Interior Round-up: My Top Affordable Art Picks
Weirdly, this post was on my to-do list today and it's the day that the infamous Apartment Therapy posted one of my images on their Instagram account. As my fellow Instagram interior lovers will know, this is a pretty big deal and not only does it get your images in front of a host of new people, it can also generate lots of new followers. Needless to say, I'm rather chuffed about it! The reason I mention this, is that the image in question, was an image of our guest bedroom featuring one of my favourite prints, below, which happens to be designed by my designer husband, Steve, who runs North 6 Graphic Design.
'Booze, Bed & Breakfast', from £8, North 6 Graphic Design
We have a lot of Steve's prints in our house, as not only is it a cheap way to include art on our walls, since Steve always has a basket of spare test prints in his office, but I really do love his art and he has lots of interior loving Instagram followers of his own that love his work too. It's affordable and modern and he has his own signature style showcasing phrases or song lyrics in a way that you instantly know a print is one of his. Proud wife moment!
As much as I love my husband's work, we of course don't only have Steve's work in our home. Steve, as a graphic designer, gets inspired by other designers, along with photographers and artists, on a daily basis and we both fortunately like the same style of art.
One thing that's always important for us is affordability and that it's meaningful to us. As much as we would LOVE to own original work by our favourites Peter Blake and Peter Saville, unless we win the lottery, that's probably not going to happen! Yes, art is an investment and if you can afford to buy an original piece of work, an iconic statement piece or just a piece of art that you utterly love, then you should. Art grows with you and it's something to treasure.
I thought I'd do a round-up of my favourite affordable art pieces that are currently on our wishlist. Hope you find some gems in here and if I've introduced you to a new artist, or you have an artist you think I'd like, then I'd love to know in the comments below.
1. 'Work Hard & Be Nice To People', £50, Anthony Burill
I've loved this print for as long as I can remember and I have no idea why I don't actually own it yet?! This is going to change as it would be perfect in my office - it's both of our work motto's too.
2. 'Oh My', from £35, We Are Amused
'Oh My' was a saying of my cousin and I since we were teenagers and we still say it now! I think we both need to own this cool print.
3. Working Hard / Working Hardly, from £35, Nick Cranston (signed limited edition print)
This reminds me a little of the Anthony Burrill print and I love the way you can flip this and hang it either way... depending on your working mood! Life is about balance and this sums that work/life balance up perfectly.
4. 'Rooms', from £68, Robert Cadloff at King & McGaw
This print has both a modern and retro feel and I love the mix of typography and photography. We love having visitors to stay and this would be cool on our staircase on the way up to our bedrooms!
5. 'Bite Me', £60, Daisy Emerson
I featured an interview with Daisy recently and I just love her work. Simplicity, boldness and colour are all things which Steve likes to bring across in his own artwork.
6. 'Play Records, Learn, Form A Band', £20, Pete Mckee
We are fortunate to have two Pete Mckee prints in our house - his Stone Roses illustration and his limited edition Noel Gallagher XFM print. I went to university in Sheffield so it's great to have work by a renowned Sheffield artist in our home! I like this print from a collection that's recently gone up on his online store.
7. The Stone Roses, from £25, Stanley Chow
The first Stanley Chow musician print we bought was Noel Gallagher and then The Beatles and this is the next on our list. He is such a talented illustrator and we love having two of our favourite artists on our walls in this format.
