Interior Design – Wallpaper: The Burne-Jones Visitor’s Book Collection by Willow & Woods

What began as sketches in a visitors’ book in 1906 has become inspiration for a collection of wallpapers – all from a treasured book created by the daughter of artist Edward Burne-Jones.

British wallpaper design studio Willow & Woods has unveiled Margaret: The Visitor’s Book Collection, featuring eight hand-drawn wallpapers shaped by an extraordinary creative heritage.

Founder and surface pattern designer Katie Beardsley drew inspiration from a guest book begun more than 120-years ago by her great-great-grandmother, Margaret Mackail, daughter of celebrated Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones, whose lifelong friendship and collaboration with William Morris helped define Britain’s Arts and Crafts movement.

Filled with Margaret’s own sketches, decorative drawings, photographs and signatures gathered between 1906 and 1912, the book offers a rare glimpse into the creative life of one of Britain’s most influential artistic families. During those years the family rented large country properties for the season and made them their home. The houses were Dogmersfield Rectory in Hampshire and Wilsford Manor in Wiltshire.

Katie has translated the rhythm, repetition and quiet artistry found throughout the archive into eight timeless wallpaper designs – the result is a collection rooted in British decorative heritage.

What makes it especially distinctive is one design, Margaret Hand, which goes beyond inspiration alone. Incorporated within its delicate stripe are Margaret Mackail’s own original floral studies, created between 1906 and 1912, and preserved within the wallpaper itself. It creates a direct connection between two generations of creativity, honouring a shared tradition of craftsmanship and artistic expression.

“Margaret Hand feels especially meaningful to me because it carries Margaret’s own hand within the design. Knowing that artwork she created more than a century ago can become part of people’s homes feels like a wonderful way to celebrate her creativity while creating something entirely new” – Katie Beardsley, founder of Willow & Woods.

The collection also reflects a remarkable artistic lineage. Margaret Mackail grew up surrounded by many of the leading creative figures of Victorian Britain. Her father, Edward Burne-Jones, was one of Britain’s foremost Pre-Raphaelite artists and a lifelong friend and collaborator of William Morris. Together they became founding partners of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., the influential decorative arts firm that later evolved into Morris & Co., with the design maxim: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

Margaret was one of his primary muses and serves as a central figure in The Golden Stairs (holding a trumpet) and in the The Legend of Briar Rose series as Sleeping Beauty.

The visitors’ book pages consist of doodles and drawings, some of which give ideas of what the guests got up to while staying, including tennis and piano playing. Each page contains a signature or name and date, and a photo of the person that Margaret would have then stuck in. It provides a real snapshot of life at the time. Margaret’s circle of friends and family is huge and consists of lots of well-known society names as well as prominent figures – artists, designers, architects and even her cousin Stanley Baldwin who went on to become Prime Minister.

Each wallpaper begins as a hand drawing before being printed to order in the UK on FSC-certified paper using eco-friendly inks. Printed to order in the UK from £109 per roll. The eight designs – Between the Lines, The Long View, Found Flower, Margaret Hand, Garden Trail, Quiet Bloom, Scattered Notes and Watching, Waiting – reinterpret details discovered throughout Margaret’s visitors’ book, from delicate botanical sketches and decorative motifs to expressive mark-making and gentle landscapes.

The collection is available in a curated palette of muted blues, soft greens, warm neutrals, gentle pinks and earthy tones, chosen to bring warmth, depth and quiet character to homes.

Design Tip

As Katie explains: “I don’t believe the best interiors are created in a weekend. They’re built slowly through the things we choose to live with – gathered over time. Wallpaper should support that, bringing warmth and texture to homes that feel personal, layered and lived in.”

If those walls could talk!

Willow & Woods website at willowandwoods.co.uk
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Bonus Cat Content from “Watching, Waiting” – cat and bird inspiration from The Visitors’ Book (c) Katie Beardsley 2026