Our house renovation is in no way nearing any kind of finish line. The downstairs is still pretty much a building site, with the snug and dining room area both being used as dumping grounds until the work kicks off again (come on Gareth haha!) While the slow progress may have dampened my enthusiasm for buying furniture and wallpaper by the truckload, there is one thing I can do to make everything feel a bit prettier: Covering the walls in as much art as possible!
Whenever I post a new print on my Instagram I’m flooded with messages from people asking where I acquired it, so today I thought I’d share ALL my sources with you.
I’ve framed nearly every one in plain white frames from Wilko. I actually quite like the uniformity of having them in the same frames and they are so cheap. In terms of actually hanging them, Command Strips have been a lifesaver. They’re probably not the most cost effective way to do it (nails and a hammer would be approximately 1/100th of the price) but using them means when we come to paint the walls, in theory, we can take all the prints down without damaging the surface. I say “in theory” because a chunk of plaster did actually come off with one of the frames when I moved it the other day. But I blame our old shitty plaster and the fact I just pulled the frame off, rather than removing the strips in the way they tell you do, rather than the product itself.
Yes, the back of our living room door is mint green. An odd choice by the previous owners but I’m kinda living for it.
Anyway, here we go, these are all the prints I’ve collected recently!
Prince, David and George from Bold and Noble. I actually called some of these in for a photo shoot recently and I was overjoyed when Bold and Noble offered to send me some for keepsies. The pops of colour makes me so happy and who the hell wouldn’t want some of their favourite musicians on their wall?
Don’t tell the others, but pink George is totally my favourite.
They do lots of other music icons including Kurt Cobain, Morrissey, Amy Winehouse and Freddie Mercury and you can get some of them as tea towels! You should definitely check them out.
I met Nicola from My Vintage Prints at the Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza recently and immediately fell in love with her screen-printed dictionary pages. She was selling three for £10 at the show show grabbing a set was a no-brainer!
The abstract pink print is by Emily Rickard and I bought it on Etsy YEARS ago. I’m so happy to finally have a place to hang it!
These three all came from Society6 which has loads of amazing art from independent artists. However, I would say if you are ordering in the UK it might not be the best option for you as I did get stung with an enormous customs charge to receive them. BOO! They do look flipping amazing above my pink sofabed in my office though. I’m still on the look out for more prints in a similar colour scheme to add to this wall so hit me up if you have any recommendations!
And because I know you’ll ask (!) my sofabed is from DFS, and the cushions are from Irregular Choice, Lazy Oaf and Primark!
These K & G prints were gifted to me by the ever-lovely Katie from Oh Squirrel when we first moved in. They’ve been on the fireplace in our bedroom ever since.
My gallery wall in our bedroom might be my favourite! On the far left are two custom drawings of Henry and Rachel that Gemvangils did for us, at the top is a series of our wedding photos (who let those babies get married?) and everything else came from Nicki Kelly. As soon as I saw the Baby Doll You Need Some Rock & Roll print it knew it had to be mine!
The Hand Gestures prints came as a set of four, I’m still trying to find the perfect spot to put the other two.
This baby also came from My Vintage Prints and sits on the fireplace in our front room.
This print was given to me by Sophie a few years ago and I still love it so much. It’s by Matt Crump. In fact I’ve just started browsing his website again and I definitely need to add some more to my collection.
The print on the left was sent all the way from Dubai by Beige Rainbow Designs. I broke my all-white frame rule for it because as soon as I saw this rainbow one in Home Sense I knew it was the perfect place for it to live.
My gorgeous tattoo artist, Ashlea Peach, gave me this bird when we finished our last all-day session on my sleeve, and it lives on the oh-so-glamorous location of above our toilet! I’ve actually just commissioned Ashlea to create me a custom Aurora piece too and I’m so excited to see what she comes up with!
If you’d be interested in having her create something for you, you can DM her over Instagram or message her on Facebook.
Who needs skirting boards when you have amazing art right? My giant K came from Doris Loves by the way and yes it lights up!
So that’s it! Doesn’t art just make even the most un-glamorous of locations look so much better? Be sure to let me know your favourite artists and places to order prints. I’m always looking for more!