Art Nouveau Wallpaper

Art Nouveau wallpapers, drawn in the whiplash line of 1900: dusty poppies inside dense sage foliage, orange and hot pink poppies on tall gold stems over black, swirling blue acanthus around peach roses, artichoke heads in ordered rows on dusty pink. The stems bend. The flowers go along with them.

Choosing Art Nouveau wallpaper

Where it works

Give it height. These stems were drawn to climb, so a stairwell suits them best (they go up with you), and a hallway, the headboard wall or a high-ceilinged dining room aren't far behind. Sage Poppy and Powder Blossom both sit on cream and stay light, fine for a bedroom or a landing. Night Poppies and Tall Poppies go dark, poppies on black and on a navy so deep it's nearly black, and we'd keep them for the dining room. Golden Artichoke is the formal one. Layered heads, ordered rows, dusty pink. Our pick for a dressing room, or a powder room with no window.

Picking between the designs

Watch what the stem does, because that's where the style gives itself away. In Sage Poppy and Powder Blossom it curls, acanthus and poppy stems swirling all over the ground. Tall Poppies and Golden Artichoke shoot straight up the drop instead, and from the far side of a room they read almost like stripes. Blush Damask and Blush Peony land somewhere in between (peonies, framed by scrolling sage leaves). Next, the background colour. Sage Poppy and Powder Blossom are on cream, Golden Artichoke shares its dusty pink with Blush Damask, and Night Poppies and White Vine go on black. Want the line without the flowers? White Vine and Silver Vine are nothing but thin curling stems on solid black. The most restrained of the lot.

Related

The earlier, flatter designs are in Arts and Crafts wallpaper, the later geometry in Art Deco wallpaper, the whole period in vintage wallpaper. For where the whiplash line came from, read What is Art Nouveau.