After Some "ART" For My Walls!

[allie5]

After our house move seems to have slowed to the pace of a sedated snail, we have decided to have a spruce up at our old place.

Recently replaced the old furniture that the kids had destroyed and DH has got himself a new toy (plasma screen). I dont really want to paint the walls (in case a miracle happens and our buyer's chain comes together again!) so I was looking for some large pieces of art work to hang instead. Budget is small but the area I need to cover is large! I really like those "canvas" prints that are all the rage, but most of them seem to be lary colours, which dont really go with our conservative colour scheme (think magnolia on a large scale )!

Tried Ikea (the obvious choice for cheap stuff..a firm favourite!!) but they had nothing that grabbed me.

Any ideas of where I could look? I really need two large pieces (at least 1m in length, preferably bigger) and a couple of smaller ones. There are lots of places selling small prints that I like, but cant get anything big to match up.

All suggestions welcome!

Ta, Allie.

 

[KayleeUK]

What about Anthena?? Have you looked in there ?

 

[Verity Chambers]

We got quite a bit from Au Naturel (sp?) and they were very reasonably priced.

Verity.xxx

 

[Miffy2003]

So buying a canvas and chucking paint at it yourself isn't on the cards then Allie?

I would have said Ikea or Athena too. I have seen some nice prints in B&Q as well - but we have a huge B&Q so not sure if they all carry them?

 

[jockey]

I bought some plain canvas and decorated them myself...at least they are original!!! My friends want me to do a few for them too!! Why not have a go yourself you may uncover a hidden talent!!!

 

[Hilary]

Yep, I agree with jockey - have a go yourself! You can pick up a large canvas at places like The Works for less than a tenner and then just get creative!

Seriously, if you use acrylic paints (also fairly inexpensive at the Works) you can always paint over your first eforts if you don't like them and start all over again. Anything using the 'right' shades to complement your existing decor (magnolia?) is almost guaranteed to come out looking ok, and could even be fantastic!

I suspect that you must be fairly creative to even be thinking of finding some art that you like - if you weren't creative you would probably have been happy to just buy whatever was available, even if it wasn't 'right' for the rooms. Have fun!

 

[jessboo]

try
easyart.com
oneposter.com
artrepublic.com
easyart.com


if you click this link http://www.greasypalm.co.uk/r/?l=88123 and join, you can get various %s off most of those websites (also if anyone clicks that link and spends over £15 then greasypalm add £7 to my account )

 

[chunkster20uk]

The National Gallery now do a service from their website that allows you to order prints of any of their exhibited paintings, in different sizes.

 

[allie5]

Thanks guys, thats really usefull. I thought Athena had gone bust years ago - we dont have any in our area anymore. I used to live in there in the 80's!! Who admits to having semi naked B&W men cuddling babies and holding kittens on their wall!

Ive narrowed it down to either this one...

or this one (oops the it wont let me link the picture!)

http://www.gicleestore.com/order_online.asp

Picture no 15 "fluential" in a 3 part canvas.

 

[Frances999]

The second one looks lovely. If you're willing to splash out a little bit (and want something Disney-ful!) check out The Disney Gallery on eBay at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Disney-Gallery ~ They have some amazing giclee artwork!

 

[Miffy2003]

I prefer the second one Allie

 

[Verity Chambers]

I like the first one best, but only cos it would look lovely in my lounge!!! What a cool website. May need to invest in one of these myself!!!!!

Verity.xxx