When Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012, Red Hook, Brooklyn was devastated by the storm. Like many residents of the neighborhood, interior designer Nick Cope and his wife, Rachel, then an art therapist at NYU Langone Medical Center, found themselves temporarily housebound. “The power was out in our building and the windows had broken on the first floor. It was a crazy scene,” Rachel says.
With her unexpected free time, she began to dabble in paper marbleizing techniques—a skill her mother taught her as a child. Working out of their apartment the week after the storm came with its own set of challenges. The original pieces were made with house paint and hand-pulled paper because they didn’t have access to proper supplies.
Later, Nick began to digitize her works, creating custom, large-scale wallpaper. And within three months, they had a website, logo, and coveted booth space at the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York. “We felt like there was a white space [in wallcoverings],” he says. “There was room for work that resonated and added an emotional quality to the space.”
At the start, the pair collaborated on everything. “As process-based designers, we are fascinated with this notion of creating immersive environments that tell a story,” Nick says, adding that the name of their company, Calico Wallpaper, was inspired by their pet cat, Irie. But as the company grew (they now have 14 employees), their roles naturally evolved to align closer to their individual strengths, with Nick focused on business development and Rachel managing the design team.
Yet, each collection represents their elegant and thoughtful sensibility, inspired by everything from organic forms in nature to a collection of prisms found in Nick’s godfather’s cabin in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
“We attempt to design wallpaper products that are more than just background,” says Nick. “Beauty has a sort of practicality, and if something brings warmth and pleasure, it should not be considered a frivolity, rather it can have a tangible effect on one’s quality of life.”
