Nursery Wall Art

Nursery Wall Art spans 52 public-domain artworks in the Archive Lane archive.

Birds, animals, flowers and butterflies drawn for natural history, in bright colour and clean illustration. These are public domain artworks, free to preview, and can be ordered as a canvas or a framed print for a baby's room or a young child's.

What kind of art for a nursery? Pictures with something to look at. Natural history plates were made to show an animal or a plant clearly, so a bird or a butterfly is drawn whole, in full colour, with no confusing background. That is easier for a small child to follow than a busy painting, and the pictures stay interesting once the child can name the creatures on the wall.

Where should it hang? Many parents keep the wall directly above the cot clear. If you do hang something there, choose a light, unframed Canvas with no glass, fix it firmly and keep it well out of a standing child's reach. Elsewhere in the room, hang pictures so the middle sits near 48 to 54 inches (122 to 137 cm), a little lower than in other rooms, so a toddler can see them.

What size? A single 16x20 inch (41x51 cm) or 18x24 inch (46x61 cm) over a changing table is plenty. For a bigger wall, a row of three or four pieces at 12x16 inches (30x41 cm), spaced 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) apart, tells a small story: three birds, a moth and a flower, or a family of animals. Matching sizes keep the group calm even when the subjects differ.

Colours? The strong reds, yellows and greens in the original plates are a fine fit for a playroom. For a quieter sleeping room, choose pieces with more white around the subject, and let a pale frame do the rest. Framed Canvas and Framed Print come in 8 colours, including White, Natural and Light Grey, along with Black, Gold, Walnut, Silver and Dark Grey.

Prints and frames can be changed as the child grows, so many parents start with unframed pieces they can swap. If your size differs from the original proportions, the picture is centred and cropped, and the product page shows exactly how much. Every piece is made to order, and sizes are shown in inches and centimetres.

Other collections

A few more curated collections you might like:

• Impressionist Masterpieces — 42,526 artworks
• Renaissance Treasures — 7,965 artworks
• Abstract Expressions — 6,235 artworks
• Landscapes & Nature — 58,249 artworks
• Botanical Illustrations — 18,504 artworks