Alphabet nursery wallpaper: letters that last past the crib

1. Letters that last past the nursery.

An alphabet wall gives a baby something to look at and a toddler something to point at, and it is one of the few nursery ideas that still works in a school-age room. The trick is a soft palette, so the letters feel like a pattern rather than a poster.

• Paper one wall. The crib wall, or the wall beside a reading chair. Leave the others plain.
• Pick busy or calm. One design is a dense field of letters and numbers, the other spreads out with animals.
• Think ahead. Letters read as a learning wall later, so this theme tends to outlast the baby stage.

Every design here works for any baby. All of them come from our kids’ collections.

2. Alphabet and Animal alphabet.

These two are the alphabet itself, one busier and one gentler:

• Animal alphabet: a pastel animal alphabet with soft green accents. Letters and animals together, so a toddler can find “A” and the animal that goes with it. It also sits on our safari and animal nursery wallpaper page.
• Alphabet: hand-drawn beige letters and numbers overlapping in a busy white-ground print. Lots to find, in a soft palette, and a good fit for a playroom or reading corner.

For letters in a bigger room, the playroom wallpaper guide covers where to put them, and the toddler room refresh guide covers choosing a design that carries into the big-kid years.

3. Quieter companions.

These suit a second wall, or a room where the alphabet belongs on a single feature wall and something calmer goes beside it:

• Fairytale map paintable: a black-and-white fairytale map made to be colored in by little artists. We have not tested which crayons, pens or paints work on it, so try yours on a sample first.
• Teddy Bear Striped: teddy bears on gentle beige stripes in a sage palette. A calm nursery pick next to a lively letter wall.
• Multicolor safari animals: pastel lions, giraffes, crocodiles and other safari animals repeating on white, for a child who loves naming animals.
• Toy car: cheerful little cars with sunny yellow accents on white, for a toddler who counts and lines things up.

For more animal designs, the safari nursery guide has them.

4. Plan the wall and the panels.

Every kids’ design comes in 30-inch-wide panels in nine heights, priced $90 to $180 per panel. Divide the wall width by 30 and round up for the panel count. Add 4 inches to the wall height for trim and alignment, then choose the shortest panel height that covers it.

Prices are before tax, with free US shipping. The nursery wallpaper calculator does the same math for your own wall. If you rent or may redo the room later, read the removal guide: we have not published our own removal tests, so test a sample on your paint.

5. Start with a $15 sample.

The size of a letter is hard to judge on a screen, and a busy print looks different on a whole wall. Order a sample of each finalist from our samples page, or straight from a design: Animal alphabet sample, Alphabet sample, Fairytale map paintable sample or Teddy Bear Striped sample. Each is $15 with free US shipping.

To compare several at once, the Playful safari pack includes Animal alphabet:

More designs are on our kids’ page.

• Tape the samples where the panels will go.
• Stand where your child will: at crib height, then at toddler height.
• Check them in daylight and under the lamp you will use in the evening.

Ordering your wall after the sample? Use code SAMPLE15 for $15 off orders of $300 or more (one use per customer).

Questions

What alphabet wallpaper works for a nursery?

Animal alphabet is the gentler start: a pastel animal alphabet with soft green accents. Alphabet is hand-drawn beige letters and numbers overlapping in a busy white-ground print, with more to find. Both are soft in color, so neither looks like a classroom poster.

Will my child outgrow an alphabet wall?

Less quickly than most themes. Letters still make sense in a playroom, a reading corner or a homework nook, so an alphabet wall can stay long after the crib is gone. Our playroom wallpaper guide covers using one in a bigger room.

How many panels does an alphabet accent wall take?

Divide the wall width in inches by 30 and round up. A 7-foot-wide wall on an 8-foot ceiling takes three 108-inch panels at $120 each, $360 for our kids' designs. A 9-foot-wide wall on a 9-foot ceiling takes four 120-inch panels, $500.