Henri Matisse traveled to Tangier in 1912 and left Morocco with a new way of painting color. More than a hundred years later, his Tangier Window still hangs in a museum in Moscow, and Marrakech’s cobalt-blue garden walls are among the most photographed in North Africa. Moroccan style is not a passing trend, but a visual language of color and form that artists have drawn on for over a century. This guide shows you how to bring it home as a poster: what the style consists of, why it works so well right now, and how to hang it room by room without turning your home into a set.
Quick facts: Matisse visited Morocco in 1912 and 1913. The painting Window in Tangier (1912, oil on canvas, 115 × 80 cm) hangs at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and depicts the view from his room at the Hôtel de France. Jacques Majorelle built his Marrakech house in 1923 and created the garden, which he opened to the public in 1947. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought it in 1980, and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech opened in October 2017.
Matisse in Tangier, 1912–1913: When Morocco Became Modernism’s School of Color
Matisse was 42 when he traveled to Tangier in 1912, according to art writer Lauren Moya Ford’s review of Jeff Koehler’s book Matisse in Morocco. Rain kept him confined to his room for two weeks, and it was only when the weather changed that he began to find what he had come for. He had prepared for a long time. As early as 1910, he had seen the exhibition Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art in Munich, featuring more than 3,500 objects, and studied how Islamic art uses flat fields of color and rhythmic surfaces.
The result was the series often called the Moroccan triptych: Window in Tangier, Zorah on the Terrace and Entrance to the Kasbah, all painted during his second stay. Window in Tangier was bought by the Russian collector Ivan Morozov and, after nationalization, became part of the Pushkin Museum’s collection. The image is almost abstract: a blue window, a green slope, a church tower in the distance, and nothing that tries to trick the eye into seeing depth.
For anyone decorating, this is the essence of Moroccan style in visual art: color carries the composition, not perspective. A poster with this kind of flat, saturated color field works on the wall without any ornament around it. To learn more about his visual world, see our guide to Matisse paintings, and explore paintings and posters by Henri Matisse in our collection.
Majorelle blue: the garden from 1923 and the couturier who learned about color in Marrakech
The second pillar is a color that bears a man’s name. Jacques Majorelle came to Marrakech in 1917 to recuperate, built a Moroccan-inspired house in 1923, and in 1931 had architect Paul Sinoir design a Cubist villa on the same grounds. The garden around the house was filled with more than 135 plant species from five continents, according to History Hit, and the buildings were painted the vivid cobalt blue that has since become known as bleu Majorelle. He opened the garden to the public in 1947.
After Majorelle’s death, the site fell into disrepair, and in 1980 Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought it. They restored the garden and expanded the collection of plants to around 300 species, and the house was renamed Villa Oasis. Saint Laurent himself said Marrakech taught him about color, and that everything before Marrakech was black, a quote cited by Sotheby’s. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech opened in October 2017, a few weeks after Bergé passed away.
What makes Majorelle blue useful to us is that it’s a color with a history, not a wall you paint and forget. It works as a counterpoint to beige, and does something few colors can: it holds its intensity in both blazing sunshine and gray northern light. If you want it in your home without repainting, a single blue poster in the right spot is enough.
"Moroccan style isn’t about filling a room with objects - it’s about letting a single saturated color do the work that ten decorations otherwise would."
What defines Moroccan style: the horseshoe arch, zellige, and limewashed surfaces
Moroccan interior design is built on three elements, all rooted in craftsmanship. The first is the horseshoe arch, the rounded, slightly pinched shape that recurs in doorways, niches, and mirrors. The second is zellige, hand-cut glazed tile pieces assembled into geometric surfaces. The third is tadelakt, polished lime plaster that gives walls and bathrooms a soft, water-resistant finish. These are complemented by handwoven Berber rugs, brass trays, openwork metal lanterns, and low seating.
In a Swedish apartment, you don’t need to renovate to bring out the style. Just pick out what you can move: the shape, the color, and the feel of the materials. Posters are an effective tool here, because the image can do the architectural work for you. A picture of a horseshoe arch, a garden gate, or a city view in sand and blue gives the room the same sense of direction as a tiled wall would, without grout and without a contractor.
Three types of artwork that define the style
The first is architecture: doorways, arches, domes, and terraces, preferably in chalk white against a blue sky. Browse our posters of famous places for city views in warm sand tones. The second is greenery, and here you can take inspiration directly from Majorelle: cacti, agaves, and palms as silhouettes. Botanical posters capture the same feeling of an orderly garden. The third is an abstract field of color à la Matisse, where blue, green, and pink contrast without shadows.
Why now: Pinterest’s 2026 colors and the Afrohemian wave
Pinterest Predicts for 2026 highlighted five colors: a cool blue, jade, plum black, wasabi, and persimmon, according to The Nordroom. Several are closely related to Marrakech’s palette. Cobalt and jade appear in Majorelle Garden, while persimmon is the burnt orange of a limewashed wall at dusk. Pinterest also highlighted Afrohemian interiors, a blend of African and bohemian styles. That’s why Moroccan style is part of a broader movement putting an end to the completely quiet home.
It is important not to overstate the connection. Pinterest’s report doesn’t mention Moroccan style by name, and Moroccan craftsmanship is something different from a trend. But the colors and interest in handcrafted surfaces, patterns with a history, and rooms with personality point in the same direction. If you’d like to see what the broader bohemian tradition looks like for us, explore our guide to boho in 2026, and if you prefer a calmer, sun-kissed look, discover Mediterranean style.
Moroccan style, room by room: living room, bedroom, hallway, and dining area
The living room: a large expanse of blue above the sofa
This is where you can be bold. Choose a large poster, ideally 70 × 100 cm or larger, with a strong area of blue or green, and hang it above the sofa. Pair it with a white or whitewashed wall behind it, a jute-colored rug, and one or two smaller sand-toned posters to the side. The result is a room with one clear focal point instead of six competing styles.
The bedroom: calm sand with a single color accent
In the bedroom, Moroccan style works best in a muted form. Keep the wall light, choose a poster featuring a horseshoe arch or a garden gate in warm, light tones, and bring out a single color, such as a terracotta-colored blanket. Avoid saturated cobalt directly above the bed if it feels like too much.
The hallway and dining area: the arch as an entryway
The hallway is where shape makes the biggest difference. A narrow, vertical poster featuring a doorway or arch brings the style’s architecture into a room that otherwise lacks character. In the dining room, a row of three smaller prints in the same tones, hung evenly apart, works well, ideally with a brass-colored frame that echoes trays and lanterns.
Tip: Use the three-color rule: one dominant color, one supporting color, and one neutral. For example, choose cobalt as the main color, sand as the supporting color, and chalk white as the neutral. Stick to three colors across all the posters in the room, and even a bold style will feel calm.
Frames, formats, and color combinations: how to avoid creating a stage set
The most common mistake with Moroccan style is giving everything equal weight: lanterns, rugs, cushions, and prints all at once. Instead, let the posters be the controlled element. Choose natural wood or black frames, and our frames offer both. A white mat helps colorful prints breathe, especially if the image has a lot of blue.
Format matters too. A single large poster comes closest to Matisse’s treatment of flat color, while three to four smaller prints work better with arches and niches. Don’t mix more than two formats on the same wall. And consider the light: cobalt looks deeper in north-facing light, while sand tones benefit from a warm lamp in the evening.
What to avoid: the stage set, the cliché, and the small pieces
Moroccan style goes wrong in a predictable way. First, people buy what’s easiest to find: lanterns, cushions, and a tray, all at once. Then they hang what’s closest to a cliché, a camel at sunset or a pastel hamsa hand, and the room starts to look like a tourist shop. Matisse and Majorelle did the opposite. They pared things back. The window in Tangier has few details and large fields of color, and Majorelle’s garden is built around repeating a single blue against the green of the plants.
Therefore, choose images that express the style through shape and color, not motifs that shout “Morocco.” A cluttered mix of small frames in sand, blue, and green creates visual noise. Instead, opt for fewer, larger prints, and let the rug, textiles, or tile in the hallway serve as the statement piece. The result will be an interpretation of the style, not a copy of a souk.
One final thing is worth mentioning: light and time spent in the room. The Moroccan color palette is designed for strong light. In a Swedish living room with low November sun, cobalt feels heavier than it does in Marrakech, so complement it with warm lighting and light-colored surfaces around it. If the room faces north, you can reverse the logic and make sand tones the main color, with blue as a small accent in a single picture.
Frequently asked questions about Moroccan style and posters
If you’d like to learn more about the garden behind the color, there’s an overview at History Hit, and Peter Carr’s article on Bergé and Saint Laurent’s Moroccan legacy is available at Sotheby's. Start with a single blue poster, let it take over one room, then expand gradually. Marrakech took Saint Laurent from black to color on one trip. A wall can do that in a weekend.