A bit of history
Joanne Ganley-Yates and Sidney first met while studying in Manchester. After graduating, Joanne built a distinguished portfolio of original artwork and design, selling directly to galleries and collaborating with leading fashion houses worldwide. During this time, she also mentored Sidney as he refined his own practice for a more commercially minded world.
Joanne’s collections for Sidney Paul & Co. grow from a considered visual language. Photography, painting, travel and a discerning eye for beauty all shape her work. Her process begins with a journey: she immerses herself in the architecture, culture and landscape of a place, then asks what gives it lasting character. From these travels, she builds a personal archive of imagery and impressions — quintessential vistas, architectural details, unexpected fragments. Joanne captures each one through her lens and reinterprets it through her distinctive artistic perspective. As a result, these richly layered wallcoverings have become the defining signature of the brand, timeless and unmistakably her own.
The result is an elegant dialogue between past and present. We reimagine classic motifs with contemporary sensibility, so each design transports the viewer. It evokes the romance of another era while staying quietly relevant to modern interiors.
A Shared Creative Practice
Joanne’s photographic practice extends beyond the collections themselves. She conceives and art-directs all Sidney Paul & Co. lifestyle photography — sourcing props, styling each setting, capturing the final images. She also oversees every detail, from concept to completion. This holistic approach gives the collections their distinctive sense of place. Travel, photography, art and interiors continually inform one another. The results are never simply decorative — they’re immersive, evocative and enduring.
Sidney studied furniture and sculpture, then completed a postgraduate degree in ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art. This experience continues to shape his multidisciplinary approach to design.
Together, Joanne and Sidney built a studio that remains distinctly individual, favouring a personal, considered approach over passing trends. Over 30 years, they have created fabric and wallpaper designs for many of the world’s leading interior brands. Today, they focus on their own luxury wallpaper collections. These pieces carry a classic yet contemporary sensibility, made to stand the test of time.
Inside Our Bespoke Wallpaper Design Studio
Every design begins in our bespoke wallpaper design studio, where historical archives, fine interior architecture and the natural world come together to inspire each pattern.
Technology plays a supporting role: computers handle the technical preparation, separation and colouring of artwork, ensuring precision and consistency in production.
Once the artwork is complete, we digitally print every wallpaper here in the UK. This pairs contemporary printing technology with a long-standing British tradition of decorative surfaces. As a result, digital printing reproduces the intricate detail, painterly qualities and subtle tonal variation of the original artwork, with remarkable clarity and depth of colour.
Printing in the UK matters to us. It keeps us close to our production partners and close to quality. It also connects us to the craftsmanship that has long defined British wallpaper.
From the first pencil mark to the final roll, every Sidney Paul & Co. wallpaper carries the story of its making. It’s a meeting of artistic expression, historical reference and British craftsmanship. This gives our collections their character, and we make each piece to be lived with and enjoyed for years to come.
Our Boutique Wallpaper Design Studio Collections
We create our designs primarily for the interior design trade, though we always welcome personal orders — please contact us with your requirements.
In-house design gives us far greater creative freedom to produce wallpapers at a larger scale than conventional printing allows, and we print them on specialist non woven papers with matt and metallic finishes.
New to Sidney Paul & Co, we’ve recently launched a luxurious Grasscloth collection.
Lead times run to two weeks, since we make our specialist wallpapers to order.
Feel Free to call us
Should you require any assistance with our collections, please do not hesitate to contact us — we would be delighted to help. We’d also love to see your finished projects, so please feel free to share them with us. Whenever possible, we like to celebrate or feature the concepts our customers send in.
Join our Mailing List
