Seasonal
Fall Wall Art: Warm Prints for Autumn
Fall decor has a problem: it goes back in the box on November 1st. Pumpkins, leaf garlands and felt squirrels end up in the attic, and the wall is bare again. This guide takes autumn differently: through its colors, ochre, terracotta, burgundy, sage, which stay on the wall through Christmas and long after. With, for those who love words, the poem of the season.
Which colors for fall wall art?
Four colors make autumn on a wall, and they are exactly the ones this season's decor trends put everywhere: ochre and terracotta, which warm; burgundy, which deepens; sage green, which calms the other three.
The rule: one dominant warm color, one cool color to hold it. A russet landscape under a sea-green sky, a golden field with a cypress. Three all-orange prints tire in a week; two warm and one cool last all winter.
These colors work on a white wall as on a beige one, and they pair with the wood, linen and leather of autumn living rooms. Our wall decor trends guide places them in the year.
Which motifs make good fall wall art?
Fruit. Pomegranates, lemons, peaches and quinces are the oldest autumn motifs in decoration: William Morris made Four Fruits of them in 1862, and the pattern has not aged a day. It stays up all year, which is its strength.
Russet mountains. The Japanese autumn, momiji, is a season Japan celebrates the way we celebrate spring: 1930s travel posters turned it into orange and red landscapes with nothing rustic about them.
Autumn botanical plates. A juniper, a gourd drawn in ink, ivy on a facade: the season's nature seen by an illustrator, not by a decor store.
See the fruit and flower patterns
Verlaine's Chanson d'automne on the wall: why it is the poem of the season
« Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone »: the long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor. Everyone in France knows the opening; few have the rest on their wall. Chanson d'automne is eighteen very short lines, which fit on a print in large letters and read from across the room.
It is the seasonal poem par excellence. Printed on thick matte paper, typeset in black on a light ground, it hangs alone in an entryway or at the center of a trio, between a watercolor of red ivy and a juniper plate. The poem stays in French; the full text and our reading are on the blog, with a prose translation.
See Chanson d'automne as a print
A set of 3 fall prints: the trio that stays through Christmas
A fall trio is built like any other, same size, same frames, 2 to 3 inches apart, with one more rule: two warm prints, one cool. Yunoyama, Four Fruits and the Juniper. Monet's Parliament, the Wheat Field and the Willows. The ivy, the Verlaine poem, the gourd.
The difference with store-bought fall decor is that nothing goes back in a box in November. Pomegranates, a sunset over London, a poem: in December they are Christmas prints; in March, just prints. Three 30x40 for €105, one parcel, and the set of 3 guide for the measurements.
Fall wall art for a kid's room?
Yes, on one condition: that it is not a party decoration. An orange forest with two foxes stays up all year in a child's room; a paper pumpkin garland does not. The test is simple: would you hang it in April?
For a child's wall, a trio puts one seasonal print in the center and two soft, light-ground prints on each side. 30x40 is enough: you look up close.
What size for fall wall art: 30x40, 40x50 or 50x70 cm?
The three sizes are the most requested for fall wall art, in this order: 50x70, 40x50, 30x40. The 50x70 (20x28 in) for a single russet landscape above the couch, the 40x50 (16x20 in) for a fruit pattern above a dresser, the 30x40 (12x16 in) to build a trio in an entryway or hallway.
A dense pattern like Four Fruits needs to be large: below 40x50, you can no longer tell the pomegranates from the lemons. A poem, on the other hand, reads very well at 30x40 if it sits at the center of a trio.
Two warm prints, one cool: the fall trio that stays through Christmas. The rule of the season
What to remember
Ochre, terracotta, burgundy, sage. Fruit, russet mountains, a poem, never a party decoration. Two warm prints and one cool, same size, same frame. Autumn on the wall is what you do not put away.
For autumn
Four prints in the colors of the season
Russets and golds on thick matte paper, from €35 a print, €105 for a 30x40 trio.
See all the botanical prints →
Frequently asked questions about fall wall art
Which colors for fall wall art?
Ochre, terracotta, burgundy and sage green. The rule: one dominant warm color and one cool color to hold it, like a russet landscape under a sea-green sky.
Which poem to hang on the wall in autumn?
Chanson d'automne by Paul Verlaine, eighteen very short lines that fit on a print in large letters. It hangs alone or at the center of a russet trio, in French with a translation on the product page.
How do I build a set of 3 fall prints?
Same size, same frames, 2 to 3 inches apart, and two warm prints for one cool. For example a Japanese autumn landscape, a Morris fruit pattern and a juniper plate. Three 30x40 prints cost €105.
Does fall wall art stay up after the season?
Yes, if it is not a party decoration. Fruit, a sunset, a poem stay on the wall through Christmas and beyond; a pumpkin garland comes down on November 1st.
