ABOUT

Sir Edward was founded in 2020 by Claire & Hans-Erik. They were fascinated by antique wall paintings & murals that can be found in old castles, colonial mansions and canal houses. The single continuous image offers a life-size luxurious art piece without being too intrusive. The initial goal of Sir Edward was to bring back this type of room-filling art by offering their collection of botanical murals.

Since then, the mural-market has grown substantially and with that the offer in different designs. In this fast market Sir Edward aims to differentiates itself by offering nature-inspired wall-art that consists of unique hand-painted items combined with antique botanical drawings. These natural designs add a sense of warmth, familiarity and adventure to any room.

Founders

Claire is an adventurous traveller & underwater photographer with a creative mind. Her first company, Imagical, allowed groups of people to feature in their own fairy tale photo artwork.  Hans-Erik is an industrial product designer with a specialization in men’s jewelry, which he designs for several international brands as well as own projects. Besides being partners in life, they have been working together on numerous design and interior projects.

Timeline 

Between 2018 and 2020 Claire and Hans-Erik had created several wallpapers for their own home. All of these designs were adaptations of existing old paintings, drawings and chinoiseries. Convinced that she could create something similar but more on trend, Claire created her first own design in 2019. When they tested the design in their home and the reactions were so positive that she created a small collection of 4 different designs.

When in early 2020 Covid hit, Claire was unable to continue her work for Imagical because it involved larger groups of people. Together they focused on finishing the wallpaper collection and approached number of international resellers, one of which was PhotoWall. They got accepted and this first collection launched in March 2020. 

The first Sir Edward collection was targeted primarily at adults and although it was picked up quite well, Claire noticed that there was a particular lack in friendly, serene children’s wallpaper designs. Therefore, in 2021 they created Kikki Belle; their first collection for children, inspired by nature. This collection was a direct hit and several designs of that first collection became all-time bestsellers on PhotoWall. The intricate but peaceful designs enable children to fully immerse themselves in the magical worlds on their walls.  

In 2023 they launched their latest collection, called Oliver Robins, which offers murals specially designed for nurseries. With playful designs, friendly faces, and soft colors they offer the perfect atmosphere for little ones.

Mid 2024 they created their first pattern collection.

Design process 

In the early stages they primarily used antique botanical drawings and paintings to compose the designs. To improve the designs and create truly unique artwork, they currently lead a team of international illustrators, each with its own talent and specialization.

Each new design starts with a general idea for the theme and style. After the initial composition is created, they decide which of the illustrators fits best with this new design and intended style. The selected illustrator is then assigned to hand-paint the desired items, like specific animals in specific poses, flowers, trees, skies, etc. All these different items are combined to creates the new design. The final step is optimizing all the colors, ratio, lighting, and shadows.  An average design consists of more than 100 different items and layers, and can take up to several months to finalize.

Although AI is a great new tool, Sir Edward wants to use hand-painted illustrations a much as possible. They feel that the passion and craftsmanship these images are made with translates to the design, adding to the warm and comforting atmosphere they want to create.