The forest holds a peculiar power over the human imagination. It is where nearly every fairy tale is set, the place of adventure and transformation, of foxes and owls, toadstools and ferns, of light falling in shafts through the canopy. It speaks to something very old in us, a memory of a time when the woods were both larder and threat, and it has never lost its magic.
Woodland wallpaper draws directly on that enchantment, filling a wall with trees, dappled light and the small, watchful creatures who live among them. More than most patterns, a woodland design tells a story, and invites you to step into it. Here is the pull of it, and the designs on the site that manage it best.
"Every fairy tale begins in a forest. A woodland wall invites you to step inside one."
The Oldest Setting of All
The most convincing woodlands are the ones drawn as scenes rather than repeats. Grand Mulberry Woodland in Summer, from Mulberry Home's Country Walk, is the grandest of them and the most literal: a whole hanging wood in soft greens with deer moving through the trees, printed extra wide at 140cm and supplied as a two-roll set, so a single purchase gives you the pair and the full sweep of the scene. Island Paradise in Charcoal, by Linwood, takes the same idea into monochrome, a dense engraved thicket that reads almost as an old print. Skandinavia in Noir Gravure, from Casadeco's Riverside, is the quietest, a stand of Nordic birches drawn fine enough to sit above a painted dado without crowding the room. And Woods in Extra Gold, from Coordonné's Random Metallics, is the most extravagant woodland here by a distance: bare winter trees drawn over a ground of gold leaf, so the whole wood catches the light like a screen. Shown wrapping a bathroom, it is the clearest proof that a woodland need not be green at all.
Grand Mulberry Woodland, Summer by Mulberry Home
Island Paradise, Charcoal by Linwood
Skandinavia, Noir Gravure by Casadeco
Woods, Extra Gold by Coordonné (mural)
Nature, and a Little Enchantment
Woodland designs sit at a happy meeting point of two of the strongest currents in decorating: the biophilic pull towards green and the calm it brings, now given a name by the Japanese practice of forest bathing, and the return of whimsy and storytelling. Fox & Hare in Red, by Joules, is the storybook half made plain, the two creatures the doc's own fairy tale would have picked, drawn among hedgerow flowers on a warm red ground. Green Forest in Dew, from Coordonné's Random Kids, is the enchantment half done properly: a mural rather than a repeat, a whole canopy of trees receding into pale green mist, and it is the rare children's design that a grown-up sitting room can wear without apology. Diana in Neutral, from Boråstapeter's Swedish Grace, is the calm half: bare trees in the softest stone, and its collection is named for the pared-back Swedish neoclassicism of the 1920s, which tells you exactly how restrained it is.
Fox & Hare, Red by Joules
Green Forest, Dew by Coordonné (mural)
Diana, Neutral by Boråstapeter
The result is a look that soothes and delights in equal measure, grown-up enough for a hallway, magical enough for a nursery.
"Woodland wallpaper soothes and delights at once: real green, and a little enchantment."
How and Where to Use It
Woodland is wonderfully versatile in mood. A soft, painterly design brings a calm, dappled serenity to a bedroom, a study or a hallway, while a more creature-filled one is pure joy in a child's room and grows up more gracefully than most nursery patterns, meaning children need not tire of it. Ashbridge in Hedgerow, by Laura Ashley, is the easiest of the eight to live with anywhere, the woodland reduced to a fine hedgerow green. And Mulberry Woodland in Autumn is the same design that opened this piece, printed at standard width and turned to russet and gold, which is the neatest demonstration there is of how much a woodland changes with its scale and its season.
Ashbridge, Hedgerow by Laura Ashley
Mulberry Woodland, Autumn by Mulberry Home
The greens and browns make a woodland a natural in a room that looks onto a garden. Keep the surroundings simple and natural, and let the trees create the atmosphere. Two practical notes: where a design comes as a mural rather than a roll, as both Coordonné ones do, it is a panel made to a set size, so measure the wall before you fall in love; and the Grand Mulberry is a two-roll set, so one order gives you both halves of the scene. Look to Mulberry Home, Coordonné and Joules for woodland designs from the serene to the storybook, and order a sample first to see those woodland greens truly in your own light.
We are drawn to the woods for a reason older than any of us. Woodland wallpaper keeps a little of that quiet enchantment close, whatever lies beyond the front door.
Ready to Step Into the Woods?
Browse the full Woodland collection, or follow the trees into Trailing Leaves, Botanical and Animal & Insects. If you are not sure how a woodland green will read in your own light, our Sample Service lets you order a swatch of any design before you commit to a full roll.
