New Chinoiserie Wallpaper Murals: Spring Hillside & Scholars Garden

For more than 300 years, chinoiserie has been the wallpaper people choose when they want a room to feel like somewhere. Blossom branches, birds mid-flight and blue-and-white porcelain once covered the drawing rooms of 18th-century Europe, all inspired by trade goods arriving from China. Today the style is back in a big way, and it suits South African homes beautifully: wide walls, plenty of light, and rooms made for long lunches and slow evenings.

We’ve just launched two new chinoiserie murals, Spring Hillside and Scholars Garden. Each comes in six colourways and is printed to order in our Johannesburg studio. Below we take you through both ranges, show you which rooms they suit best, and help you choose between peel & stick and traditional.

Spring Hillside: blossom, birds and butterflies

Spring Hillside is chinoiserie at its most romantic. Blossom-laden branches and full peonies rise from a low, rolling hillside, with songbirds perched among the flowers and butterflies drifting between them. The branches are drawn at a generous scale, so a few birds and blooms fill a whole wall. From across the room they read as clear shapes rather than busy texture. If you’ve been searching for cherry blossom wallpaper with more depth and story, this is it.

Colourway	The look
Ivory	Blush blossom and soft green on a light ivory ground
Antique	The same scene on a warm, aged cream
Blush	Pale pink ground for a soft, romantic bedroom
Celadon	Soft sage-green ground, fresh and calm
Duck Egg	Pale blue-green sky, airy and light
Delft	Classic blue-and-white, painterly and graphic

Scholars Garden: porcelain pots and pomegranate trees

Scholars Garden is the more formal of the two. Picture a walled garden laid out like a collection: potted bonsai and citrus, fruiting pomegranate trees, blue-and-white porcelain planters and garden rocks, with swallows darting overhead. It’s fine botanical wallpaper with a story. There’s enough fine detail in the pots, rocks and birds that guests will keep spotting something new from the dining table.

Colourway	The look
Ivory	Coral pomegranate and olive foliage on ivory
Antique	Warm cream ground with a gently aged feel
Blush	Soft pink ground with coral blooms
Duck Egg	Pale green-blue ground, quietly elegant
Sky	Light blue sky behind the whole garden
Delft	Deep Delft blue on white, crisp and striking

Both ranges share the same six-tone family (Ivory, Antique, Blush, Duck Egg, Delft, plus Celadon or Sky). That means you can hang Spring Hillside in the bedroom and Scholars Garden in the dining room, and the house still feels connected.

Where chinoiserie works best in a South African home

Chinoiserie murals are composed as one continuous scene, so they shine on a wall you can step back from. Both designs also tile sideways without a visible join, so a long wall just gets more garden.

• Dining rooms. This is the classic spot. Scholars Garden in Delft or Ivory behind a timber table and a sideboard is hard to beat, and it gives your Sunday lunch a view. Browse more dining room murals.
• Bedrooms. Spring Hillside in Blush or Celadon behind the headboard feels calm and restful. Keep the bedding white or linen and let the wall do the talking. See more bedroom murals.
• Living rooms and entrance halls. Duck Egg and Sky open up a room, which is helpful in a narrow entrance hall or a lounge that doesn’t get morning sun. More ideas in our living room murals.
• Sunny Highveld rooms. Bright, direct light makes blue look more saturated than it does on screen. In a north-facing room, Delft will look bold and crisp. If you’d like it softer, choose Duck Egg or Sky.
• Plan around furniture. A sofa, bed or sideboard covers whatever sits behind it. Decide which part of the scene matters most, such as a perched bird or a porcelain pot, and keep that section visible above the furniture line.

Styling tips: chinoiserie loves natural textures. Rattan, timber, linen, brass and a few real plants in blue-and-white pots will make the wall feel at home. Leave the other walls plain so the mural stays the star.

Not sure which colourway suits your light? Try the free room visualiser on any product page with a photo of your wall, or order a 60 cm sample and live with it for a few days.

Choosing a finish for your chinoiserie mural

The finish you choose changes how a chinoiserie mural looks as much as the colourway does. Both ranges are available in all five of our materials.

Material	Install	Care	Best for
ARTEX Canvas Textured Peel & Stick	Self-adhesive, repositionable	Waterproof and washable	The most “hand-painted” look. The canvas texture suits chinoiserie’s painterly linework
KOZO Raw Fibre Textured Peel & Stick	Self-adhesive, repositionable	Waterproof and washable	A subtle raw-fibre texture that recalls traditional hand-painted panels
Smooth Matte Peel & Stick	Self-adhesive, repositionable	Waterproof and washable	Crisp detail on a smooth wall; the easiest DIY install
DuraMatte Fabric	Glue required	Waterproof and washable	Our toughest finish, made for outdoors: covered patios, entertainment areas and high-wear walls
Traditional Non-woven Paper	Glue required	Wipeable, not waterproof	A classic paper finish on a smooth, low-traffic wall

• Renting? All three peel & stick options are removable, so you can have a chinoiserie dining room without risking your deposit.
• Outdoor or high-wear wall? Choose DuraMatte Fabric, our tough outdoor fabric. A chinoiserie mural on a covered patio wall makes a beautiful backdrop for entertaining.
• Dining room near the kitchen? A washable finish makes sense where there’s food and little hands around. That means any peel & stick option or DuraMatte.
• Still deciding? Read our guide to peel & stick vs traditional wallpaper, or order a sample in two finishes and compare them on your wall.

Each mural arrives as numbered panels that hang in order, so the branches and birds line up from one side of the wall to the other. Our mural installation guide walks you through it, or you can book one of our recommended installers.

Chinoiserie wallpaper FAQ

What is chinoiserie?

Chinoiserie is a European decorative style from the 17th and 18th centuries, inspired by Chinese and East Asian art. On walls it usually means flowering branches, birds, garden scenes and blue-and-white porcelain, painted as one continuous landscape.

Is a chinoiserie mural the same as wallpaper?

Not quite. Wallpaper is a repeating pattern. A mural is one large scene sized to your wall. Spring Hillside and Scholars Garden are murals, though both continue sideways without a visible join, so they suit long walls too.

Will chinoiserie make my room feel busy?

Not with these two. Both keep plenty of open ground between the branches and pots, so the effect is calm rather than crowded. For the quietest look, choose Ivory or Antique.

Can I use a chinoiserie mural outdoors?

Yes. Choose DuraMatte Fabric, our tough outdoor fabric, for a covered patio or entertainment area. It’s waterproof, washable and hangs with glue.

How much does it cost?

Both ranges start from R289 per m², printed to the size of your wall. Delivery is free on orders over R1,000.

Bring the garden indoors

Spring Hillside and Scholars Garden are available now in 12 colourways between them. They’re printed to order in Johannesburg on Greenguard Gold certified materials, by a team rated 4.9★ from more than 400 Google reviews. Browse the full chinoiserie mural collection, see any design on your own wall with the free room visualiser, or order a 60 cm sample to start.