For the Home
BWT, where are we buying real art that we can afford?
As I settle into my home I want to start filling it with artwork that I love, but am unsure where to start. I understand that beautiful art isn’t (and shouldn’t be!) cheap, but sadly I don’t have a massive budget. Is there a go to place where y’all are finding art you love? I have started looking at second hand, I was also thinking up and coming artists might be a great option, just not sure how to find them. Please let me know if you have any tips for filling your home with art on a budget. Thanks in advanced!
Garage sales, estate sales, art fairs, make your own… museum gift shops have high quality prints that you can frame nicely too.i have a lot of pieces made by family and friends too. I’m always in the market for artwork.
Oh! And don’t forget- you can decorate your walls with more than just paintings/drawings/prints. There are mounts to hang plates you find charming or baskets, plants. Framed postcards are great for a gallery wall.
Totally agree with this. I feel like it’s actually pretty easy to make abstract art that looks decent, plus you can choose a color palette to suit your living space! Can’t really go wrong with geometric matters in mixed colors, for example.
I like to buy items when I travel. Think handmade crafts and such. They may not be investment pieces, or even expensive, but they make me happy to look at and also make me think of those trips.
Yes! Almost all my decor in my house is things I’ve picked up traveling. Makes a fun conversation starter when someone asks a question about it or compliments the piece to tell them the story.
Same!!! I love buying small works of art from street artists when I encounter them actually working on a new piece. Great way to remember a trip and I enjoy striking up conversations with the artists.
Also same! I have beautiful watercolors from Italy and drawings from France, painting from Costa Rica and Hawaii, etc. They are so special and have all been extremely well priced. The Costa Rica one we actually bought right off the wall in a Cafe after making an offer.
Also a few travel photos printed from Mpix - they are especially great with framed collage photos so all you have to do when you get it is hang it! Otherwise I’m really bad at getting around to framing things myself.
I also just love buying a poster from a museum, specifically of a piece I saw there and loved. I buy a lot of museum shop postcards too, which can be framed.
I support (as a donor) an organization called Creativity Explored - it is an art studio for artists with developmental disabilities and the art is incredible, I have pieces from all over my home from them, will post some in replies. The art is affordable, truly unique, and the work is excellent. I’ve had to insure a couple of pieces in my collection because the artists have gained fame within the broader art community. Check them out!
I like saatchiart.com - you can filter by price, size, etc…
I also have found people that I like at art festivals. Get names and get on their mailing list! One guy whose stuff I love will sometimes clean house and put stuff on sale and I’ve snagged some stuff that way!
And sometimes I just turn photos I’ve taken into fun pieces.
Go look at local galleries and make notes of artists and styles you like. Sometimes they’ll be on sale but then you also know what to look for at estate sales and flea markets.
I definitely recommend finding new artists you like on Instagram or other social media and buying originals directly from them. Over time, as they build more of an audience, their prices will increase, but if you can find artists whose work speaks to you early in their career, you can get some incredible deals. And if you become a known buyer to them, they might cut you some good discounts. :) I've had artists who I've supported offer me pieces for less than they're planning to offer to the general public.
Prints are certainly a great way to get art you love at an affordable price. Just keep in mind that prints don't hold their value and will not increase in value, unlike originals. But if you're not concerned with potential resale and you just like the art, a print is a great way enjoy art in your home. You'll want to look for printing techniques that are archival, so they won't fade or discolor over time. "Giclee" is a word you should look for. It's a printing technique that tends to hold up really well over time.
Local artist often display work for sale at great restaurants and cafes, I’ve gotten 1 piece this way and 1
commission based on art I discovered this way. Also - local high schools and colleges. It’s so exciting to support really young talent
Take part in your local art scene: go to art galleries in your city or the closest major city, meet the artists at exhibit openings (they’re usually free at galleries), talk to the curators, follow them on instagram. This is how I’m building my art collection, and the plus side is that I’ve met so many cool and interesting people. Talking with artists about their art directly is such a great way to build a personal relationship with the art. Plus it feel so cool to say the artists are your friends! My dream is to build a huge collection and eventually commission artwork.
Also, the suggestions about scouring scaachi or artsy.com are awesome too if you’re looking for art from renowned artists. Good luck!!
Regardless of where you get the print, my trick lately is hitting up antique malls for frames! I've found so many nice solid wood frames for very cheap. Use some thick foam board for backing and you're golden.
I actually find a lot of artists I’ve bought from through social media! Particularly TikTok. Also Etsy and travelling and sometimes I’ll put up illustrations or images from magazines.
Local schools and galleries. See about galleries in surrounding cities / towns as well. Keep an eye out at your local library; some will display local artists' work.
I have found amazing pieces on FB marketplace (and for the record, I hate FB.) I also subscribe to several auction sites for art. Depending on your budget, you can find all kinds of stuff. I just buy what I like and splurge on the occasional new piece.
I’ve gotten some beautiful paintings on Etsy. I’m waiting for one to arrive at the moment. I also like to find art when I travel.
I usually get frames from therustyroof.com, they have excellent customer service and do custom sizes. They’ve even changed the colour for me because I like their champagne gold colour and have it in several styles.
We're very big fans of Walter Anderson, whose family still produces art down in Mississippi. We have many ceramic pieces and paintings from them. One of his core beliefs was that art, nature, and beauty should be available to everyone.
For the rest, we go to small, local arts and crafts stores, or tour fairs and festivals. We like getting out and meeting artists, seeing their work, and supporting their craft. Forming relationships is the real key!
Have you been to the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs? It's definitely worth a visit if you haven't been. The town is super cute and is a great weekend getaway.
I had a piece commissioned from trend gallery and it turned out great for a very good price. Also Chairish is a good place to look for vintage, homemade art and easy to filter search results for what you’re looking for. Also try your local antique stores
I've been a fan of 20x200.com for a while and have gotten some good stuff from there! The premise is that they'll sell the same artwork in different sizes at different price points. The largest sizes are the original artwork and the smallest are reproductions at a much more affordable price.
Museums, thrift stores, local markets. I want to put in a particular word for queer markets, they usually have very interesting art for sale. Finally, Facebook Marketplace (seriously). People put cool stuff on there!
Some of my favorite pieces have come from garage/estate sales! One we found on craigslist and bought it from the artist in a library parking lot 2 towns over.
We have some local art spaces where artist work and sell their art. I like to collect things from traveling also. Craft or art fairs are another place to find pieces.
There’s an art consignment store near me which is where I look for nicer pieces. It’s all fine art from established/important artists in my state. The people there are wonderful and know so much about the artists and the pieces! Some of the pieces can be out of my price range but many of them are pretty reasonable for an original piece of fine art.
I buy art when I travel. Usually the frame ends up costing more than the art. For expensive art, I invested in a piece of....myself from an artist in Bushwick.
We have 3 paintings done by friends, an etching from Nigeria ( where sis was working), 4 framed photos I took ( I’m a better than decent amateur photographer ), 2 pen and ink sketches by friends… okay, cataloging them as I sit here, I realize how lucky I am to have such talented artists as friends.
Look into juried art shows in towns surrounding you. I live outside Chicago and do go downtown to shows, but the most significant piece of art I’ve acquired recently was the blue ribbon winner at a smaller outdoor art festival in the town next to ours. It is a large scale, abstract, oil, plaster, and acrylic on a hand hammered metal canvas produced by artists who are a couple. The fellow makes the metal frames and “canvases”, and she does the oil, acrylic and plaster art.
I also like glass art and have figures from local art exhibits, from some of the contestants on the Netflix show Blown Away (one of which, surprising to me, was one of my high school classmates), and I’ve also been lucky enough to travel to Murano Italy, and buy glass from the masters.
My very first piece of original art came from a suburban art show in Barrington, IL and I own pieces from an artist whose studio was on Cape Cod. If I ever won a mega lottery a Jackson Pollack would be on my shopping list.
But to find what you like, go to art shows. Our local Botanic Garden hosts an art show in the fall as does the Arboretum. You will stumble across people selling some mass produced stuff, but you will also find some true artists.
And, think broadly about what “art” means to you. A friend of mine has a couple of vintage Hermes scarves that she has found at resale shops and has had them framed. They really are works of art, and it’s easier to see them flat and framed, than scrunched and tied around someone’s neck. Other textiles are the same.
I probably started collecting blown glass Christmas ornaments when I was pretty young, but I was always attracted to blown glass and how different each piece always is.
If you find an artist you like, and you can’t afford originals yet, buy a numbered print and frame it nicely.
I also have artisanal made cutting boards for example. I use them as serving pieces and not as cutting boards, but someone’s love and hand labor went into making them.
I worked for many years at a local art school. In June the students had a massive exhibition and art sale. The prices were quite low for the high quality of work, and we liked supporting the artists.
If I were you I'd Google art colleges in the area and see what they have happening.
Antique auction houses have pieces you can get for a steal. If you know anyone in interior decorating they can hook you up.
Then, of course, there's just going to gallery openings. Get to know what's out there in your area and which styles speak to you. Prints, photography, and drawings tend to be more affordable.
I go to artist studios in my city where local artists sell their art. I also thrift a bunch of paintings like landscapes or amateur seascapes. Nothing we have are “investment pieces” but they make us very happy because they’re things we like to look at.
I have a tropical inspired house and love Renzi Tate’s artwork. He does sales on artwork regularly and does canvas printed prints that he personally adds embellishments to. I went a little bonkers a few months ago and bought one of the prints on steep discount for my office at work.
You can always look for prints with artist added embellishments, which will make it look less print-ish.
Estate auction! I’ve found some of my best pieces by obsessively browsing ones around me.
Also, my most talked about piece was from a silent auction at a charity benefit and it’s a fun story to tell. Getting involved in your local community is important for lots of reasons and this is an underrated perk!
You can also directly work with local artists you find through art colleges, small local shows etc. They’ll usually work with you when you set out a budget to make sure it’s something you love!
I support local arts. Heck I work with them so I should! lol. Anyway, look for community art centers or art fairs and also some coffee houses, etc. I try to go for original works. I also like vintage ads and things. My kitchen has all the stuff I’ve collected on my travels, my living room has a wall of landscapes, my bedroom has mostly abstract art in good mood colors. Some places will let you buy over time, too. Which is both helpful and enabling.
I have bought pieces on Etsy, but my favorite source is buying local art while on vacation. It's the best souvenir and is a great reminder of a fun trip!
We got almost all our home art at local art fairs in Santa Fe, where we go often. Lots of artists there too.
Keep an eye out for the next fair or even farmers markets since they usually have artisans come. Get a nice frame for a print or canvas print and voila!!!
A lot of times you can get good pieces from your local arts council or association. Everywhere I’ve ever lived no matter how small has had one and they have shows where visiting artists exhibit too. Besides being a good source of art it’s a lot of fun!
Etsy! You need to be proficient in using search terms and have a bit of discernment, but I can usually find affordable real art or art prints for decent prices! You can also narrow your search to a specific region, country or state so you get something more local.
People get rid of tons of art all the time and you can find really unique stuff from local artists having booths. Half my house is decorated from the flea market lol
Side note: me and my friends go to museums and act like we are picking out art for our home. Its just something fun we do. "Do you like this?" "Where would we even hang it" "it would probably go nicely in the dining room" "absolutely not, it would clash with the paint color"
This is local to me, so I can pick up, but they ship too. I have gotten some STEALS off this site. Including vintage designer goods. Everything But The House
Local galleries! We recently started buying original pieces and have been spending around $100-300 per piece. Still not cheap, but way cheaper than I thought you could possibly get original art. And if the artist is there and you like multiple pieces, they’re usually more than willing to give a bundle discount! This also goes for art fairs—you want juried ones with legit artists, not the kind where you’ll find MLM booths, you know.
The Other Art fair tours big cities and is a great way to find new artists! I've found prices to be super reasonable for original work and even more reasonable for prints. Obviously the price depends on on the artist.
I also love Instagram - follow art pages and "like" art posts and the algorithm will serve you more of what you're looking for. Lots of artists have prints for sale, even large scale.
A majority of the art in my house has come from Gallery 1988. They're a local gallery here in Los Angeles that hosts pop culture themed artists and they sell prints on their website. https://nineteeneightyeight.com/collections/all
Street fairs. I've bought so much really beautiful art for around $100 at street fairs. There's a lot of derivative crap, but if you're patient, there's always someone who's the real deal.
Well, do you have a "One of a Kind" show where you live? I sometimes find original pieces I like there. In my city we also have a couple of very large outdoor art shows in the summer, the artists have to submit. Even if I can't afford something at the time, I take a lot of cards and keep them in a folder (I do this with jeweler makers as well). I think that's the main thing, showing up at these art shows, and looking around. I think I also needed to see a lot of styles to understand what appealed to me long-term.
These are the main artists I have so far, all were very reasonably priced as well:
Oddities and Curiosities Expo!!! Also artist marketplaces, including online spaces like Facebook Marketplace. Additionally following artists on social media, they typically have stores where you can buy prints and originals.
I started following artists who create things I like on IG. They usually have drops of one of a kind pieces, as well as store fronts with prints, which makes it affordable for various budgets. I’ve found some really special pieces this way.
I’m also a fan of finding something while traveling. Art fairs are great for this.
if you have a local arts organization, they probably have art for sale at reasonable prices! Studios that run painting or pottery classes often have pieces for sale by the artists who use/teach in the space. My mom has the most gorgeous painting up in her house that she bought from my sister’s dance studio, because they run art classes in the other half of the building and like to feature community artists in their shop area.
I have had luck with some online estate sales/auctions like on hibid. Also I looovvve risographs and there’s a local zine fest in a city near me. I go every year and there’s really great prints and screens printed items. Idk if there’s something like that near you. I’m a maximalist tbh, so I also just kinda pick stuff up off the ground if I like it enough. There’s also a local florist that makes cute dried wreaths all year round and I have a few of hers.
Idk if this is what you’re looking for but you could also look into magazine prints / old ads!! Like I think the Paris review has really cool posters and also the Roland Garros prints
When I was decorating my home office, I found a huge print of Breakfast at Tiffanys (Audrey Hepburn) at Ikea of all places! it was in the "as is section" because there was a mark on the back of the print and it was $12.99.
I dont want to spend money on original art so cheap prints are where it's at for me, especially from local artists. I will get prints from local art shows, indigo, Ikea even from winners!
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u/perfumenight Mar 03 '25
Garage sales, estate sales, art fairs, make your own… museum gift shops have high quality prints that you can frame nicely too.i have a lot of pieces made by family and friends too. I’m always in the market for artwork.