Not only are galleries a great place to pick up posters and postcards after an exhibition, but it’s also well worth perusing their online shops. The National Gallery, Tate and National Portrait Gallery for example, all have a good selection of prints and posters available to buy online.
https://www.nationalgallery.co.uk/products/printondemand
https://npgshop.org.uk/collections/national-portrait-gallery-prints
https://shop.tate.org.uk/prints-1
Surface View offers a huge selection of prints and designs available in different formats, from prints to wallpaper murals, canvases to wall hangings. This can be a great place to call on if you need something in a specific size or on a big scale. Their art prints can be printed in whatever dimensions you require, up to 145cm x 300cm.
https://www.surfaceview.co.uk/
An online platform representing emerging artists with prices starting as low as £50-60. The selection is large and cutting edge and it’s very easy to while away time on the site discovering exciting new talent. Partnership Editions also hosts events and exhibitions in conjunction with the artists they represent.
https://partnershipeditions.com/
Carefully sourced collections of antique reprints, all framed with imagination and thought. Petri Prints also offer a bespoke service sourcing antique prints if you’re looking for something particularly large or rare.
https://petriprints.com/
A Paris based boutique selling their incredibly charming and beautiful designs on decorative papers, stationery, wallpapers and fabrics. A great ‘go to’ place for a set of prints to hang above bed, for example.
https://www.antoinettepoisson.com/
If you’ve got the time and patience, eBay and Etsy are well worth a trawl through for unknown artists’ work. There’s an abundance of inexpensive, framed, still life oil paintings, for example, waiting to be claimed. These marketplaces are also great spots to look through for decorative, vintage picture frames.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/
https://www.etsy.com/
London plays host to numerous art fairs throughout the year such as The Art Car Boot Fair, The Other Art Fair, The Affordable Art fair, to name but a few. These are great places to discover up and coming artists as well as get your hands on original works by more well known artists at affordable prices.
Student graduate shows can also be an interesting way of unearthing new talent and coming upon on original, unique pieces.
https://www.artcarbootfair.com/
https://www.theotherartfair.com/
https://affordableartfair.com/
A creative project which aims to use art as a way of enriching everyday experiences. Printed Goods sell a wide selection of affordable, striking and graphic prints where inspiration has been drawn from classical mythology, symbolism and archetypes.
https://printedgoods.net/
Glassette is a carefully curated homeware platform selling the UK’s best independent brands. Its ‘Art Kiosk’ offers a wide range of original art from UK artists as well as prints, all at prices which won’t break the bank - a great way to start your art collection.
https://glassette.com/collections/art-kiosk
You don’t necessarily need to look outside of your home for art, think about what you already have - kids’ drawings, postcards, tickets, restaurant placemats, polaroids; anything that’s of particular importance and meaningful to you might evoke just as much emotion, or more, as something bought. With some careful and creative framing, that rolled up placemat from the seafood restaurant you went to in Italy last year might become your most coveted piece yet!
eBay isn’t a source of inspiration for how you’re going to furnish and decorate your home. Be specific; have a clear idea in mind of what you’re looking for so that your search words are targeted and concise. Try out different search words until you find the combination that delivers you the best results. For example, if you’re looking for a 50s floor lamp, you could play around with these search words: retro, vintage, standing lamp, floor lamp, 50s, lamp, floor lamp, second hand, antique, iconic.
There are billions of products on eBay. This can make it a time consuming activity, but if you maintain a dogged search ethic, you’re certain to reap the rewards. Those diamonds in the rough will be found with persistence and perseverance. Keep scrolling through the pages of search results until you stumble across those hidden gems.
Make use of eBay’s features; create watch lists and email alerts, scroll down to ‘people who viewed this item also viewed’ and other related finds, follow your favourite sellers. Using these features will reveal the hardest of finds.
Don’t always expect to find the finished article. Furniture can be reupholstered, repainted and even repaired (though do be careful not to buy anything too damaged or irreparable). A well made, Victorian armchair can be reupholstered; still costing the fraction of the price therefore, of a brand new armchair of inferior quality!
Don’t be put off by the location of an item or items which are too far away and “Collection only”. Sellers select this option because they don’t want to have to take things to the post office. Use a local courier company to collect. You can book a man and a van quickly and easily using www.anyvan.com. Local couriers will collect and deliver anything these days and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.
Decide on your maximum bid before the end of the auction, but save placing it until the very last moment. Place it with 10 seconds to go; this will leave little to no time for someone else to place a counter bid. Equally, if you place your top bid but it isn’t high enough, at least you will know that you couldn’t have done any more.
N.B. Set an alarm or timer to notify you that the end of the auction is approaching, and make sure that you have good phone or internet signal, ready to be able to place your bid at the crucial moment! There is nothing worse than losing out on something that has been on your watch list for weeks because of a poor internet connection or simply because you missed the auction!
Good luck and happy bidding!
Here are a few things to consider when making your initial shortlist;
What is the room? A ‘walk through’ room or hallway, a spare bedroom or a downstairs loo are opportunities to be brave and bold with colour. Being spaces you aren’t going to be spending a lot of time in, there’s little chance of you becoming bored or overwhelmed by the colour. A light and bright kitchen / diner on the other hand, might be somewhere where you’d opt for a neutral colour; a busy space needs to be adaptable and have the capacity to cater for a variety of people, events and circumstances. You can inject colour and interest through other means, such as fabrics, art, accessories and books.
Is there a piece of art in the room which strongly features a particular colour? Is there a leading fabric which includes a colour that you could compliment or replicate with your paint colour? Is there a colour in an existing rug that would make an interesting wall colour? Consider these elements when choosing your paint colour.
Don’t be put off using a bold, dark colour in a space which is short of natural light. It’s a bit of a myth that using a light colour in a dark space will make it feel lighter. By doing this you will simply accentuate that the space is dark, as a colour which is supposed to be looking light and bright is actually looking rather dark and dreary. Instead, you can capitalise on the lack of light by choosing a bold, dark colour, and in turn create drama and atmosphere.
For a more contemporary finish, consider painting your skirtings and cornices in the same colour as your wall colour. Not only will this give a modern feel but it will also make the space feel larger – the fewer the contrasts, the more a space flows; continuity is key when giving an illusion of space.
Think also about painting your ceiling the same colour as your walls. This is particularly effective in smaller spaces as is if the ceiling is not defined, your eye won’t register it and therefore its proximity to you. If opting for a contrasting colour on woodwork and ceilings, choose a neutral which complements your wall colour. For example if your walls are a plaster pink, woodwork and ceilings should have warm tones and not be overly contrasting. Equally, an off white on the ceilings will be softer on the eye and won’t stand out quite as much as a ‘Brilliant White’ ceiling.
Alternatively, you may want to highlight your woodwork by painting it in an entirely different colour to your walls. This can be fun, playful and very effective.
When testing paint colours make sure you paint a good two coats onto a piece of card. This will ensure you’re testing the true colour (as opposed to painting an off white straight onto a bright blue wall for example), and will also enable you to move the piece of card around the room and see it in different lights. I would also suggest looking at your sample in both daylight and when it is dark outside. Ensure that you are looking at your sample in the room in which you intend on painting it. Colours can vary enormously in different lights, so it’s important that your testing environment is accurate.
You’ve picked your colour, now what finish to go for? As a rule of thumb, the shinier the paint, the tougher, more durable and water resistant it will be. For bathrooms, kitchens and high traffic areas, choose a tough, hard wearing emulsion. Such paint may have a slight sheen. For bedrooms and sitting rooms, opt for a matt emulsion. Woodwork can be painted in an eggshell finish; a water based eggshell has a lower sheen level than oil based and has a shorter drying time, however it is not quite as durable as an oil based paint. Equally, you may want to play around with a full gloss finish. This can be great for woodwork and furniture, or even walls!
A starter for ten - here are some of my favourite paint colours:
