There is no marketing cleverness in the name Romo. It is simply Robert Mould, the man who founded the company in 1902, his forename and surname folded into four letters. More than a century and two world wars later, the business he started is still owned and run by his family, now into its fifth generation, which in an industry steadily gathered up into faceless conglomerates makes it a genuine rarity: a proper family firm, with the long memory and the patient standards that tend to come with one.
That continuity has bred a quiet ambition. From the original Romo brand has grown a whole family of houses, the Romo Group, among them the rarefied Mark Alexander and several others, including Villa Nova, each with its own character but all sharing the same instinct for quality. Romo itself remains the heart of it, the founding name and the flagship.
"The name is no accident of branding. Romo is simply Robert Mould, the man who started it all in 1902."
What the decorators know
Ask an interior designer about Romo and you notice something: they almost all use it, and they speak of it not with the excitement reserved for a statement print but with the trust reserved for something dependable. That is the key to the brand. Romo has never been the loudest name on the mood board, yet it is very often the most useful, because it has spent more than a hundred years mastering the least glamorous and most important skills in all of decorating: colour, texture and versatility.
Its palette is the stuff of legend among people who scheme rooms for a living, a range of colours so carefully judged that they seem to make everything around them look better. Its plains and textural weaves are the reliable backbone on which a scheme is built, while its soft florals and refined geometrics supply pattern without ever tipping into fuss. This is a brand you decorate a whole room with, not merely one wall of it.
Romo Manzu, Ink
Romo Esai, Sage
"It is not the brand that shouts loudest, but the one professionals trust to make a whole room work."
The sophistication of getting it right
It is, as it happens, a very good moment for a brand like this. After years of chasing the boldest possible statement, there is a renewed appreciation for the things that actually make a room liveable: a beautifully judged colour, a textural plain that flatters the light, patterns you will not tire of within the year. Romo has been doing exactly this, without fanfare, for well over a century.
Romo Kezia, Eau de Nil
Romo Aubin, Pimento
The way to use it is to let it do the foundational work. Wrap a room in one of its textural plains for warmth and calm, reach for a soft floral or a refined geometric where you want gentle interest, and lean on that famous colour sense to tie the whole scheme, walls, upholstery and all, into something that feels effortless rather than decorated. Because Romo produces matching fabrics alongside its papers, a single colour can travel seamlessly from the wall to the curtains to the cushions, which is precisely how the professionals make a room look pulled together. As always, order a sample first, since colour and texture are the entire point here and neither survives a screen intact.
Romo Aubin fabric, Mineral
Romo Ziri fabric, Matcha
Romo Omba fabric, Cinnamon
Romo Zamari fabric, Maple
There is something rather reassuring about a brand like Romo: no gimmicks, no reinvention, just five generations of one family quietly getting the fundamentals right. In a world of noise, that turns out to be the most sophisticated thing of all.
Ready to bring Romo into your home?
Browse the full Romo wallpaper collection and its matching fabrics at Wallpaper Sales, and order a sample before you commit, colour and texture are everything with a brand like this, and neither one reads true on a screen.
