I think my heart skips a beat every time I see De Gournay wallpaper. It is magical and beautiful and sumptuous and... there are so many superlatives that I could use! It is also - as I am sure you can imagine - very, very, expensive. So I feel the dream I have of having some stunning De Gournay wallpaper in my master bedroom suite one day will remain just that - a dream. Even so, I would love to tell you all about it and then at the very least you can begin to understand its cost and its quality.

Since it was founded in 1986 De Gournay has been producing its hand painted wallpapers in the ancient Chinese city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Here, highly skilled artists spend weeks preparing the backgrounds, the base of which could be made from a vast array of materials ranging from silks to rice paper to Indian tea paper. For over 300 years, the wallpaper has been treated in the traditional fashion, with pork bone glue, before being dyed or gilded with gold leaf. The images above show how the the layers are built up in a process - a process which can take up to five weeks. Once the background is prepared, the details are hand drawn on to the wallpaper. Different artisans will add to the image gradually building up the layers and the details to reach the final product. The images above show the process as was displayed at Decorex this year at Syon House. Each wallpaper is unique and custom made to their clients requirements and can take six months from commission to installation. The panels are then flown to the client's home where again a team of experts will install the paper ensuring that the panels fit seamlessly together. Even once the paper is on site, a professional fine artist may need to add a few final touches to ensure the finish is perfect. De Gournay prides itself on its customer service.

I hadn't realised that De Gournay also made porcelain, as well as furniture and mirrors to boot. The demonstration of the painting on the porcelain at Decorex was also fascinating to watch but I won't go into the details here. I have included a few snap shots below for those that might be interested.

So now that you know the skill involved in making the exquisite De Gournay wallpaper, I hope you can appreciate the price and why sadly my dreams will have remain just so. In the mean time I will just have to satisfy my cravings with beautiful images such as these below that I found courtesy of Pinterest.