Morris & Co has taken an unusual route to something new. Rather than drawing anything from scratch, the studio went back through its own archive and pulled out pigments and colourways that had never made it into production. Colours of Morris is the result: the same beloved patterns, Willow Boughs, Strawberry Thief, Pimpernel, Blackthorn, Golden Lily and more, recoloured into something that feels considerably fresher than the familiar Morris & Co palette. Every paper is still made at the historic British factory using the brand's traditional surface and surflex printing, so the making of it has not changed, only the colour story.
Two colourways in particular show how far a change of pigment can go. Pimpernel, designed by Morris himself in 1876 for his own dining room at Kelmscott Manor, usually appears in warmer golds and reds; here, in Walnut and Sage, it settles into a deep, bookish green that feels built for a library rather than a dining room. Blackthorn, J. H. Dearle's 1892 design for the firm, gets an entirely different outing again in Indigo, a rich, saturated blue that turns a bathroom into something closer to a jewel box.
Pimpernel, Walnut / Sage by Morris & Co
Blackthorn, Indigo by Morris & Co
Unseen Pigments From the Archive
Strawberry Thief is the design most people picture when they think of Morris & Co, William Morris's own thieving blackbirds stealing fruit among the flowers, and it usually comes in the deep indigo blue he originally chose. Here, in Slate and Vellum, the same birds sit against a soft, worn grey that reads far more contemporary, closer to old denim than a heritage print. Willow Boughs, pictured beside it in a deep, botanical Forest colourway, is one of Morris's simplest and most flowing designs, and it takes to a darker palette beautifully.
Strawberry Thief, Slate / Vellum by Morris & Co
Willow Boughs, Forest by Morris & Co
Willow Boughs in particular shows what this collection does best: it is the same pattern that has papered a thousand English bedrooms, but the deep, near-black green and the wall of glass in the room above give it a moodier, more grown-up feel than the airy blues it is more usually seen in.
The Same Patterns, A Different Mood
Golden Lily is one of the archive's most detailed designs, dense with stylised flowerheads, and in Blue it takes on a soft, powdery quality that suits a room built around natural light. Blackthorn, already seen in Indigo above, gets an entirely different mood again in Rosewood: its usual restraint gives over to a rich, brooding burgundy and gold that would once have felt like a strictly formal choice, and now reads as exactly the kind of warm, enveloping colour a hallway or a dining room benefits from.
Golden Lily, Blue by Morris & Co
Blackthorn, Rosewood by Morris & Co
Beyond these six, the same idea runs through the rest of the range. Trellis appears in a fresh sage and rose pairing, Woodland Weeds and Sunflower bring a softer, more countryside palette to the collection, and Fruit and Double Bough both get a considerably more contemporary reworking than their archive originals. If you already love Morris & Co, this is the collection that lets you have the pattern you know in a colour you have never seen it in before.
Because the whole point of Colours of Morris is the specific, sometimes subtle shift in pigment, always order a sample before committing to a wall. Screens rarely do justice to the difference between, say, a warm Rosewood and the archive's original tone, and it is a difference worth seeing properly in your own light.
Ready to See the Archive in a New Light?
Browse the full Colours of Morris collection, or explore the wider Morris & Co range, and order a sample from any product page via our Sample Service before you commit to a room.
