11 Best Chinoiserie Wallpapers

Walk into the dining room of an old country house and the walls are often alive with it: birds, branches, little blue pavilions, the whole scene painted as though someone leaned in with a fine brush and never quite finished. That's chinoiserie, and it's one of the oldest wallpaper traditions still in production anywhere. It started in the 1600s, when European decorators tried their hand at the Chinese painting, porcelain, and lacquerwork arriving by ship, and by the 1700s it was the most fashionable thing you could put on a wall. It has never once gone out of print since. The current revival of country-house style has only pushed it back to the front, with bird-and-flower patterns, blue-and-white toiles, and pavilion scenes all selling at multi-year highs.

Here's what counts as chinoiserie, the designs in our collection, where each one works at home, and the questions buyers ask before they order.

What defines a chinoiserie wallpaper

The look came from European decorators interpreting Chinese silk paintings and porcelain from the 1600s onward, and a few things mark it out. The line always has a hand-painted, brushwork quality to it, and the scenes tend to be birds and flowers, egrets and peonies, chrysanthemums and prunus blossom, songbirds perched on flowering branches. Others swap the birds for whole landscapes of pavilions, gardens, and dragons. The color stays soft, as if painted on by hand, and the layouts run large and often non-repeating, so the wall reads like an illustrated panel rather than tight, marching pattern.

There are really three families to choose from. Bird-and-flower is the most common, and the easiest to fold into a Western room. Scenic and toile-style chinoiserie shows full landscapes and reads almost like a mural, which is why it suits an entry hall or dining room so well. And the single-color designs, blue-and-white or jade-and-cream, lean on the porcelain tradition and look lovely in kitchens and powder rooms. Settle on the family that fits the room first, then worry about the color.

On color, the heritage palettes are blue-and-white from Chinese export porcelain, green grounds with multicolored florals, cream grounds with painted flowers, coral and pink for softer rooms, and deep red or oxblood for a formal dining room. Blue-and-white is the most recognized and the easiest to live with; green-ground multicolor carries the most heritage weight. And mind the scale: small patterns vanish on a big wall, while a large scenic print can swallow a small room. Match the scale to the wall you've got.

The 11 best chinoiserie wallpapers from the collection

1. Songbird Blossom Wallpaper

Turquoise and blue songbirds perch on brown branches among pink blossoms and small lilac flowers, set against a teal ground. Birds on blossoming branches is the founding chinoiserie image, and this is the cleanest version of it in the collection. Teal keeps it modern rather than antique.

2. Mustard Peony Wallpaper

Brown tree branches climb a bright mustard ground carrying magenta and pink peonies, purple blooms and a teal chrysanthemum. The mustard is bold and unusual for the style, which is exactly why it works in a room that would swallow a pale paper. Dining rooms and small studies.

3. Pagoda Toile Wallpaper

Small tiled pagodas sit beside water and rockwork among trees and shrubs on a cream ground, with birds in flight and a few gold-yellow trees. A true toile, telling a scene in essentially one color. Hallways and cloakrooms suit the scale of the drawing.

4. Red Peony Wallpaper

Cobalt stems and leaves climb a cream ground carrying ruffled coral-red peonies alongside blue-and-white chrysanthemum heads. Red and blue on cream is the porcelain palette turned up, and the vertical climb gives height to a low room. Confident without being loud.

5. Teal Songbird Wallpaper

Large pink and powder-blue peonies open on branching stems over a grey plaster ground, with a small bluebird tucked among them. The plaster ground is the difference here, softening everything so it reads aged rather than new. A gentle way into the style.

6. Peony Perch Wallpaper

Blue-grey and crimson birds perch on tan branches among full pink peonies, red rose hips, strawberries and sage foliage. There is more fruit here than in most chinoiserie, which pulls it toward the English country end of the style. Bedrooms take it well.

7. Celestial Dragons Wallpaper

Coiling Chinese dragons in teal, violet and pink scales twist across a pale cream ground, trailing flame-like manes. Pastel colors take all the menace out of the dragon, so it reads decorative rather than dramatic. Good in a child's room or a bold powder room.

8. Jade Serpent Wallpaper

Coiling Chinese dragons in jade green twist across a cream ground with orange-red flame manes, gold bellies and small coral details. Jade on cream is the more traditional treatment, closer to lacquer screens than to nursery walls. One wall is plenty.

9. Peony Damask Wallpaper

A mirrored layout sets two pink peonies at the center, with patterned moths above, finches and a pomegranate below, over teal. Chinoiserie motifs arranged with damask symmetry, so it is the most formal option on this list. Best where the repeat can run full height.

10. Coral Blossom Wallpaper

Fine cream and white rose blossoms, buds and leafy trailing branches print over a strong coral-orange ground. The branches are drawn small and fine, so the coral dominates and the flowers act as texture across it. Warm, and a genuine alternative to pink.

11. Apple Songbird Wallpaper

Red peonies, a cream daisy, red apples, a halved fig and gold pine cones fill teal-green foliage on a dark navy ground. The dark ground and the fruit make it the richest paper here, closer to a Dutch still life than a Chinese screen. Dining rooms after dark.

Where chinoiserie wallpaper works in your home

Chinoiserie has always belonged to the rooms where you put on a bit of a show: dining rooms, entry halls, formal sitting rooms, the powder room a guest ducks into. That's still where it feels most at home. The quiet exception is the bedroom, where the calmer green-and-cream and jade patterns, Jade Dynasty, green Aviary Blossoms, settle a room down for sleep rather than keeping it awake.

Furniture depends on the palette. Blue-and-white wants white woodwork, mahogany, blue-and-white porcelain, and brass, in the classic Anglo-Chinese style. Green-and-cream pairs with walnut or fruitwood, cream upholstery, and aged bronze. The warm apricots and scarlets like rich brown wood, oxblood leather, and brass. The one thing to avoid is chrome or aluminum; chinoiserie sits with natural materials, not industrial ones.

A quick note on cost, since people ask. Hand-painted chinoiserie panels from heritage houses run roughly $1,500 to $5,000 each. A printed chinoiserie like ours gives you the same visual register at normal retail pricing, which is what most homes actually need; the hand-painted route is generally reserved for grand period houses. For hanging, see our How to Hang Wallpaper guide; the bigger scenic patterns suit single-wall installs, where pattern matching matters most.

Chinoiserie wallpaper questions

What is chinoiserie wallpaper?

Chinoiserie is decorative wallpaper based on a Western European interpretation of Chinese visual vocabulary that began in the seventeenth century. The marks of it are hand-painted, brushwork-style line, bird-and-flower or scenic pavilion compositions, soft historical color, and large or non-repeating layouts that read like illustrated panels rather than tight repeating pattern.

What patterns and motifs appear in chinoiserie wallpaper?

Birds and flowers are most common: songbirds among flowering branches, egrets, peonies, chrysanthemums, and prunus blossom. Scenic compositions add pavilions, mountains, pagodas, dragons, and figures. Single-subject patterns also use bamboo, koi, and lotus drawn from Chinese decorative arts.

What colors are used in chinoiserie wallpaper?

The most traditional palettes are blue-and-white from Chinese export porcelain, green grounds with multicolored florals, cream grounds with painted flowers, and jade green. Warmer options include apricot, scarlet, and coral, while deeper formal ones run to oxblood and forest green. Blue-and-white stays the most recognized of all.

What rooms are best for chinoiserie wallpaper?

Dining rooms, entry halls, formal living rooms, master bedrooms, and powder rooms all work well. The style is tied to formal entertaining and reads most naturally there. Bedrooms suit the calmer green-and-cream or jade patterns, where the bird-and-flower content stays restful.

Is chinoiserie wallpaper still in style in 2026?

Yes, strongly. The revival of traditional and country-house style has put chinoiserie firmly back among the leading categories. It has been in continuous production for over 300 years, so it isn't a short-term trend.

What furniture styles complement chinoiserie wallpaper?

Traditional and transitional furniture in natural woods, mahogany, walnut, fruitwood, cherry, works far better than chrome or aluminum. White woodwork pairs beautifully with blue-and-white, and brass or aged bronze suits most palettes. Steer clear of heavily contemporary or industrial pieces.

Can chinoiserie wallpaper be customized?

Heritage houses offer custom hand-painted panels, usually $1,500 to $5,000 each. Printed chinoiserie like ours delivers the same visual register at standard retail pricing without the custom production. For most homes the printed version is exactly right; hand-painted is reserved for substantial period houses.

Where can I buy chinoiserie wallpaper online?

You can browse the full chinoiserie range, bird-and-flower, scenic toile, and single-palette designs, at William Morris Wallpaper. Order full-roll samples first and tape them up under your own lighting.