Low cost but not tacky art

[Heylylaa]

I have absolutely zero as a budget for wall art. Most of what I have around my home is family photos but I’d like some “art” or prints. I really love anything sea themed, and there’s some gorgeous pieces I’ve seen but I just can’t afford to spend money on this sort of this at the moment So I’m going to have to stick to mass produced prints etc.

I have a couple of quite large walls that I need to fill. Any suggestions of websites where I can buy very low cost pieces? I ordered a couple of bits off a site called Desinio (or something like that) a couple of years ago but they were super naff so I’d probably avoid that site again.

EBay. Filter “used” and get cheap antique/second hand paintings for very little

How about prints of art that you already know and love? Most of what's on our walls is prints of paintings we've bought at art galleries because we fell in love with something. (Plus some photographic art because I love it, and some silly cartoons and family photos.)

It's an eclectic mix (I like older art, DP likes modern) but it's our taste. It definitely doesn't 'go' with the decor or have a particular theme. I have never seen an original piece of art that I loved and could afford.

TK Maxx!!!

One idea I have done in the past is to buy a sheet of nice wrapping paper (one with one big picture rather than a repeat pattern). IKEA should do the right size frame.

I’ve also orders prints from Bold & Noble. They have good sales.

What is you're budget ?

If you have a couple of £000 then the local arts trail season starts in April - you can find beautiful pieces of art including prints from local artists

Depends just how low your budget is. Posterlounge online can be good, but by the time you've added a frame from somewhere like Sainsburys it's probably £50+ for a largish print. Those magnetic poster holders that go at the top and bottom can look nice though and are only a few pounds on Amazon. Agree with pp TK Maxx sometimes has some nice art.

Keep an eye out in charity shops. Obviously it is entirely random but if you find something you like it is much cheaper than buying new and they'll be framed and set up ready to hang.

Charity shops often have nice frames and artworks or posters.

Or get prints of original artworks from online galleries like saatchiart https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb

Universities and colleges have end of term exhibitions, sometimes you can buy the art.

I think it is more likely that the OP has a couple of tenners.

Try car boot sales OP, I got a lovely picture at one today for £1. You can usually find loads of really nice frames too, so if you can get hold of posters or cheap prints of things you like you can frame them yourself.

I've used bridgeman images in the past. You buy a high quality image file, have it printed and then pick up a cheap but nice frame from IKEA.

saatchiart has already mentioned.

Also look at art gallery websites - they all sell prints of their paintings, e.g. national gallery, national portrait gallery, all the Tate galleries, the Courtauld...... etc.

Another suggestion: buy a cheap framed picture from a charity shop if you like the frame, then you can replace the picture with a cheap print. It's the frames that are the main experience.
I like (eg) Nelly Doodles which started out on fb but you can buy the prints on amazon. There is a lot of cute not tacky art by independent artists on FB. Worth a look?

The first two words of the headline are "low cost".

Thank you for all the suggestions. Plenty for me to start looking into here.

I must admit I did laugh at the “if your budget is a few 000’s”. Sadly as mentioned my budget is in fact zero. but I’ll stretch to a tenner 😉

Are you specifically looking for paintings/prints of paintings? If not I'd suggest finding/taking some really good photos of landscapes/whatever it is you like. Do you have a friend or family member who is really into photography? Even better if you know someone who still uses analogue and can develop/print their own photos. If so, the majority will likely already have an amazing cilllection of photos they love already and would usually be really happy to let you look through to see if any jump out. Same with anyone who uses digital, and who has a great collection of digital/printed photos already.
This would end up as a really amazing piece of original art. I have myself some, which nothing else could ever compare to, especially mass produced prints of paintings etc.

really cheap. Buy a pack of 12x12 canvases and some scrapbook paper. Paint the edges of the canvases. Use mod podge to attach the scrap book paper. Make a gallery wall.

Art prints from museums or online.

Japanese wrapping paper is also a good choice.

@Whatwaswrongwiththatusername I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world and have loads of gorgeous photos of my local area. I have printed some of these in the past but as they're all taken on my phone, the quality often doesn't translate to print, especially when blown up. I wonder if I could look into that a bit more though.

I don't think I know anyone who really uses analogue unfortuntely. But you have reminded me to have a look at the websites of some local photographers I've purchased prints from before.

Thanks all again for the suggestions. I have been having a look at the gallery/Saatchi site and am impressed with what you can get for a relatively small amount of money.

All major museums sell prints online. It’s cheap and may be more interesting than other mass produced prints. Albeit honestly I see no problem with those. Buy what makes you smile!
I have just got some prints from Tate Modern and couldn’t be happier! They not only look great but bring back memories of experiences I had with my children!

You can get some really beautiful fabric or wallpaper remnants on ebay which could be framed.

Keep an eye out on FB marketplace. People are often selling pictyvery cheaply as they replace their decor..

Have a look at Dunelm, they have some very reasonably prices prints online. I have bought a few outdoor wall arts from there which were quite cheap. I’m sure they have pictures within your price range as well.

I agree with the used and second hand options. Ebay, FBMP, freecycle, charity shops are all good options and you can get original art and nice frames. Also, I've framed some of my DCs artwork, once it's in a proper mount and frame it looks great. You could even do your own abstract piece. You can also frame things that are meaningful to you: postcards, magazine covers, bits of sheet music, menus from special meals out, maps, invitations, magazine covers etc. You could also have other things on the walls, we have clocks set to the time of all the places round the world DH has lived, masks, plates, and mirrors. Don't feel like you have to do it all at once but look round your house at things that are precious memories and start by having those on display.

Are you planning on having a gallery wall or are you looking for a big feature piece of art?