Iconic wallpaper choice of Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow 

We preview a new book that celebrates the sumptuous de Gournay wall coverings loved by the rich and famous

L'Eden hand painted wallpaper. Picture: Natalie Sternberg

Founded in 1984 by Claud Cecil Gurney, the haute décor brand de Gournay has delivered some of the most sumptuous, decorous and screamingly expensive wall coverings to the homes and business quarters of the rich and famous. 

de Gournay hand-painted wallpaper.

Its exquisitely ornate, silk, painted panels (not rolls, darling) are worked by Chinese artisan craftsmen and women and take hundreds of hours to finish completely by hand. 

The client list for its chinoiserie imaginings includes the decadent salons of Annabel's (the elite London club re-designed by Martin Brudnizki using L’Eden panels), Gwyneth Paltrow (St Laurent chinoiserie) and Kate Moss (whose bespoke wall-coverings were composed to reflect “happiness, rainbows of feelings, shards of sunshine, and spiritual diamonds falling from the skies”). 

de Gournay. Hand Painted Interiors. Rizzoli, from €46, Amazon

A gorgeous dream of a book to gaze at on a dark winter’s day in front of the fire. Frankly, I barely read four sentences of the text —why bother?

• de Gournay. Hand Painted Interiors, Rizzoli, priced from €46, is available from Amazon