Art work on the "cheap"

A few years back we moved into our house, which I love.  Single story with lots of open living, and only a year old, so nothing to do.  After living in a tiny townhouse, which we renovated, then moving to an even tinier 50 year old house, which we did a complete overhaul on,  I am over renovating.  So moving into our "new" house was really a wonderful day for us.  No more weekends working 6-6 with paint brush or a hammer in hand.

However after living in older houses that undoubtedly had a lot of character, we found once we had settled into our new home and had a chance to "look around", that it felt a bit sterile.  Lots of white is a wonderful look, but it needs to be balanced with great accessories or artwork (I think anyway).

However, after buying a new home, like most young couples with children, spending lots of money on art work is the last thing on the list of things to do.  So, taking one room at a time, I have set about de-sterilizing our lovely house.  So far kids rooms done, living and dining area almost done, and big hallway done.  Just a few more rooms to go....

Most of the artwork I have put up is just great material covering canvasses.  I have attempted a few paintings myself and am happy enough with them to put them in a few discrete corners, but all in all we have created a much cosier environment.  This small canvas I covered with remnants I had left.  I loved the fabric but never had enough to do anything much with it, so this was a great compromise.

Although I am getting some gorgeous artwork very soon from my beautiful friend Sarah who is an artist and interior designer (You can follow Sarah on twitter : http://twitter.com/#!/Sarahidmentor for lots of great design advice).  I am really excited to put them on the wall, as I love a home full of art.

My aunt and uncle have a similar house - completely white along with most of the accessories white as well, however every wall is filled with artwork.  Fortunately for them my uncle is a very talented oil painter, so he spends his retirement painting and filling their walls with art.

The few images you see here come from a gorgeous blog http://preciousstyle.blogspot.com/2009/01/say-yes-to-color.html .  They capture that beautiful light feeling lots of white gives but the importance of colour to make it homely and lovely.

Lots of lovely ideas - one day I will put them into practice.

Jen
www.shimi.com.au