Charlotte Gaisford is a fabric and wallpaper designer who lives on a farm in rural Northumberland, England. She runs her international business from a wooden studio and some converted barns, surrounded by the comfort of her thoroughly charming home. Despite growing up with an interior designer mother, it wasn’t until Charlotte was 47 that she returned to school to pursue her artistic passion. She then went on to begin her eponymous wallpaper and fabric business, and it quickly gained a cult following. We are delighted to share a glimpse today into Charlotte’s enchanting world!

Charlotte began her career in Paris painting real airplanes and turning them into “Japanese Zeros” from WW2. This was the film “Empire of the Sun” by Steven Spielberg. Armed with a tiny photo of a Japanese Zero as reference she set out and worked at various airfields around Paris. Charlotte never saw the film for years and when she did she was surprised at how prominent the planes featured in the film.

Just before Charlotte got married she had her own paint effects business which took her all over the UK and even across to Europe. She was lucky enough to have quite a few of her houses featured in interior magazines, she even had a front cover featuring her red drawing room in “Antiques and Home” magazine. She also presented and appeared in various TV shows for Sky and BBC 2.

After the birth of her two sons, Harry and Richard, she set about starting an on-line business called Crafty Computer Paper Ltd. This company sold all kinds of unique, artistic papers for the domestic home printer. Charlotte had found a gap in the market and this was the only company of its kind in the UK. She built it up over a period of 8 years and then sold it in 2010 to Specialist Crafts who are a large stationary company based Leicester.

From 2013 onwards Charlotte participated in a three-year degree course in textiles and fashion at Newcastle College. Although many of the jobs she did during her previous life were art related she had never been to art school before. The flood gates of creativity were opened and Charlotte enjoyed every minute of the course. Although she was a mature student, this did not seem to matter, and there was always a great atmosphere in the Studios. Charlotte obtained a first class honours degree.

Thank you, Charlotte, for making this world a more colorful and charming place!

To learn more, please visit charlottegaisford.com and follow @charlottegaisford on Instagram for ongoing inspiration. You can also read a primer on “How to Decorate like Charlotte” here.

And click below to watch a delightful tour of Charlotte’s Northumberland home!