Woodland holds a particular place in the British imagination. It is rarely vast or distant; more often, it is something closer: threaded with paths, sitting at the edge of a field, glimpsed from a lane, returned to in different seasons and different light.
It is a landscape known through repetition. The same walk, changed by weather. The same trees, newly green or stripped back to their winter structure. A fern unfurling at the edge of the path. Oak leaves underfoot. Thistle heads, meadow stems, well-tramped clay earth, light moving through branches. Details noticed, and remembered.
This is the world behind Woodland, our new exclusive fabric collection inspired by Britain's native woodland and translated into prints, gently flowing stripes, a classic toile and designs drawn from the lines and textures of the landscape.
The collection emerged from regular walks through woodland near the West Sussex home of Andrew Cussins, Sofas & Stuff's Founder and Design Director. He photographed what caught his eye along the way: fern fronds, oak leaves, acorns, thistles, meadow flowers and crackled clay paths. Those details found their way into Woodland, from its botanical prints and fern stripes to its classic toile and more abstract designs.
“The inspiration was our walks in the Sussex landscape last summer. Most of the designs, and especially the toile, are from images I took on my phone whilst walking. Nature is, of course, design's greatest teacher.”
It is this sense of observation, of the close and familiar, that gives Woodland its character. The collection is not about woodland as spectacle. It is about the smaller, living details that make a landscape feel known.
From leaf, line and living detail
Some of Woodland's strongest designs are its stripes, where fern fronds, oak and hazel leaves create a softer, more organic line.
Frond Stripe Large lets the fern motif open out across generous pieces. On the Exbury sofa, the clean lines of its simplified shape give the pattern room to breathe, while the scroll arms echo the sinuous movement of the fronds.
Frond Stripe Small carries the same motif beautifully across chairs, cushions and smaller pieces. On the skirted Snape chair, the scale feels more intimate, adding detail without overwhelming the form. Coppice Stripe brings another kind of movement, with oak and hazel leaves, acorns and hazelnuts arranged in a trailing repeat.
In a room, these stripes bring direction without stiffness, a natural line that can move across upholstery, continue through curtains or add detail to cushions.
Where fronds become stripes
Some of Woodland's strongest designs are its stripes, where fern fronds, oak and hazel leaves create a softer, more organic line.
Frond Stripe Large lets the fern motif open out across generous pieces. On the Exbury sofa, the clean lines of its simplified shape give the pattern room to breathe, while the scroll arms echo the sinuous movement of the fronds.
Frond Stripe Small carries the same motif beautifully across chairs, cushions and smaller pieces. On the skirted Snape chair, the scale feels more intimate, adding detail without overwhelming the form. Coppice Stripe brings another kind of movement, with oak and hazel leaves, acorns and hazelnuts arranged in a trailing repeat.
In a room, these stripes bring direction without stiffness, a natural line that can move across upholstery, continue through curtains or add detail to cushions.
A landscape, told in toile
Woodland Toile takes a more traditional decorative route. Across the cloth, a rural scene unfolds: tree-lined paths, grazing horses and glimpses of woodland life.
On the Helmsley sofa, the design has the richness of a classic toile, softened by its single-colour treatment and natural ground. It brings a heritage, story-led feel to upholstery, cushions and soft furnishings, particularly when layered with complementary prints such as Coppice Stripe or Woodland Flora.
There is a quiet confidence in using a toile on a larger piece. It gives a room a point of view, but in Woodland the effect remains calm and liveable. The print carries detail and narrative without tipping into formality.
Line, earth and layered detail
Some designs in Woodland look beyond leaf and flower to the landscape itself: the rise and fall of the land, the surface of a well-trodden path.
Contour Lines is inspired by mapped landforms, forming a softly undulating stripe with a gentle sense of movement. On the Turnberry sofa, it brings a more contemporary expression of Woodland: graphic, but still grounded in the natural world.
Summer Clay takes its cue from well-tramped earth in the long, dry days of summer. Its fine linework creates a subtle, textural pattern with gentle variation, adding depth without strong contrast or overt motif. Used on the Harwood chair, it feels understated and quietly distinctive.
These designs give the collection a different kind of balance: less botanical, more elemental; a way to bring line, movement and quieter surface interest into the room.
Layer upon layer
Other designs in Woodland build depth through repetition and accumulation. Frond Stripe All Over takes the fern motif into a softer, more immersive register, with overlapping fronds creating a free-flowing pattern across the cloth. At the window, the design catches the light beautifully, creating a gentle botanical layer - less directional than the stripes, but with the same natural ease.
Globe Thistle has a denser, more painterly quality. Stylised seed heads and foliage build across the cloth, seed head upon seed head, creating a richly layered surface while the single-colour print keeps the overall mood calm and balanced.
Together, these designs bring the idea of layering into the collection in a different way: not through contrast, but through repetition, density and detail.
A familiar landscape, brought home
The pleasure of Woodland lies in the way it can be shaped around a room. It does not ask for a single approach. A sofa in Frond Stripe Large gives a confident presence; a chair in Summer Clay or Frond Stripe Small brings in pattern more gently. Woodland Toile brings story, while Woodland Linen gives the more detailed designs space to breathe.
Used across upholstery, curtains, cushions and soft furnishings, the collection allows pattern to gather gradually. One piece can carry the story, or several designs can sit together, linked by the same natural ground, single-colour print and woodland source.
Woodland reflects the landscape that inspired it: familiar, layered and observed over time. A collection drawn from the woods, made to settle into the home.
Explore the Woodland collection or visit your nearest showroom to see the colours, scale and texture in person.
