To mark International Wallpaper Week, world-famous manufacturer Graham and Brown opened up its doors. Steph Brawn went along to brush up on her knowledge of the Blackburn firm.

MY parents always told me to never have wallpaper in my house. It was messy and the tedious frustration of getting out all those air bubbles was not an enjoyable experience.

But after a day spent with the Graham and Brown family in Blackburn gazing at the endless possibilities wallpaper had, my outlook was transformed.

If you can think of a pattern, image or design, the Graham and Brown clan can turn it into wallpaper, or even, as designers, printers and stylists have shown this week, a wallpaper dress.

That's right, as well as going beyond wallpaper to create paint, wall art and cushions, the 70-year old business has had models strolling round the globe for International Wallpaper Week wearing wallpaper dresses that I would have been perfectly happy to turn up to my prom in.

From humble beginnings back in 1946, when two Blackburn friends Harold Graham and Henry Brown set up the business, the company has expanded to sell its products in 75 countries and has proven that anything is possible when it comes to decorating and the concept of family in a business never grows old.

When you walk through doors of the building in Stanley Street, you are instantly greeted with the words of joint chief executive David Brown saying 'you don't have to have a Graham or Brown in your name to be a part of this family'.

I instantly felt welcome in the quiet and quirky entrance that created a bit of a mystery.

The motto in all the minds of the 500-plus employees is that no trend ever goes out of fashion.

In a display room, adorned with designs beyond your wildest imagination, head of marketing Alan Kemp introduced me to a special wallpaper created for the company's 70th anniversary.

Ceiling Tile Silver harked back to the early days of the company when Mr Graham and Mr Brown had a machine but paper was in short supply following the Second World War, so the pair had to use military foil.

Mr Kemp said that even though the company had become world famous, its origins were still important.

He said: "We are very proud of how we started so humbly with two friends who just bought a machine to where we are now serving places all over the world such as Australia, Amsterdam, New York, Moscow and the United States of America.

"The Ceiling Tile Silver design harks back to the very first wallpaper Mr Graham and Mr Brown produced from military foil that was dropped out the back of Lancaster Bombers to make noise so the enemy would not know there the aircraft was.

"That was in much better supply than paper, so we recreated as best we could to pay tribute to that."

This nostalgic idea was a perfect taste of how things work in the design studio, a bright white room almost like a blank canvas, waiting for ideas to be splashed on it.

In this room, no idea is a bad idea, and unlike the bustling newsroom I'm used to, you could hear a pin drop.

Much like in a school art lesson, the early seeds of a design are planted when all the designers and stylists stick up magazine cuttings and trends they have seen about the place onto a wall before creating theme boards that allow the team to pin down the best ideas.

And for those ideas that get pushed aside, head of design Mike McGuire said that there was an old saying.

He said: "When an idea you've worked on for a week doesn't end up getting liked as much as you hope, designers say 'it was before its time'.

"It's frustrating when you think something is so brilliant but then it doesn't go down well but that's the industry and honestly, working at Graham and Brown is very special.

"It's the amount of designs and innovation that goes on in this place that I think separates us from the rest of the market."

From there, the designs are drawn up before going through to a proofing room to get an idea of how it's going to look on the wall.

Then, in steps, the exciting chapter of the factory, where all the tiny cogs of the Graham and Brown machine come together.

Inside the factory, which is on the go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, machines work through 140metres of paper per minute to produce around 18million rolls a year.

Julian Kellett, pre-production manager, is in charge of taking a design and then making it happen, and said it is in the factory where you really start to appreciate how many skills are involved in wallpaper making.

He said: "There are roles in this place you wouldn't even think would be, like chemists and doctors.

"In a business this size you need lots of different skills.

"Luckily, we all work well together and people always say that the people are the best thing about working here.

"More than 50 per cent of staff have been here more than 25 years and I think that says a lot about this place."