The nursery series / 22
Ocean nursery wallpaper: a calm under-the-sea wall
For an ocean nursery, start with Ocean life, watercolor fish and sea plants in easy blues and greens that suit any child. Clouds, Watercolor solar system, Vintage Air Balloons and Stars add a sky for a second wall. A 10-foot accent wall on an 8-foot ceiling takes four 108-inch panels, $480 for our kids' designs. Order a $15 sample of each finalist first.
1. An ocean room without the clutter.
An under-the-sea room is easy to overdo. The version that stays pleasant is one papered wall of water and a lot of calm around it: plain paint, simple bedding and a few shelves. A watercolor sea repeat does the work, and the rest of the room can stay quiet.
- Paper one wall. The crib wall or the wall behind the bed. The other walls stay plain.
- Let blue and green be the color. Keep the rug and bedding neutral, and add a bright toy or two.
- Think about the next stage. A sea theme carries into the toddler and preschool years, where there is plenty to count and name.
Every design here works for any child. All of them come from our kids’ collections.
2. Ocean life, the sea itself.
Ocean life is watercolor fish and sea plants in easy blues and greens. It is soft rather than cartoonish, so it reads as a gentle underwater pattern from across the room and gives a toddler fish to count up close.
- It suits a calm room, including one that is also a nap spot.
- It pairs with white furniture, pale wood and plain cream or gray bedding.
- It is a good fit for a shared room, where it does not tie the space to one age.
For more animal themes, see our safari nursery guide, and for ocean life by age, the dinosaur and space wallpaper guide.
3. Clouds, planets and balloons.
If you want a sky above the sea, or a second design for another wall, these keep the same soft feel:
- Clouds: rounded white clouds drifting across a soft gray ground, for a light, airy partner to the water.
- Watercolor solar system: smiling planets and stars in a loose watercolor solar system on warm gray, for a child who wants to go further than the sea.
- Vintage Air Balloons: watercolor hot air balloons drifting among clouds in soft pink and beige, a warm contrast to the blues.
- Stars: small gray stars scattered evenly across white. Quiet enough to sit beside the sea.
- Fairytale map paintable: a black-and-white fairytale map made to be colored in by little artists, for a child who wants to chart the voyage. We have not tested which crayons, pens or paints work on it, so try yours on a sample first.
The stars and moon nursery guide has more night-sky designs, and the shared kids’ room guide covers choosing for two ages. For more on blue, see the blue nursery wallpaper guide.
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.
| Wall | Panels across | Panel height | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 ft wide, 8 ft high (120 × 96 in) | 120 ÷ 30 = 4 | 108 in | 4 × $120 = $480 |
| 6 ft wide, 9 ft high (72 × 108 in) | 72 ÷ 30 = 2.4, so 3 | 120 in | 3 × $125 = $375 |
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.
Blues and greens shift with the light, and the scale of a fish is hard to judge on a screen. Order a sample of each finalist from our samples page, or straight from a design: Ocean life sample, Clouds sample, Watercolor solar system sample or Vintage Air Balloons sample. Each is $15 with free US shipping.
To compare several at once, the Calm nursery pack adds three soft repeats, stars among them:
Calm nursery
Three soft, sleepy repeats to compare side by side in the nursery's own light.
- Bunny nursery
- Stars
- Moon and bunny nursery
3 × $15 = $45 · free US shipping
More designs are on our kids’ page.
- Tape the samples where the panels will go.
- Hold them next to the bedding, the rug and the curtains.
- 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 wallpaper works for an ocean nursery?
Ocean life is the direct answer: watercolor fish and sea plants in easy blues and greens. Beside it, Clouds, Watercolor solar system, Vintage Air Balloons and Stars give the room a sky to go with the sea.
Is ocean wallpaper only for boys?
No. Watercolor fish in blues and greens suit any child. Choose by the palette of the crib, the rug and the curtains rather than by the label.
How many panels does an ocean accent wall take?
Divide the wall width in inches by 30 and round up. A 10-foot-wide wall on an 8-foot ceiling takes four 108-inch panels at $120 each, $480 for our kids' designs. A 6-foot-wide wall on a 9-foot ceiling takes three 120-inch panels, $375.