We also have artwork we purchased on some vacations. I’m sitting here looking at a beautiful watercolor I got at a cute gift shop while on vacation. On the other side of this room, is a nicely framed limited edition print of scenes from our town…a gift from our real estate agent.
We also have some acrylic and watercolors done by local artists some of whom are friends.
One of my favorites is an oil painting done by a friend of my MOH. When MOH died, the executor of the estate gave me the painting because she knew I had admired it. I also have some still life paintings from my husband’s grandmother’s house.
I’m quite sure I don’t have a single valuable thing…except one signed and numbered print. But that isn’t what matters to me…these are things we like.
So @conmama when you can…go out and browse the suggested places in this thread…shops, galleries, art or craft fairs, etc.
Measure first! Take some post its and mark the wall for the size and then measure. Check those measurements against what may be commercial standard sizes.
My on-line suggestion is decide on what you would like as the subject and google that subject as “art”.
Like “sail boats” or “flowers” or “daisies”. Or water colors or “Mona Lisa” whatever. Keep narrowing it down.
You’ll find a ton of companies that have those in their inventory.
Some of those companies will then offer a particular print in various sizes and then you can choose as a poster, canvas, wrapped canvas (so no frame needed), even on glass or metal for a modern look. The framing options are huge. And you can see what your final selection looks like from their templates.
If you are looking at a “standard size” type print, the thrift store can be your friend. I’ve found some awesome very expensive frames for pennies on the dollar this way. Then go looking for the print to go in it.
Be wary of the actual prints in the frame at a thrift store. Most are very faded in color which is why they are there to begin with. So concentrate on the frame, not the print. You might not notice the faded color until you get it home and in brighter light than most stores give.
Like Dos said, if you have an art school nearby a student will snap up the commission. My D’s roommate who was super in realistic work did a piece for us–we bought the materials and specified size etc. She did it "wrapped canvas (painted on all sides-the pix wraps around) so it didn’t require framing (but you could if desired). Win-win all around.
We have a 36 x 60 oil-on-crushed-velvet reproduction painting of “Dogs Playing Poker” that hangs in DH’s man-cave in the basement. DH picked it up for $4 at a vacant gas station-turned-truck/stop venue where folks hawk Persian rugs, roses, and all sorts of oddities. At $4, it is the most expensive art that we paid for ourselves.
We have gotten plenty of great artwork at thrift stores and consignment shops. We also have several large photo prints from various vacations
We have hung some modern textured rugs by Nanimarquina. You can buy them cut to your desired size. They are slightly expensive but you get the idea. We have also made our own large paintings (Sol Lewitt inspired) to make up for the cost of the rugs.
I am not into art. The only thing hanging over our mantel is a huge framed photo of stills from our wedding that H had framed and put up. The only other piece of art I have hung up is the picture oldest boy got in trouble for drawing in middle school. The assignment was to put your own twist on a classic piece of art. My son drew one he called “Starry Night over Baghdad with Jet Fighters.” It was April 2004.
@VeryHappy I agree with you hanging something over your couch/on your wall is a commitment. If you cannot afford good art, buy local art and if you cannot afford local art ( usually cheaper than a framed print), buy a photo or take your own. Not everyone cares about the aesthetics they just want something on the wall. I would personally never hang something I didn’t believe to be beautiful and that had some relevance to my life. My spouse had a photo that hung in the bathroom. It was AWFUL. When we married it went straight to the basement. I had some antique chairs same thing.
@thumper1 Had Some kids art framed at Michael’s ( not inexpensive at all to frame) When one piece fell off the wall it split and I found out the outer frame was plastic ( coated with wood look). I was pretty disappointed as it costs nearly $200 to frame ( was 8x10 ish). If it was wood probably would have survived with a dent. BTW, other person was correct. IKEA for wooden frames only. Plastic is ugly IMHO. I think buying frames at consignment, flea market or yard sale is great. Than get a mat to suit the artwork. Saves a lot and looks better. But personally I like to save money but not on art. Like is short. I enjoy art. I would rather look at a blank wall than something I don’t care for.
I love to wander through art fairs on the summer. That is where I’ve acquired most of their art.
Someone suggested Wayfair above. I had a bad experience recently with them sending me the wrong item twice. I wouldn’t order stuff that is hard to package and ship back from them…
LiveAuctioneers is a great site if you like to watch the auctions.
I have bought a number of pieces through there from auctions all around the country. If you have favorite artists you can set up alerts so that you get notified whenever one of their works is in an auction.
One caveat - check the shipping cost before bidding, especially if it is already framed. Large pieces are quite expensive to ship, and more than once I’ve paid more to ship the piece than I did to buy the piece. For a lot of auctions it means calling shipping places near where the auctions take place who have experience shipping art, and getting a quote.
On the other hand, I’ve bought pieces shipped rolled in a tube for cheap that cost me substantially more to frame than I paid for them, as well. You can’t win.
I bought most of our art from the areas where we lived or while travelling. We lived in the SW for over 15 years and one room of our house displays all of the art we acquired there - some of them personal gifts from Native American friends.
Another room of our house is decorated with art we bought in China (we adopted our kids from there and have been back several times). $700 could buy a whole house full of beautiful art and crafts in China. I’d love to go back one more time and do nothing but shop for art.
Our other art room, the family room, has a hodge-podge of art from various other places we’ve been, but the large piece over the fireplace is the only non-original piece that we have in those three rooms. I think I got it from Joss and Main.
I can’t recall whether anyone suggest it earlier, but a Laurel Bern post made me think of Chairish. You can find a huge variety of things there. Try it and set different criteria.
