Tartan is that rare pattern with genuine history at stake. In the Scottish Highlands it was woven into the very identity of the clans, so bound up with rebellion that after the defeat at Culloden in 1746 the wearing of it was banned by law for a generation. When the ban was lifted it came roaring back, and it was Queen Victoria, besotted with her Highland retreat at Balmoral, who turned it into the height of fashion, draping her rooms in it and setting a taste that has never really faded since.
Its plainer cousin, the check, from humble gingham to bold buffalo and elegant windowpane, carries the same comforting, countrified warmth without the clan politics. Between them they make the warmest look in decorating, and every autumn the nation reaches for them again. Here is where the story comes from, and the tartan and check wallpapers on the site that tell it properly.
"Tartan was once banned by law. Then a queen fell for it, and it has been beloved ever since."
Banned, Then Adored
Few patterns can claim to have been outlawed and then adopted by a queen, and the designs that wear that history best are the ones that look woven rather than printed. Tailor's Tweed in Light Turquoise, from Boråstapeter's Cottage Garden collection, is exactly that: a soft windowpane check with the slubbed, tweedy texture of good cloth, and a colour that keeps it fresh rather than baronial. Eildon Weave in Charcoal, from Superfresco Easy's Heirloom collection, takes the darker road, a deep charcoal tartan that shares its name with the Eildon Hills in the Scottish Borders and looks every inch the part. Torridon in Fawn, from The Highlands by Carl Robinson, is the gentlest of the three and named for a corner of Wester Ross, a soft fawn and olive tartan that suits a study or a snug without ever darkening it.
Tailor's Tweed, Light Turquoise by Boråstapeter
Eildon Weave, Charcoal by Superfresco Easy
The Warmest Pattern There Is
There is a reason we reach for tartan and check as the days draw in. No pattern says warmth, comfort and the countryside quite so instantly: think of a wool blanket, a roaring fire, a snug cottage in the hills. As the mood in interiors has swung towards cosiness, heritage and a certain gathered-in comfort, both have come thoroughly back into their own. Checks in Bordeaux, from Caselio's Line Up, is the deepest and most decisive of them, a rich claret check that turns a wall the colour of a good burgundy. Ruta in Terracotta, from Sandberg's Essentials, is the gentler version of the same warmth, a fine terracotta grid whose name is simply the Swedish word for a square.
Checks, Bordeaux by Caselio
Ruta, Terracotta by Sandberg
They layer beautifully, too, with the natural materials that make a house feel like a refuge: tweed, wool, aged leather, painted wood. This is pattern you want to curl up inside, and not many can claim that.
"Tartan and check are the patterns you want to curl up inside."
How and Where to Use It
Tartan and check are more versatile than their country reputation suggests, and it is worth choosing by how loud you want the room to be. Gingham in Pale Amethyst, from Laura Ashley's Volume Three, is the cottage-cheerful end of the family and a lovely, gentle choice for a child's room or a breakfast nook. Central Check in Pebble, from Scion's Pomona, is the hardest working of them all, a soft neutral check that will carry a hallway, a utility or a whole kitchen without ever shouting. And if it is the full hunting lodge you are after, Necktie in Leather, from Coordonné's Tartan collection, is the boldest here: a great argyle diamond in tobacco and leather brown, a pattern that came to us from the tartan of Clan Campbell of Argyll by way of a knitted sock, and one that looks its best in a snug where the lamps are doing the work.
Gingham, Pale Amethyst by Laura Ashley
Central Check, Pebble by Scion
Pair them with painted wood, warm colour and natural textures, and let the pattern set the tone. Look to Boråstapeter and Sandberg for checks at the softer, tweedier end, and to Coordonné and Today Interiors for a proper tartan, and order a sample first to see the colours truly in your own light, since a check that reads soft on a screen can come up considerably stronger across a whole wall.
Some patterns are of the moment. Tartan is of the hearth, and the fire never really goes out of fashion.
Ready to Bring Tartan Home?
Browse the full Tartan & Check collection, or see where it sits alongside the rest of the look in Country & Cottage and Classic & Traditional. If you are not sure how a colourway will read on your own walls, our Sample Service lets you order a swatch of any design before you commit to a full roll.
Necktie, Leather by Coordonné
