Gournay's Architecture & Design team then prepares detailed Elevational Design Miniature (EDM) drawings, which become the blueprint the panels are made to and the plan the installer follows on site.

In-stock de Gournay wallpaper is ready to dispatch from de Gournay's Wiltshire logistics centre as a straight run of standard panels, which the installer trims to fit on site. It is the fastest route to a de Gournay room, but the choice of designs, design heights and panel sequences is limited to what is held in stock, and the design cannot be planned around the room. Bespoke de Gournay wallcoverings are made to order, with the design, colours, background, height and panel layout tailored to the client and the room. Through the Tailored method, every panel is planned on scale drawings of the walls, so the best sections of the design fall in the best places, wastage is minimal and installation is simpler. Lead times are longer, but the result is unique to the room, which is why Tailored is the route most de Gournay clients choose.

Yes. Every made-to-order de Gournay wallcovering is produced in the height the room requires. Chinoiserie designs, for example, are offered in any design height between 5ft (152cm) and 12ft (366cm), and Papiers Peints Panoramiques designs from 1ft (30cm) shorter to 3ft (91cm) taller than shown in the collection book, without changing the scale of the figures. Heights beyond these ranges can be made as custom orders at an additional charge, and for very tall walls de Gournay will often extend a design with additional period detail in the sky, such as fireworks or antique hot-air balloons, rather than simply enlarging it. Through the Tailored service, panels are made to the exact dimensions of each wall.

Yes, with the right construction and protection. de Gournay wallpapers can be used in bathrooms and other humid rooms when specified with a suitable protective finish. Natural resistance varies by construction: Scenic Paper, Dyed Paper and gilded grounds are the most resistant to water and rubbing, while flat painted grounds such as Painted Silk and Williamsburg should be kept dry. Standard protective glazing improves resistance to water and abrasion, and custom glazing can be specified all the way up to a fully waterproof finish. Any glaze slightly changes the look of a hand-painted surface, so de Gournay recommends discussing the room conditions with its team to find the best balance of beauty and protection.

Yes. de Gournay ships worldwide from its logistics centre in Wiltshire, England, and supports projects around the globe through its showrooms in London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Beirut and Shanghai and its network of local representatives. de Gournay offers two routes for installation. It recommends independent specialist paperhangers worldwide, from lists of those whose work it has seen first-hand or received testimonials for, although it cannot guarantee the work of any paperhanger. de Gournay will also quote to undertake supply and install contracts worldwide. For China and India, de Gournay assumes all projects will be installed by its own in-house teams, because it is unable to recommend local experts there. de Gournay also supplies its own UK-made adhesive, lining paper and detailed hanging instructions in several languages, and can advise on installation for any project.

Gently, and as little as possible. de Gournay wallcoverings are made from traditional, stable and mostly natural materials that will give many decades of service with the right care. For routine care, dust with a feather duster or vacuum gently with a soft, clean brush attachment, working in the direction of the weave on woven products. Embroidered and beaded surfaces should only be vacuumed lightly with a very soft brush on low power; never brush them, and never steam beaded sections. Whether a surface can be wiped depends entirely on its construction, so always test on an offcut first. Wallpapers with standard protective glazing can be wiped gently with a damp cloth to lift fresh spills but should not be rubbed, while some unprotected grounds must never be wetted at all; marks on these are better touched in by an expert than cleaned. Keep wallcoverings away from direct sunlight, damp and extremes of temperature, and never let bleach or cleaning products near them. If damage occurs, photograph it and share it with de Gournay for advice, as repairs are often possible using retained offcuts.

Average production times at de Gournay are 8 to 10 weeks, though lead times depend on the design, materials, level of customisation and order size, because every made-to-order de Gournay wallcovering is painted by hand for that project. de Gournay gives an approximate lead time on the Order Acknowledgement and confirms it once the signed acknowledgement and 50% deposit have been received. Allowing time for the drawing and sample approval stages before production keeps a project on schedule, and where time is short, in-stock panels can be dispatched from Wiltshire within days.

de Gournay wallpaper should always be hung by an experienced professional paperhanger, following de Gournay's own hanging instructions. The panels form a continuous hand-painted mural, so they must be hung in their numbered sequence, and the height of the first panel sets the design height for the whole room. Walls should be smooth, dry and lined with a good-quality, acid-free lining paper, and the panels are pasted on the back and butt-jointed. All de Gournay wallcoverings made since 1 January 2026 are pre-trimmed in the studio, so no trimming is needed to match the pattern. Soaking times and handling differ between hand-painted papers, laminated silks and damasks, so the installer should always test an offcut before starting. The installation instructions for de Gournay produced wallcoverings can be found on the technical information page of the website.

Yes. Damaged de Gournay panels can usually be repaired, one of the great advantages of a hand-painted wallcovering. On request, de Gournay supplies matching paints so an expert paperhanger can touch in small marks or design mismatches. Sections of design can also be cut from offcuts and applied invisibly to the surface (appliqué), most often to place butterflies, small birds or flowers over joints and marks, a technique that works especially well on laminated silk. For anything more significant, photograph the damage and share it with de Gournay for advice. For this reason, de Gournay recommends that all installation offcuts are kept and carefully stored for future repairs.

Very durable, when correctly installed and cared for. de Gournay hand-painted wallpapers are made from traditional, stable and mostly natural materials that will give many decades of service when protected from damp, excessive humidity, extremes of temperature and direct sunlight. Durability also varies by construction: scenic and dyed papers and gilded grounds are the most robust, while flat painted grounds such as Williamsburg are the most delicate. For extra protection, any de Gournay wallpaper can be ordered with a factory-applied protective finish: acrylic glazes on paper wallpapers and a liquid-repellent treatment on paper-backed silks and damasks. Paper wallpapers can be glazed again on site once thoroughly dry, which also protects the seams. With proper installation, protection and care, a de Gournay wallpaper can remain a beautiful feature of a room for generations.