Art Nouveau Wallpaper

What Art Nouveau Wallpaper Is

Art Nouveau wallpaper is a wall covering built on curves. The style took shape around 1900. Designers looked to stems, vines and the human form instead of the ruler. Look for whiplash lines, long flowing hair and stylized blooms.

Giffywalls prints each mural to the exact size of your wall. That matters more here than with most patterns. A curve cut off in a corner loses the whole effect. We print these designs daily. The thing buyers ask most is whether the line will still flow on their wall. It will.

Where the Look Works Best

Entryways and Stairs

This is the natural home for the style. A hall is a space you pass through. You take it in as motion, not as a still view. Curving stems and tall panels suit that. Run the mural up the stair wall and let the line climb with you.

Dining Rooms

Evening light was made for these designs. Many of them use warm gold, amber or deep teal. Under lamps they glow. Pair a flower mural with a plain table and simple chairs. The wall does the talking.

Bedrooms and Powder Rooms

A small room can take a big pattern. It often should. A powder room is the safest place to be bold, since nobody sits in it for long. In a bedroom, keep the mural behind the headboard. Leave the other three walls quiet.

Reading the Palette

The colors tell you as much as the lines do. Mustard, olive, rust, peacock blue and soft rose turn up again and again. Gold is used as ink, not as glitter. Nothing is bright for the sake of it. That is why these murals sit so well with wood, brass and warm white paint. Our gold wallpaper range shares that warmth if you want a plainer wall.

Build the room out from the wall, not the other way round. Warm white or soft cream on the other three walls is the easy call. Oak, walnut and cane all sit well beside these tones. Aged brass beats bright chrome here by a mile. One thing to skip: cool gray. It fights the amber in the print and makes the whole wall look tired.

Scale, Height and Fit

Ceiling height drives the choice. Got a tall room? A full-height panel with a long stem suits it. In a standard room, pick a design with a smaller repeat. Then the pattern reads as texture, not as clutter. A wall cut up by doors and shelves needs that same fix.

Not sure the style is for you? Set it beside art deco wallpaper, which came next and swapped curves for hard angles. The two look nothing alike. They do share a love of the grand gesture.

Styles You Will Find Here

Art Nouveau is a broad family, not one look. You will find poster figures with trailing hair, peacock feathers, iris and lily panels, stained glass grids and quiet leaf repeats. Some designs are painterly. Others are drawn in clean ink line. Want the plants without the period mood? Our botanical wallpaper range is the calmer route.

Sizing, Finish and Hanging

Send us the width and height of your wall. We scale the art to match. A flower will not land half cut in a corner. Choose peel and stick if you rent or like to change things often. It is a removable wallpaper finish that lifts off without pulling paint. Choose paste the wall for a room that is staying put. Panels arrive numbered, with hanging notes in the box. Shipping is free on every order.

One last tip for this style. These patterns have long, clear lines. A bumpy wall shows up more than it would under a busy print. Fill and sand the big dents first. That extra hour pays you back.