Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, our warehouse is still open and we are dispatching orders Monday-Friday.

Our Chelsea Harbour showroom is currently closed due to the government lockdown. When we are able to reopen we will be offering an appointment service to ensure a safe environment to browse our products.

The Diamond Service offers customers with a London postcode the opportunity to purchase wallpaper rolls online. Simply enter your postcode into the dropdown at the top of our website, this will confirm whether we deliver to your area. If you live within our delivery zone you will then see the option to choose 'roll' on your chosen product page

There are three delivery options to choose from at the checkout:

1. Same Day – Your order will be delivered via a black cab service to your door on the same day as purchase*
2. Next Day Delivery – Your order will be delivered the next working day
3. Standard Delivery – Your order will be delivered in 2-3 working days

*Please note, we are currently only dispatching orders Monday-Friday 9am-4pm. Any orders placed after 4pm will be dispatched the next working day

If you have placed a Diamond Service order for an item which is out of stock, our Diamond Service Manager will be in touch to discuss other products which may be suitable; place a pre-order for when the item is back in stock; or offer a refund for your purchase

As these items are held at other locations within the UK, we are unable to offer same day service for sample and fabric length orders. However, these items can still be purchased and delivered within the London area if you choose either a Next Day or Standard delivery service

Sample orders for all products can be purchased nationwide as well as internationally. Delivery of wallpaper rolls and fabric lengths to outside of London will be available soon. Sign-up to our newsletter to receive updates

We recommend Cole & Son Tub Paste for all of our non-woven wallpapers; a specially prepared ready-mixed starch based paste.

We supply 3 different tub sizes; 2.5 kilos, 5 kilos and 10 kilos. We recommend 1 kilo of paste per standard roll or wallpaper, so if you place an order for 5 rolls or wallpaper a 5 kilo tub of paste would be required. Extra paste will be required where wide width wallpapers are used.

As long as the room is well-ventilated and the walls are in good condition, our non-woven wallpapers can be used in bathrooms. However, they should not be placed in areas where they are likely to come into direct contact with water. In order to help prevent against problems when using wallpapers in high humidity areas, we recommend using a sealer like Polyvine on top of the wallpaper which will provide better protection against moisture. We advise you test Polyvine on a wallpaper sample to check you are happy with the finish before applying to the wall.

It is always best to allow a newly plastered wall to fully dry out for two or three weeks before hanging wallpaper. If you need to decorate before the plaster has fully dried the walls must be ‘sized’ before hanging. Use a normal decorator’s size or diluted good quality paste and then follow the hanging instructions.

When hanging textured wallcoverings please be aware that they do not allow the wall to breathe, and any moisture present in the walls will be trapped there and could create mould. The recommended paste (which includes a fungicide) will help to prevent this. Please check the hanging instructions for further information.

A good quality, 800 or 1000 grade lining paper is recommended.

Please always check the hanging instructions supplied with your wallpaper. Most Cole & Son wallpapers are non-woven paste the wall products.

A batch number indicates wallpaper rolls that have been produced together. Rolls from the same batch should be hung together to avoid any roll to roll colour discrepancies.

Please contact client.service@cole-and-son.com with the product code you require certification for.

A Martindale Rub Test measures the durability of a fabric in order to determine how and where a fabric is best used.

We have graded our fabric in order to make clear where they are most suitable to use:

Decorative use - suitable for items that will receive very light use including curtains, loose covers, pillows and spreads
Light domestic use - suitable for light wear such as curtains and blinds
General domestic use - suitable for everyday items including upholstery, curtains and blinds
Light commercial use - suitable for light wear in a contract environment such as in hotels and restaurants

When using Cole & Son fabric for upholstery, a Schedule 3 Interliner must be used in conjunction with the fabric in order to meet UK domestic and contract fire regulations. Please ask your upholsterer for more information.

Our samples are A4 (21cm x 29cm). You can order a sample of wallpaper by adding a sample to your basket and following the checkout instructions.

Please note that the following designs are automatically supplied as a larger, A3 sample (29cm x 42cm):

• Fornasetti Acquario, Macchine Volanti, Procuratie con vista, Procuratie e Scimmie, and Libreria
• Botanical ~Botanica~ Lilac, Bluebell, Woodland, Wisteria, Fern, Forest, Rose, Allium, Thistle, and Lilac Grandiflora
• The Pearwood Collection Aurora, Vines of Pomona, Midsummer Bloom, Woodvale Orchard
• SEVILLE Orange Blossom, Hispalis, Angel's Trumpet, Alfaro, Alcazar Gardens, Talavera, Jasmin & Serin Symphony, Flamenco Fan

Sample prices include VAT and postage. Samples are sent by first class Royal Mail within the UK and should arrive within 2 working days. Samples posted to anywhere outside of the UK are sent via UPS & should arrive within the following timeframes: Europe 2-3 working days, Rest of the World 4-7 working days. If you have any queries regarding samples please email us at samples@cole-and-son.com.

We do not currently offer larger samples as the size provided is intended for colour-matching purposes only. If you would like to see a bigger piece of the wallpaper, we advise visiting a Cole & Son stockist as well as viewing all of our designs in-situ on our Instagram. This will give a better idea of how the design and colours look in a real interior

We do not accept any returns of samples

Visit our Stockist Page to find your nearest retailer or international distributor.

If you wish to arrange a return to Cole & Son, then please contact our Client Service team on 0208 442 8844.

If the item is faulty or an order error has been made by Cole & Son, our Client Service team will arrange a replacement and a collection of the goods. Cole & Son will arrange a full credit to a maximum of invoice value.

If the return is a result of a customer error, please note that a re-stocking charge of 20% of the invoice value will apply to goods being returned. It will be the responsibility of the customer to arrange the return of the goods to Cole & Son, Lifford House, 199 Eade Road, London N4 1DN.

Goods can only be accepted for return by prior agreement with Cole & Son and must be returned within 60 days of invoice date. We regret that we cannot accept returns of less than five rolls of wallpaper, unless faulty. The 5 rolls must be the same item reference and supplied on the same invoice.

Please note: we do not accept any returns of samples, paste or cut to order fabrics.

Hanging instructions are provided with every wallpaper delivery. They can also be found here.

Please read these instructions carefully before starting to hang.

A ‘Random Match’ is where there is no pattern at the joining edge to match, e.g. a vertical stripe. A 'Straight Match' is when the pattern repeats side to side on the roll. The pattern joins in the same place on the next drop of wallpaper. A 'Half Drop' is when the pattern repeats diagonally across a wall, the pattern match from side to side drops down one half before repeating. Please note, patterns with a large pattern repeat or a half-drop require additional wallpaper to account for wastage.

Ask your decorator to calculate the number of rolls required. Use our roll calculator or follow the instructions below to estimate.

1. Measure the width of the wall and divide by the width of your selected wallpaper. This gives you the number of 'drops' required. This number should always be rounded up.
2. Then measure the height of the wall. Divide the length of the roll of your selected wallpaper (standard rolls are 10m long) at the height of your wall. This gives you the number of drops you will get by roll.
3. Divide the number of drops required (part 1), by the number of drops per roll (part 2), this equates to the number of rolls required. If you have a wallpaper that is marked as 'half drop', or has a large pattern repeat, add the size of the pattern repeat to the height of your wall to account for the additional wallpaper required. If you have any further questions please contact client.service@cole-and-son.com