Even if you didn’t know Caroline Z Hurley was an artist, just one glance at the East Hampton–based painter, ceramist, and designer’s expansive collection for Schumacher would make it abundantly clear: Her hand is everywhere. Each pattern is infused with imagination, originality, and a quiet simplicity that comes from a deep connection to material and form. Her fabrics and wallpapers don’t just reference nature, they feel made of it—filtered through Hurley’s artful sensibility and rendered in colors and compositions that reflect her playful, pared-down aesthetic.
East Hampton–based painter, ceramist, and designer Caroline Z Hurley has been making whimsical, nature-inspired patterns for Schumacher for nearly a decade. Quansoo is among the earliest patterns in her extensive collection.
KEVIN KERRHurley’s earlier Schumacher releases often paid homage to beloved locales such as Martha’s Vineyard (Menemsha, Icehouse, Tiasquam) or the desert (Joshua Tree), and she has continued to follow this geographically driven path, designing patterns that are meant to be layered freely and embraced fully—to “live together and symbolize a sort of balance between two very different terrains,” she explains. While “some are inspired by the desert, and others by the rainforest,” the duality is always clear: On one side, leafy forms and cheerful florals in verdant greens and moody blues abound; on the other, a quieter palette of creams and browns paired with grounded grids prevails, subtly nodding to sunbaked landscapes.
Tropical Trees, a large-scale embroidered textile based on one of Hurley’s paintings, embodies the whimsical spirit of her artwork, with palm trees and painterly blooms stitched in a loose, joyful rhythm. Playful, relaxed, and easy, it’s as if Hurley has channeled both the flora and the humid atmospherics of the tropics.
An allover floral woven from deliciously soft cotton chenille yarns, Jungle Moss has a small scale and plush tactility that give it a gentle, grounding presence ideal for upholstery and layering. Spontaneous and expressive, Jungle Vine looks lifted straight from the pages of a sketchbook, with a quirky charm that lends a sense of levity and exuberance to any space.
If Matisse’s legendary cutouts were transformed into textiles, they might look something like Banana Leaf Cutout—although instead of vibrant hues, Hurley has opted for a more subdued palette of indigo, cream, and espresso brown. Chunky yarns create a relief-like effect, resulting in a rich, tactile play of positive and negative space and botanical motifs. Woven in the United States, this medium-scale fabric brings coziness and character to any upholstered piece.
Rosie Posy is Hurley at her most lighthearted: floral bouquets in delightful colors (think bright poppy red, sky blue, pale pink) based on her own paintings. Hurley suggests using this textile in children’s bedrooms or to make smaller spaces feel “more vibrant and provide a little bit more of a punch.”
In her meditations on the desert, Hurley has created two sophisticated, subtly different takes on the grid print. Everyone loves a classic check, but Taos Grid is distinctly Hurley in its utter simplicity: a rustic, homespun windowpane pattern woven on a traditional dobby loom. It feels fresh without trying too hard, imbued with a relaxed aesthetic that defines all of Hurley’s work. The artist elaborates further on the collection’s geometric component with Tucson Grid: Made with chunky cotton bouclé yarns, this cozy high-pile textile is Hurley’s favorite. “It feels contemporary and classic at the same time,” she says.
As with her previous Schumacher releases, Hurley’s newer patterns are meant to be layered freely and embraced fully—to “live together and symbolize a sort of balance between different terrains”
Not surprisingly, Caroline Z Hurley’s home in East Hampton is an oasis of calm and serenity, allowing nature to take center stage. Her living room features a pair of deep sofas covered in her Desert Wide Stripe in Sand.
Charlie SchuckHurley’s artistic instincts and deep appreciation for process and materials are the common ground for all her designs for Schumacher, including her earlier whimsical block-printed fabrics bedecked with birds, humble fruits and flowers, desert moons, and more. Loose and precise, playful and poised, grounded and transportive: The rainforest may meet the desert in the world of Caroline Z Hurley—but every piece feels unmistakably natural.
