There is a moment in every home project where "this pattern is nice, but" quietly becomes "this is the exact wall I want." It might be a photograph from a trip you have never quite been able to frame properly. It might be a painting your child did at the kitchen table. It might be a colour you saw on a plaster wall in a hotel lobby in Lisbon that you have been chasing ever since. Custom wall murals turn those private references into made-to-measure walls.
A commissioned mural is not an off-the-shelf print stretched to fit. It is wallpaper designed from your source material, colour-matched, scaled to your exact wall dimensions, and produced so the image lands the way you imagined it. No awkward repeats, no compromised crop, no "close enough." This guide walks through every part of the process at Olive et Oriel's custom wallpaper service — who commissions custom work, what can become a mural, how pricing and turnaround actually work, and the three mistakes that cost people their first custom project.
Painted Province Mural Wallpaper · Heron Lake Scenic Wallpaper Mural Wallpaper · Mineral Fade Panoramic Painted Mural in Purple Wallpaper
Who commissions a custom mural
The customers who walk into a custom brief share one thing: a specific image in their head that the standard catalogue cannot deliver. The source, though, is almost never the same twice.
Travellers are the most common. A photograph from a week on the west coast of Tasmania, a sunrise over the Amalfi Coast, a market street in Marrakech, a single vineyard row in Mudgee at harvest — images that carry weight because you were there. A custom mural is the cleanest way to bring that scale into the room rather than reducing it to a framed print on a console.
Families commission murals tied to heritage. The old farmhouse on the coast road where the grandparents lived. A hand-drawn map of the street where the children grew up. A photograph of the garden in full bloom that only happens for three weeks a year. When clients commission work like this, they are not buying wallpaper — they are buying memory on a wall. Many pair these with a statement mural strategy for the main living area.
Creatives use custom work to scale their own output. Painters who want their studio canvas living in their home office at full size. Illustrators who want a single favourite line drawing turned into a feature wall. Photographers who have finally found a reason to print that one image properly. For this group the brief is usually "take my file, keep the palette exactly as I calibrated it, and make it fit this wall."
Brand and commercial clients commission murals where the mood has to match a very specific identity. A hospitality group that needs a particular mocha-to-terracotta gradient in every suite. A showroom that wants a logo worked into a botanical pattern without being an obvious billboard. An architect who has specified a colour that does not exist in any painted wallpaper range. Custom is the only path when the brief is precise. These projects almost always go through the custom wallpaper service with a dedicated design contact.
Special occasions round out the list — first homes, nursery projects with a specific illustration in mind, wedding venues, birth-year landscape photographs. The common thread is meaning. If you are going to commit to a wall, you may as well commit to something that actually belongs to you.
What can become a custom mural
Not every source file is mural-ready on day one, but almost every creative direction can get there with the right conversation. Broadly, five categories come through the custom intake each month.
- Photographs. The most common brief. High-resolution RAW, TIFF or large JPEG files give us the most flexibility. Phone photos can work for smaller murals but start to soften on larger walls — image quality requirements are covered further down this post.
- Paintings and illustrations. Original artwork is photographed or scanned at high resolution. For pen-and-ink or line-heavy illustrations, vector tracing produces a cleaner result than raw scans and allows the design to scale cleanly to any wall size.
- Abstract colour briefs. You do not need a file. A brief like "mocha fading into terracotta with a soft plaster texture, horizon line two-thirds up the wall" is enough for the design team to build a proof from scratch. Think of these like the gradient murals in our painted mural collection, but tuned to your specific palette.
- Pattern recolours. If you love one of our existing designs but want it in your own palette — for example the Japandi Garden mural in soft olive rather than navy — that is a custom pattern recolour rather than a full commission, which usually shortens the timeline and cost.
- Artist-led commissions. When you have the idea but not the image, we pair the brief with a painter or illustrator from our commissions network. They produce the artwork, you approve it, and the final piece becomes your mural. More on that further down.
The custom process is not about uploading a file and pressing print. It is about translating what you see in your head into a wall that the room can actually hold.
Mineral Fade Panoramic Painted Mural in Grey Wallpaper · Mineral Fade Panoramic Painted Mural in Stone Taupe Wallpaper
The Olive et Oriel custom process, step by step
Custom work runs on a simple five-stage cadence. Each stage has a clear handover so nobody is waiting on a "maybe."
- 1. Brief in. Submit the source file (or written brief) via the custom wallpaper page. Include the wall dimensions in millimetres (or inches), the substrate (plasterboard, lime render, old plaster), and a rough sense of mood if the file alone does not carry it.
- 2. Design proof. Our design team returns a digital proof within two to four business days for most briefs. The proof shows the image cropped to your exact wall dimensions with any pattern adjustments, colour notes, and a small wallpaper sample swatch ($4.99, 48cm x 40cm / 19in x 16in) sent so you can hold the printed colour against your room.
- 3. Approval round. One round of revisions is included — typical changes are "pull the saturation back 10%," "shift the horizon up two bricks," "warm up the shadows." Further rounds are billed hourly at design-team rates, which we quote upfront.
- 4. Production. Once approved, production runs on our Central Coast of NSW line. Full-price custom murals print within 4–6 business days. Larger or multi-wall projects take 7–10 business days.
- 5. Ship and install. Orders ship globally with all import duties covered. For installation, we recommend a professional installer from the wallpaper installer directory, particularly for murals over 3m wide where alignment matters. DIY is possible — our complete mural hanging guide walks through it — but a second pair of hands makes a significant difference.
Custom mural pricing structure
Custom work carries a premium over the standard painted mural range because every project includes design time, proofing and bespoke setup. The pricing below is a guide in AUD for 2026; the design team confirms a fixed price at proof stage before any production.
- Photograph or finished artwork supplied. From $A95 per m² on non-woven paste-the-wall substrate. Peel and stick is approximately $A120 per m². Minimum order 3 m² (roughly a 1.5m x 2m panel).
- Pattern recolour from an existing OEO design. From $A85 per m². Fastest turnaround because the base artwork is already production-ready.
- Abstract brief built from scratch (no file supplied). From $A135 per m² including up to two design rounds. This reflects the studio time to interpret the brief and build new artwork.
- Artist-led commission. Quoted per project. Typical full-wall commissions with a commissioned painter start around $A1,800 for the artwork plus the standard custom-mural print rate for production.
- Commercial / multi-location work. Quoted per project with volume rates for multi-site rollouts.
Shipping and all import duties are included in the final quote for global destinations. The how-to-measure guide has the details on converting awkward walls, archways and sloped ceilings into accurate dimensions so the quote is correct from the first line.
Turnaround times: from brief to installed wall
The honest answer is "three to four weeks for most projects, faster if everything is already production-ready." Here is the realistic breakdown.
- Brief submitted to first proof: 2–4 business days.
- Approval round + revisions: 1–5 business days depending on how many adjustments you want.
- Production: 4–6 business days for standard custom, 7–10 for multi-wall or >20 m² projects.
- Shipping: 2–5 business days within Australia, 5–10 business days international express.
- Installation: a single-feature mural takes a professional installer 3–5 hours; DIY with two people takes most of a day.
If you have a hard deadline — a nursery before the baby arrives, a showroom opening, a book launch — flag it at brief stage. The design team can prioritise proofs and the production line accepts rush jobs when lead time allows. We do not quietly accept impossible timelines and then scramble at the end; if it cannot be done, you hear that in the first email.
Japandi Garden Panoramic Mural Navy Blue on White Mural Wallpaper
Image quality requirements for custom photographs
This is where most first-time custom projects live or die. A mural blows an image up to 2–4 metres wide. Pixel density that reads as sharp on a phone screen becomes visibly soft on a wall. These are the realistic minimums we work with.
- Resolution. For a 3m-wide mural printed at 150 DPI, the source file needs to be around 17,700 pixels wide. A standard iPhone photo (around 4,032 x 3,024) prints cleanly to roughly 1.7m wide before softness is visible at close range.
- File format. TIFF, PSD, high-quality JPEG, RAW (.ARW, .CR3, .NEF, .DNG) or PNG. Send the largest file you have — we downscale, never upscale beyond what the image can tolerate.
- Physical print size at 150 DPI. 4,000 pixels wide prints clean to 68cm. 8,000 pixels wide prints clean to 1.35m. 12,000 pixels wide prints clean to 2.03m. 17,000+ pixels wide clears a typical 3m feature wall.
- AI upscaling. We can apply moderate AI upscaling to soft originals if the subject tolerates it (landscapes often do; portraits and fine architectural detail usually do not). This is disclosed at proof stage — you see exactly what the upscaled file looks like before approving.
- Phone photos. Possible for smaller walls (up to 2m wide). For anything larger, we recommend reshooting with a mirrorless camera or hiring a photographer for half a day — cheaper than redoing a mural that pixelates above the sofa.
If you are unsure whether your file is up to it, send it anyway via the custom enquiry. The design team runs a free quality check and tells you exactly what size it can handle before anyone commits to anything.
Artist-led custom: when you don't have the image yet
Some of the most interesting custom projects start with "I know what I want it to feel like, but I don't have the picture." That is where artist-led commissioning comes in.
We work with a small network of commissioned painters and illustrators whose work sits naturally within the Olive et Oriel aesthetic — painterly landscapes, botanical studies, architectural line drawings, abstract gradients in plaster and pigment. When a brief calls for original artwork, we match the style request to the right artist, agree a fee, and hand them your brief. They produce the artwork (physical or digital), we photograph or scan it at high resolution, and it becomes your mural.
Typical artist-led projects include a soft-horizon abstract like Aspen Sky tuned to a specific palette, a chinoiserie-garden commission echoing the feel of Chinoiserie Garden but featuring the flora from your region, or a painterly forest evoking the softness of the Misty Blue Forest mural with the exact trees from a place you love. The artist retains copyright on the artwork; you receive a licence to reproduce it in your home and own a high-resolution digital file of the final piece.
Soft Golden Horizon Mural Wallpaper · Misty Blue Forest Panoramic Painted Mural Wallpaper
Four real-world custom stories
Every custom mural has a reason behind it. These four composite stories — drawn from recurring commission briefs rather than any specific client — give a feel for the range.
- The Tasmania photograph. A client returns from a week in the Tarkine with a single sunrise shot that she cannot stop looking at. Her photographer friend had an R5 with her; the RAW file is 45 megapixels. Two weeks later it is a 3.2m mural above the main bed, colour-matched to the linen bedhead.
- The Portuguese tile pattern. A couple renovating a Queenslander want a powder room inspired by the azulejos they saw in Porto. They supply phone photos of three reference tiles; the studio builds a new repeat pattern in-house that takes the spirit of the original but scales cleanly to their 2.4m x 2.1m wall without awkward truncations.
- The child's first drawing. A mother commissions her four-year-old's crayon drawing of the family at the beach as a mural for the playroom. The scan is vector-traced to preserve the wobbly line quality; the final wall is 2.8m wide and looks exactly like a giant page from a children's book.
- The vineyard shot. A winery owner commissions a panoramic of the home row at harvest for the cellar door tasting area. The photograph is supplied by the estate's brand photographer. The final mural is 6m wide across three panels, colour-calibrated to match the label design.
Rights, copyright and ownership — the honest bit
This section matters, because custom work sits at the intersection of your private memory, our production, and — if an artist is involved — their creative output. Clear rules protect everyone.
- Photographs you took. If you shot the photograph yourself, you own the copyright. We reproduce it once at the agreed size for your home. We do not licence, resell or reuse your image. If you want it reprinted for a second wall later, you can — see "re-prints" in the FAQ.
- Photographs someone else took. If the file came from a photographer, you need their permission to reproduce it as a mural. We will ask you to confirm this at brief stage. For commissioned photographers, a single-reproduction licence is usually straightforward to add to the original shoot contract.
- Artwork you own. Same as above — if you painted it or drew it, you own it, and we reproduce it once. If you bought the original artwork, the artist usually retains reproduction rights. You will need permission from the original artist to reproduce their work as a mural.
- Artist-led commissions. The artist keeps the copyright. You receive a licence to reproduce the artwork as a mural in your home, and a high-resolution digital file. If you want to reproduce it commercially (hospitality venue, merchandise, online reproduction), that is a separate commercial licence negotiated with the artist.
- Commercial resale. Custom murals commissioned for private homes are licensed for that home only. If a client wants to productise their commission and sell it, the licence needs to be renegotiated — and in the case of artist-led work, that is between them and the artist.
We know this reads like fine print. It exists because the alternative — quietly reprinting someone else's photograph at commercial scale — is not a path any of us want to be on. The custom service intake form walks through these rights questions in plain English and flags anything that needs a quick email before production starts.
Moody Seagrass Panoramic Painted Mural Wallpaper
Design considerations that change how a mural lands
A perfect source file still needs thoughtful placement. These are the design-team considerations that come up in almost every proof.
- Scale and horizon lines. On a landscape mural, where the horizon falls in the room shapes how it feels. Two-thirds up the wall reads expansive. Halfway feels formal. One-third up pushes the sky forward and works well in rooms with lower ceilings.
- Repeat vs non-repeat. Murals do not repeat the way standard wallpaper does — they are sized to the specific wall and print as a single composition. This is a feature, not a limitation. If you want a pattern that tiles continuously around a whole room, that is standard wallpaper territory; browse the full wallpaper range for those options.
- Colour calibration. Monitor colour is rarely what prints. Every custom proof includes a printed sample swatch ($4.99, 48cm x 40cm / 19in x 16in) so you are approving colours from an actual printed substrate, not a screen. This is the single biggest source of "this isn't what I expected" on custom work, and the sample eliminates it.
- Furniture lines. Before approving the proof, sketch roughly where the bed, sofa or console sits against the wall. Important detail in the image (the lighthouse in the landscape, the child's face in the family photo) should never land where it gets blocked by furniture.
- Light direction. Murals in rooms with strong directional light read differently depending on whether the source light in the image matches the room light. This is subtle, but the design team will flag if something is going to fight the physical room.
- Room context. A serene landscape on the main bedroom wall lands differently to the same image behind a home-office desk; see our home office mural guide or the bathroom mural guide for context-specific guidance.
Three mistakes that cost people their first custom project
Custom work is predictable if you know where it goes wrong. Three recurring mistakes cover the vast majority of problems.
- 1. Low-resolution source files. The single biggest failure mode. A crisp phone photo that reads sharp on Instagram pixelates on a 3m wall. The fix is simple: send the file to us at brief stage and let the team tell you exactly what size it can handle before you commit. If it is not big enough, reshoot or downsize the mural — do not push through and hope.
- 2. Unprepared walls. Even the most crisply printed mural looks wrong on a wall with visible imperfections, old adhesive residue, or uneven paint sheen. Wall prep is not optional — it is the foundation. The peel-and-stick prep guide covers the full process; for traditional paste-the-wall murals, the same principles apply plus attention to primer compatibility.
- 3. Skipping the sample. People approve custom proofs from a phone screen. The sample costs $4.99 and eliminates 90% of "the colour isn't what I expected" conversations after installation. Order the sample. Hold it against your wall at the time of day you spend most time in that room. Then approve or request a tweak.
Aspen Sky Panoramic Painted Mural Wallpaper · Chinoiserie Garden Panoramic Painted Mural Wallpaper
Where custom murals fit alongside the standard range
Custom work is not for every project. The standard painted mural collection already covers the most-requested moods — soft painted horizons, panoramic landscapes, chinoiserie gardens, botanical scenes — with production-ready proofs, faster turnarounds, and lower prices than bespoke. If what you want is already 90% there in the catalogue, a standard mural with a custom colour or size tweak usually beats commissioning from scratch.
Custom is the right answer when the image cannot be sourced from a catalogue: a place you have been, a face you love, artwork you already own, or a specific brief no standard design fills. If you are on the fence, the fastest way to find out is to submit the brief — the design team responds honestly about whether custom is the right call or whether an existing mural will get you 95% of the way for a quarter of the price.
Vintage Garden Panoramic Painted Mural Wallpaper
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a custom wall mural cost compared to off-the-shelf?
Custom murals at Olive et Oriel start from $A95 per m² when you supply a finished file — roughly a 40–60% premium over an equivalent standard mural from the mural collection. Abstract briefs built from scratch and artist-led commissions carry a higher premium because they include studio design time or commissioned artwork. The design team quotes a fixed price at proof stage before any production begins.
What is the turnaround time for a custom mural from brief to installed wall?
Most projects run 3–4 weeks end to end. That covers 2–4 business days to first proof, 1–5 days for revisions, 4–6 business days of production, 2–10 days of shipping (depending on destination, with all import duties covered), and installation. Rush timelines are possible on smaller projects — flag the deadline at brief stage.
What are the minimum and maximum sizes for a custom mural?
The minimum custom order is 3 m² (roughly 1.5m x 2m). There is no practical maximum — we have produced murals up to 30m wide in multi-panel commercial installations. For domestic walls, most feature-wall commissions land between 3m and 6m wide.
Can I use a custom mural for commercial or hospitality projects?
Yes — commercial custom work is quoted per project with volume rates for multi-location rollouts. For commercial use involving a photograph or artwork you did not create, you will need written permission from the original photographer or artist, and for artist-led commissions you will need to negotiate a commercial licence with the commissioned artist separately from the mural production.
Who owns the copyright on my custom mural?
If you supplied the photograph or artwork, you retain copyright. If an artist produced the work as part of an artist-led commission, the artist retains copyright and you receive a licence to reproduce the artwork as a mural in your home. Olive et Oriel does not licence, resell or reuse any custom artwork.
What if I want the mural reprinted later for a different wall or a future home?
You can. We keep the production file on record (stored securely, not shared). Reprints from an existing file skip the design and proof stages, so the cost is production-only and the timeline drops to 1–2 weeks. Pattern tweaks — a new size, a colour shift — are charged as a small design-time fee on top.
I don't have a photograph or artwork yet — can I still commission a mural?
Yes. Artist-led custom pairs your brief with a commissioned painter or illustrator from our network. You describe the mood, palette and subject; the artist produces the artwork; you approve it; we print it. Typical artist-led projects start around $A1,800 for the artwork in addition to the standard custom-mural print rate. Start the conversation via the custom wallpaper page.
How do I write a good brief for a custom mural?
Keep it specific. Include the wall dimensions in millimetres (or inches), a note on substrate (plasterboard, plaster, lime render), the source file or a written description of the subject, a palette reference (Pantone, HEX, or a photograph of a colour you want matched), and the room context — what the room is used for, what time of day light hits the wall, and what furniture sits against it. The custom intake form walks through each of these.
Sage Green Jungle Wallpaper Mural · Serene Tropical Jungle Wallpaper Mural
If you are ready to start, the next step is a 10-minute brief on the custom wallpaper service page. If you are still sizing up whether custom is the right call, browse the painted mural range first — many people find 95% of what they want already exists, with faster turnaround and lower cost. Either way, if installation is on your mind, the wallpaper installer directory and the full mural hanging guide cover the last mile so the finished wall looks the way the proof promised.
For more on how feature walls are shaping Australian interiors this year, read Wall Murals — The Statement Wall Trend Dominating 2026, and for room-by-room inspiration our living room mural guide, kids' room murals, and entrance hall mural posts pick up where this one leaves off. All available in On the Wall.
