There are few things that add more elegance to a room’s decor than original art. Unfortunately, many of us cannot afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for professional artwork. The solution then is to collect sophisticated art from amateur artists to spruce up your walls.
Where to Look
You can find amateur art in a variety of places: antique stores, pawn shops, flea markets, thrift shops, yard sales or your grandparents’ attic. Of course certain places (such as antique stores) will charge more than others. For the best deals keep your eye out for art pieces that you love when you visit yard sales and thrift stores.
What to Look For
Don’t buy art just to have a something decorative on the wall. We all have been to doctor’s offices and homes where the walls are decorated with cheap prints inside cheaper frames. These pictures don’t add much to a room. Instead, look for original paintings, or nice prints that are done on canvas. Also take a look at the frame the picture is in. If you don’t like the frame you might be able to paint it. Otherwise, it will cost you some money to get the painting professionally reframed. Keep framing costs in mind if you are trying to save money on artwork.
Group Smaller Pictures
Instead of buying one large piece of art, consider purchasing smaller framed art to group together. Try to keep to a certain theme when grouping art together. You could group a few paintings of houses, beaches, forests, or flowers. You could also choose to group paintings with similar colors. Make sure your frames look nice next to each other as well. You might consider painting the frames to match if they do not match.
Amateur art can look really beautiful if it is done correctly. The great thing about it is this–if you know where to look and what to look for, you can spend a tiny fraction of the cost of professional art, and get the same results.