Ideas for cheap wall art and home decor

[MagicSocks]

Hello,

I am moving in to a new place with my DS in the new year and would like some ideas for how to inexpensively make it look good. I like book and film prints etc but I'm always worried that they could look a bit clichéd/ pretentious. Any thoughts?

What about art prints? I'm convinced my taste is terrible. I was looking at that painting, the Lady of Shallot, I've always liked it but then I think that's so drippy of me - tragic Victorian heroine, all long flowing locks and pained expression. How can I rehabilitate my tastes? Everything seems either too generic or too pretentious and I hate the type of stuff you get on notonthehighstreet with all the different FONTS and sizes etc. Sorry if that sounds mean, just looking for some inspiration for something a bit different!

I also love the concept of hygge and would appreciate some hygge-based ideas to get things feeling cosy quickly.

I don't have much of a budget really, but would definitely like to get things framed. Where can I find some good generic frames?

I wish I could help you, Magic.

I am in the same boat. We are doing up our hall and were wondering what the hell to put on the walls. Could do with something but I don't know what.

We were thinking of framing some nice photos that DP has taken of our garden and round our way. Close up of a nice rose and then an autumnal scene over the hills or something. Could look naffo though. Hmm, don't know.

Book and film prints look great, I think. Not pretentious at all. Steer away from 50 Shades of Grey and Katie Price's autobiography though.

I dislike that random words in random fonts thing too.

Definitely wait until you get in. I think you have to live with something for a while to see what might go.

I'd also be interested if anyone has ideas about good frames (not expensive)?

I get frames from the charity shop or car boots etc works out cheaper I'm also getting some cheap canvas prints done of some photos of mine the kids want for their rooms

Thank you for the responses

Lengths of fabric, stretched over artists canvas? I have some Ghanaian kente in stunning colours and some batik pictures bought cheaply on holidays displayed like this. Or scarves?

Magic I picked up some big frames in IKEA recently, and ordered some print posters from IWM for our kitchen. It suits the style of our house and was relatively cheap.

www.iwmshop.org.uk/category/984/Posters

I'm saying that the prints from IWM might not be inspiring hygge!!

For really cheap and cheerful frame sheets of wrapping paper. Places like Waterstones sell patterns such as vintage maps that fill the whole sheet so look like a real print. Once in a frame they look really good. My DS has a framed sheet of Beano wrapping paper on the wall and it looks like a proper poster.

I really like spinless books... classics.com. Ok they arent really cheap but I think they are very cool and they are sometimes cheaper on Amazon.

Otherwise my favourite wall art is photos taken on my phone of the children in cheapy IKEA frames!

Link fail on phone... Www.spineless classics.com

I got some cheap canvas frames and some paint tester pots to compliment the rooms colour schemes. The we all did hand and foot prints. Ten years on its a great keepsake of how tiny the kids were

What is it that you would like to hang but fear looks pretentious?

I get impatient at times with the accusations of pretentiousness on here, which often seem to come down to 'has called a child something other than George or Olivia' or 'has a lot of visible books when surely anyone non-pretentious should have put them all on a Kindle and charity-shopped the physical books, or at least hid them under the bed'.

I don't think you should rush, because the one surefire way to get the generic look you rightly want to avoid to panic-buy stuff.

We have so many bookshelves we don't have an awful lot of wall, but we have a lot of old stuff (oil paintings, botanical prints, framed copies of Tenniel illustrations) that we got for half nothing at auctions, an ancient poster for a Dario Fo play that we actually pulled down off a wall in Italy (there's pretentious! ), a couple of modern abstracts we bought from artists, some Indian mirrors with little wooden doors that close over, some prints from the nearest city's artist society's annual exhibition, which has some genuinely good stuff, some artists' photographs, a pen and ink sketch by a friend, an old patchwork quilt on one bedroom wall - stuff like that. It's been accumulated over more than 20 years, though, and the house is very plain - white walls, wooden or sisal floors.

These are all brilliant ideas. So much to think about.

Charity shops for frames and a can of spray paint to make them the same colour but leave the different textures and shapes. Then frame some of your kids art, pictures that make you happy, family etc. The magic Velcro type wall tape is brilliant for positioning pictures like this.
You can also pick up blankets, lamps and cosy furnishings cheaply enough at IKEA, dunelm mill, home sense etc.
Books and film prints are great.
How are you with keeping plants? I always think plants everywhere look great.

We have framed a couple of tea towels with art prints on. You have to make sure the tea towels are ironed well but they look really effective.
Try Hayletts contemporary art website for tea towels.