About

I have always liked patterned paper. Older designs especially, which have a way of feeling familiar and well balanced before you have worked out why.

Long before there was a shop, paper was just part of the week. Wrapping presents, lining drawers, covering a notebook, backing a frame. Ornate Papers grew out of that rather than out of a business plan.

The shop is built around patterns that are hard to find anywhere else. Some are historic and have outlasted the fashion that produced them. Some are new, and a few of those are mine. Nothing is here because it was easy to get hold of.

The paper matters as much as the pattern. Sheets are uncoated and matte, and at 120gsm heavier than most wrapping paper. Sturdy round a book or a box, less obliging round anything small and awkward. Rolls are satin, a little smoother, catching the light without going shiny. Both are recyclable.

None of it is meant to be saved for best. A sheet can wrap a present, line a drawer or end up as the cover of a book, and all three are the right answer.

Everything is in the shop at ornatepapers.etsy.com.