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. Chinoiserie Vista Wallpaper

Our strongest scenic design, all blue pavilions and little figures drawn from the Chinese-export toile tradition. Blue-and-white is the most recognized chinoiserie register there is, so if you're nervous, start here. Picture it in a dining room with white woodwork, a mahogany table, and a blue-and-white ginger jar catching the light on the sideboard. Entry halls and powder rooms love it just as much.

2. Aviary Blossoms Wallpaper

The classic green-ground bird-and-flower: little songbirds threaded through flowering branches, the exact composition that papered eighteenth-century drawing rooms across Europe. Give it room to breathe, a long dining-room wall or a main living room, and it opens up like a garden you can walk into.

3. Dreamy Songbird Wallpaper

What happens when chinoiserie meets Arts and Crafts? This. Bird-and-flower vocabulary, but drawn with the naturalistic botanical hand of Morris and his circle, in green. The two traditions share a love of plants, so the crossover is seamless, and it slots into traditional and transitional rooms alike.

4. Apricot Chinoiserie Wallpaper

Warm apricot and orange where you'd normally expect blue or green. You almost never see this palette, which is half its charm. The warmth reads cozy rather than ceremonial, the sort of thing that glows in a breakfast room at eight in the morning. Dressing rooms and small sitting rooms feel the same way about it.

5. Jade Dynasty Wallpaper

Jade green and cream, calmer, with no birds darting overhead. Jade is about as historically true as chinoiserie color gets, lifted straight from old Chinese jade and celadon glaze, and there's a stillness to it that belongs in a bedroom or a living room you actually relax in.

6. Teal Aviary Wallpaper

Bird-and-flower again, but turned up: a more saturated teal-green threaded with woodland botanicals. That extra punch of color gives it real presence once the light hits it, so it's at its best on a wall the sun finds. Dining rooms and main bedrooms wear it beautifully.

7. Teal Dynasty Wallpaper

The bolder sibling of Jade Dynasty, same calm florals on cream but in teal. It suits the same quiet bedrooms and living rooms, just with a touch more color. Choose between the two based on how much statement the room can take.

8. Celestial Dragons Wallpaper

Dragons, that most traditional of chinoiserie subjects, but here they're softened into watercolor on a cream ground. The medium takes the starch right out of what could otherwise feel stiff and ceremonial. Hang it in an entry hall and it greets people with a wink rather than a bow. Dining rooms with a sense of humor suit it too.

9. Golden Songbird Wallpaper

A green-ground design with birds, woodland detail, and gold-toned florals. The gold does something lovely after dark, catching the lamplight with a faint warm shimmer, which is why it belongs in the dining rooms and sitting rooms you mostly use once the sun's down.

10. Scarlet Chinoiserie Wallpaper

Cream and florals in a warm scarlet, with a touch of Arts and Crafts in the drawing. That warmth gives it a grounded, lived-in feel the cooler blues and greens don't quite reach. It's a fine choice for a dining room, an entry hall, or a main bedroom with traditional or transitional pieces.

11. Gothic Songbird Wallpaper

The same bird-and-flower language, but pulled into shadow, darker tones, more atmosphere. It sits right on the line between chinoiserie and moody floral, which is exactly why it shines in a dining room set for an evening meal, an entry hall, or a single dramatic feature wall.

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, and for the bigger scenic patterns, the Accent Wall Ideas guide covers 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.