Wall décor is the category that finishes a room and the category that generates the most after-sales questions, because a wall piece is only as good as the frame behind it and the hanger in the box. We supply wholesale wall décor and wall art from China — framed prints, stretched canvas, metal and wood wall art, wall plaques and letters, macramé and woven hangings, floating shelves and ledges, coat hooks and key racks — in MDF, pine, aluminium, polyresin, canvas, art paper and glass or acrylic glazing. Every piece is supplied with the hanging hardware and a stated weight, confirmed on a physical pre-production sample and inspected against that sample before loading.
Wall décor splits into the picture and the thing that holds the picture, and both have to be specified. On the picture side, offset printing is the volume route for posters and art prints, giclée and pigment printing give the colour depth and the archival claim that the higher price points sell on, and UV-cured printing onto board, glass, acrylic or metal makes photographic designs possible without a frame at all. On the frame side, MDF and HDF mouldings wrapped or foil-laminated carry the volume, solid pine and oak give the natural look, aluminium and powder-coated steel give the slim, contemporary profile, and polyresin and polyurethane reproduce carved and ornate profiles at a fraction of the cost of wood carving.
Canvas is a category of its own: a cotton or poly-cotton canvas printed and then stretched over pine stretcher bars, with the specification being the canvas weight (typically 260-380 GSM), the corner folding, the staple or back-wrapped finish and whether the print continues around the edge. Metal wall art — laser-cut, powder-coated steel and aluminium silhouettes, flowers, animals and geometric panels — is the line that ships flat and sells on size, and woven and macramé hangings bring the natural-material, handmade look that suits the same shelf as cushions and throws. Every finish is confirmed on a physical sample, because foil tone, canvas texture and powder-coat sheen all read differently on a screen.
A wall piece is bought against a wall, so the format list is built around the spaces a customer actually has: a gallery wall, a stair wall, a hallway, a bathroom. Our working library is:
Hardware is where most returns come from, so it is part of the specification rather than an accessory. We quote every piece with the hanger it needs — sawtooth hanger, keyhole plate, D-rings and wire, or a French cleat for the heavier panels — and with the wall fixings, whether or not they are included in the box is a decision made with the buyer. The hanger is rated above the weight of the piece, and for anything that hangs over a sofa or a bed we recommend a wire or cleat rather than a picture hook, because a piece that falls is a safety incident and not just a claim.
Wall décor is a safety-relevant product, and the two risks are weight and glazing. A framed print over 60 cm with ordinary glass is heavy and fragile; the same piece with acrylic or polycarbonate glazing is lighter, impact-resistant and the correct choice for a child's room, a hallway or any wall above furniture. Where glass is specified, we quote it at a defined thickness with a backing board and a rigid back, and we state the finished weight per piece on the specification sheet so the retailer can give the customer a hanging recommendation rather than a guess.
We confirm the weight and the hanger on the pre-production sample and print them on the specification sheet, because these are the numbers the buying team, the freight forwarder and the end customer all need.
Wall décor looks harmless and carries a surprising amount of regulation, most of it in the frame rather than the picture. Composite wood panels — MDF, HDF, plywood and particleboard, which is what most frames and shelf boards are made from — are regulated for formaldehyde emissions: TSCA Title VI and CARB Phase 2 in the United States, and the formaldehyde restriction in REACH Annex XVII for the European Union. Finishes bring the next set of limits: lead and cadmium in paints and coatings, which is where a Prop 65 declaration and, for anything a child might handle, the CPSIA lead limits matter, plus REACH SVHC screening for the EU and the GPSR requirement that a responsible economic operator in the EU or the UK is named on the product or its packaging.
Shihm is a trading company rather than a testing laboratory, so we do not issue our own certificates: we work with partner factories, confirm the test route against your destination and your customer's specification sheet, and support third-party inspection and testing (SGS, BV, TUV or your nominated laboratory) on request, with the reports issued under that laboratory's name.
Frames and glazing are the breakage risk in this category, and the packing has to be designed before production rather than chosen at the end. Corners are the first failure point, so every frame is corner-protected with a moulded profile, a card or a foam corner; the frame is then wrapped, and sets and multi-panel pieces are packed together with a spacer so the panels cannot rub. Canvas is lighter and more forgiving but still creases if it is pressed, so box canvas is packed face to face with a protective sheet between the prints. Metal wall art ships flat and is the most freight-efficient line in the category, which makes it a useful filler for a mixed container.
Shelves, ledges and hook boards are the weight in the carton, so the fixing kit and the printed instruction sheet are packed in the same master carton and checked on the loading plan. Because wall décor is comparatively light and thin for its value, it travels well alongside ceramic, glass and textiles, and the whole mix moves on one container plan and one set of documents.
We inspect against the approved pre-production sample before loading and issue the inspection report with the shipping documents.
Build the programme from the wall rather than from the artwork. The fastest-selling wall décor lines are the ones sold as a set: a gallery wall of three or five frames in a consistent moulding, a triptych canvas, or a shelf-and-hook combination in the same finish. A coherent programme also lets the retailer share the fitting instruction, the hanger specification and the packaging across the range, which cuts both the sampling cost and the after-sales questions.
Two decisions matter more than the design list. First, decide the glazing policy early: acrylic or polycarbonate for children's rooms, hallways, bathrooms and anything above furniture; glass only where the weight and the environment suit it. Second, decide whether the fixings ship in the box, because a customer who has to buy a hanger is a customer who may hang the piece badly — and the retailer takes the call either way. For artwork, buy a story rather than a scatter: one colour family, one frame finish and consistent sizes read better on a wall and are far cheaper to sample than twenty unrelated pieces.
A standard programme takes eight to ten weeks end to end: seven to twelve days for counter samples, thirty to forty-five days for production after deposit and approved artwork, and twenty-five to thirty-five days sea freight. New frame tooling, a bespoke size or a licensed design adds fifteen to twenty days at the sampling stage, so it has to be started earlier.
If your programme is tied to a fixed retail set-up date, tell us the date at the start and we will work backwards from it and confirm the last acceptable order date in writing.
Do the frames come with hanging hardware? Yes — every piece is quoted with the hanger it needs, and whether the wall plugs and screws ship in the box is a decision you make with us rather than an assumption.
Can I choose glass or acrylic glazing? Yes. We quote glass, acrylic or polycarbonate, and for anything that hangs above furniture, in a hallway or in a child's room we recommend the impact-resistant option and will say why.
What is your MOQ for wall décor? From 500 pcs per design and size on stock mouldings; 1,000-3,000 pcs where a new frame tooling, a bespoke size or a licensed design is involved.
What are your lead times? Seven to twelve days for counter samples, thirty to forty-five days for production after deposit and approved artwork, plus twenty-five to thirty-five days sea freight to Europe or the US East Coast.
Are the frames and shelves formaldehyde compliant? Yes — the composite wood panels are declared to TSCA Title VI and CARB Phase 2 for the United States and to the REACH formaldehyde restriction for the European Union, with the documentation from the panel supplier.
Can you print our own artwork or a licensed design? Yes. Send the artwork and the colour reference and we will confirm the print on a pre-production proof, keeping the approved proof as the reference for production; for licensed designs, the licence terms are agreed before sampling starts.
Can you supply a set or a multi-panel piece as one order? Yes — diptychs, triptychs and gallery-wall sets are quoted as one specification with the panel sizes and spacing stated, and packed together with spacers so the panels cannot rub in transit.
What load can your shelves and hooks take? Each shelf and hook board is quoted with a load rating in kilograms, tested on the fixing kit that ships with it rather than on a workshop bracket.
How do you pack frames so they arrive unbroken? Corner protection, individual wrapping, spacers between panels in a set and a master carton designed against a defined drop test, with print-ready packing for e-commerce sellers.
Can you put our brand on the product and the packaging? Yes — printed or applied labels, branded dust bags, gift boxes, hangtags and retail cartons, working to your own artwork and dieline.
How do we start a wall décor programme? Send reference images, your target retail price points and the wall spaces you are buying for; we will come back with frame and artwork options, a sample timetable and a landed cost estimate.