Smart Art

It's not very often that I find artwork that I completely fall in love with the moment I lay eyes on it. In fact, generally speaking, I'm very indecisive about art and have no clue where to begin when it comes to purchasing art for my home. And this can be any type of artwork - from prints and photographs to paintings or signs or .... you get the idea. And on top of that, you have to think about things like size - how big (or small)? what color? what frame? which room do I place it in?

Ugh.

So many options.

And on top of all that, there's the big question: What is the PRICE???
Artwork can be super expensive or super cheap or anywhere in between. And personally, I'm not one to fork out a ton of cash for art. So, I'm always looking for inexpensive ways to buy or create artwork that doesn't look "cheap".

So, that leads me to my current story. I was poking about Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite places in the world) the other day, when I happened to see that one of their sale items for the week was artwork and frames. Thinking to myself, "I am going to need to fill all these newly painted walls with something", I wandered over to the art area and started thumbing through prints that they sell (most of which I would never hang in my house. ever.). Well, within a few minutes, I came across a print that stopped me dead in my tracks. I loved it. I wanted to marry it. I wanted to take it home to be mine forever. And given my general indecisiveness about art that I mentioned above, I realized quickly that this piece was a must buy.

One problem: it needs a frame. Frameless art is like homeless art.

So next, I wandered over to the frame section and started hunting - unsure if I could buy ready-made frame, or if it needed custom framing, I meandered through the aisles looking. Certain of my unsureness (is that a word?), the Hobby Lobby Helper asked me what I was looking for and I replied "the most inexpensive frame that I can use for this print". He got out his handy dandy tape measure (not "measuring tape" as my husband reminds me) and told me the print + mat was 18 inches by 24 inches (decent size) and I could pick from a whole wall of ready-to-buy (cheap) frames. Hooray.

Then I had to decide - black frame? brown frame? white frame? something else?

So, I pulled out multiple options, laid them down, and laid the picture on them to see what I liked best. It came down to the black frame or a rustic grayish/brown wood frame. The decision was difficult. The black frame was more streamlined, modern, and could be used in almost any room. But the rustic grayish/brown frame spoke to me - "buy me. buy me." It matched the beauty and color of the print so well. And so I went with my gut, and bought it.

Now to reveal the purchases.

First, the print. I love water. I love boats. I love sepia tones. The picture has all 3.


Second, the frame. You can see it is a mix of browns, grays, blacks. Rustic. Like old barn wood.

Third, the print in the frame. See how well the tones of the wood match the tones of the print? Priceless. I think it's beautiful.


The Price? Keep in mind the following was 50% of the original price.

Print: $9.50
Frame: $22.50
Tax: $1.76
Total: $33.74

That's right. 30 bucks. I was grinning from ear to ear.

I can't wait to hang this in my home. I'm still deciding where to hang it though. Probably either the downstairs hall or the dining room or the downstairs office/3rd bedroom. I'll make the final decision once we finish painting the walls in these rooms.

So what do you think? Was it a steal of a deal? or a bust?

Any art you've bought recently that you love? Do share!