I know you've all been hanging out with bated breath just dying to know the rest of my super duper revolutionary top secret sources for art, right? Right?
Ha. That aside, I'm still obsessing over my gallery wall and loving how finished it makes my bedroom feel...finally! While yesterday covered some of the obvious sources for affordable art pieces for twenty-somethings, today's got a few more gems. Here we go!
TRAVEL/STREET ART
I'm pretty sure at this point that my family has kept the European population of sidewalk artists in employment since 2006. Every time we go abroad, we come home with paintings, prints, you name it, packed flat or carefully rolled and carried on the plane with us. It's a deceptively cheap way to get a really unique and sentimental piece of art! My bedroom gallery wall features this cute little print of the cathedral at Madrid, which Jonny brought home from his semester in Luxembourg for me:
And my kitchen is home to this stunner of Vernazza, one of the five cities of Cinque Terre:
The best thing about travel art is it triggers such great memories. I can't wait to scout out something perfect to add to my collection in Paris this May!
PAPERSOURCE/FANCY WRAPPING PAPER
Dumb as it may sound, pretty wrapping paper is a killer way to cover a lot of wall space with very little money invested. Check this guy out:
It's yet another piece of my kitchen gallery, and it cost me a whopping $3.99 at Patina out of the fancy wrapping paper section. It's wrapping paper. Wood-mounted, or put in a pretty frame, it gets totally elevated and becomes a legitimate art piece. I'm not saying go to Target and get a $1.99 roll of cheap Christmas wrap...but from a fine paper store, large sheets of wrap are a steal of a deal.
PRINTSTAGRAM
I might be the biggest Instagram whore I know. Ever since my 100 Happy Days project this time last year, I've really gotten addicted to the app and love to photograph and filter and crop and add effects to pretty much everything. Printstagram, an arm of Print Studio, takes your oh-so-lovely Insta shots and turns them into...pretty much anything! I purchased this framed print a few weeks ago, which highlights some of my favorite St. Paul architecture:
Cool, right? It looks so fancy and nice and the best part is IT'S MY "ART." So famous, so fancy.
FAMILY/FRIENDS WITH ARTISTIC TALENT
In the biggest "no duh" moment of all, if you have anyone in your life who has an iota of artistic ability, getting them to create something for you can be a ridiculously cool way to add to a gallery wall. My sister Emily is basically a goddess of creativity, and is the source for SO many of the coolest pieces I have. My gallery wall prominently features THREE pieces by her...
These cool 3d butterflies in a shadow box...
This adorable print...
and my VERY VERY FAVORITE THING ANYONE HAS EVER MADE ME EVER:
Um, hi. Feel free to gasp in amazement again. She hand-watercolored this stunning rendition of the Minneapolis skyline for me as my Christmas present this year and framed it in a "floating" gallery frame. I've never been so in awe of anything in my entire life.
Anyway, these personal pieces are awesome because they're one-of-a-kind, made with love, and give me the opportunity to brag up on how amazing Emily is every time someone comes over and comments on how fantastically stunning they are. If you have a friend, family member, or a personal artistic inclination, MAKE SOMETHING or have something MADE. It's the absolute best way to make it personal.
With that, I think we're all ready to put this gallery wall to rest! Lots more to share about the apartment coming up soon though...spring cleaning has me in a fever of nesting and homemaking magic!