Herringbone takes its name, charmingly, from the skeleton of the fish, that neat V-shaped run of bones. Its history is far longer than its current fashionable moment suggests. The Romans laid their roads and floors in it, a technique they called opus spicatum, because the interlocking zigzag was strong as well as handsome. It became the classic parquet of the grand European house, and the defining weave of good tweed and tailoring. Wherever craftsmanship and quiet good taste have met, herringbone has usually been somewhere in the room.
That long pedigree is why it never looks like a trend. Herringbone wallpaper reads instantly as considered, well made and timeless, and it has come up off the floor and onto the wall at exactly the right moment. Here is why, and the designs on the site that do it best.
"Herringbone has been shorthand for craftsmanship since the Romans laid it into their roads."
Older Than You Think
The designs that carry that history most naturally are the ones that look woven rather than drawn. Beauly in Lovat, from Mulberry Home's Garden Party, goes straight to the tweed: Beauly is a village in the Highlands and Lovat the soft green named for the same corner of Scotland, and the paper has the close, slightly irregular weave of cloth cut for a shooting coat. Kasane in Naturel, from Casamance's Hikari, comes at the same craft from the other side of the world. Kasane is the Japanese word for layering, Hikari means light, and the design is a fine warm-brown weave that catches it beautifully.
Beauly, Lovat by Mulberry Home
Kasane, Naturel by Casamance
Texture, Not Noise
The great decorating shift of recent years has been away from busy pattern and towards texture, the idea that a room can feel rich and layered through surface alone. Herringbone is perfectly placed for it, delivering rhythm and depth without a single loud motif, the visual equivalent of a beautifully woven cloth. Espiguilla in Beige and Nude, from Coordonné's Raffias Eco, is named for the pattern itself, espiguilla being simply the Spanish for herringbone, and it is woven from raffia so the texture is real rather than printed. Herringbone Texture in Mossbank Green, by Sophie Allport, takes the same idea into a soft sage that behaves like a colour rather than a pattern, which is exactly what makes it useful.
Espiguilla, Beige / Nude by Coordonné
Herringbone Texture, Mossbank Green by Sophie Allport
It is, in essence, the sophisticated neutral. It does the quiet, hard work of making a room feel finished.
"Herringbone is the sophisticated neutral: rhythm and warmth without a single loud motif."
How and Where to Use It
Herringbone's versatility is its gift. A subtle, tonal version makes a wonderfully calm, grown-up backdrop in a bedroom, a study or a living room, warming the walls without demanding attention, while a deeper, warmer one brings weight to a hallway, a cloakroom or a chimney breast. It also has a natural affinity with wood, wool and linen, so it sits beautifully in a room full of natural materials. Herringbone Weave in Praline, by Abigail Ahern, is the moodiest of the five and shows what happens when you let it: a whole bedroom in warm greyish brown, layered up with knitted throws and sheepskin, where the paper is doing the work of a texture rather than a pattern.
Herringbone Weave, Praline by Abigail Ahern
Keep the surrounding scheme simple and let the texture speak. Look to Coordonné, Casamance and Mulberry Home for herringbones with genuine subtlety, and order a sample first, since the depth and weave-like quality of a good one are precisely what a screen tends to lose.
Some patterns clamour for your attention. Herringbone earns it quietly, the way the best made things always have.
Ready to Add a Little Texture?
Browse the full Herringbone collection, or see where it sits among the wider surfaces in Textured Wallpaper and Geometric. If you are not sure how a weave will read on your own walls, our Sample Service lets you order a swatch of any design before you commit to a full roll.
