Creative ways to find artwork on a budget

I LOVE what good art can do for a space. Not only does it add life and personality to a room, but if you’re like me, and you’ve found art that speaks to you, it is something that will bring you joy every time you look at it.

But for a lot of us, acquiring beautiful pieces of art can feel a little overwhelming- where do you start? Or maybe it seems a little unattainable in today’s markets to find art that fits your budget.

So today I thought I would share a few of my secrets for adding timeless and unique art pieces to your own personal collection, without breaking the bank.

1) Check out your Local Thrift and Vintage Stores

My usual go-to for any expensive decor items is to check out my local thrift, vintage and antique stores first. Depending on the store, and with a little flexibility, I can often find high quality, gently used pieces for a fraction of the original price, which makes it possible to own the nice brands and labels without always having the budget for them. If you’re patient- and a little lucky, you can find some real gems hiding in there for a great price, and you know that you’ll have pieces that are not only beautiful but also very unique. Most people, myself included, usually just look for art in the art section or with the frames, but another great secret to finding buried treasure is to check the books section of the thrift store. On one trip, I was able to find a large, 12” by 24″ coffee table book of “The world’s Most Beautiful Paintings” with full page, richly printed copies of each piece of art inside. I think I spent maybe $2 on the whole book and got pages and pages of gorgeous art pieces that I could cut out and frame on my wall. So don’t forget to check the books too!

Here are some photos of an artwork coffee table book I found at the thrift store and a few of my favorite pieces from inside! This book is huge and has given me tons of full sized pieces that I can use in my decor.

2) Support Local Artists

I am lucky enough to come from an incredibly talented family, where everyone has different skills to offer, and one of those relatives just so happens to be a recently graduated artist who is trying to get her name out there.While my connection is a relative, with the internet today, and local art shows and boutique style marketplaces in my area, it’s a lot easier to find local artists in your community that are selling art at more affordable prices to get their name out there and get started. Right now, I have my eye on several pieces that my talented young cousin, AEO Art, has done but this one in particular is a gem that I will be purchasing myself for Christmas this year.

3) Vintage Digital Art Pages on Etsy

Another of my favorite resources for vintage style artwork is to look at vintage art shops on Etsy. These shops have really gained a lot of traction in recent years, and I’ve seen handfuls of different sellers with pieces that I love.What’s great about these sellers on Etsy is that you can find more curated collections and pieces that you like and purchase a digital copy for between $3-$15 and your purchase gives you not just one digital download, but usually gives you several copies of the same piece of art in a variety of different sizes. Then all you have to do is choose which size you want to use and print it out at your favorite print shop.

The other great benefit of buying art this way, is that for the low cost of digital, you now have the rights to each size of the piece and can print off as many copies and sizes as you’d like, which makes it easy to share art with your friends too or give them as gifts. I have seen some of these digital vintage-style art pieces sold at high end boutiques for between $30-$60, so it’s really worth it to go to the source and print it yourself to save on another store’s markups.

Here are a few pieces from North Prints and other sellers on Etsy that I’ve had my eye on! I love the variety of different styles and subjects that you can find with these pieces and the curated gallery collections that you can buy in a group to make coordinating pieces a little easier!

4) Art Museums’ Public Domain Art

I found out about public domain art just this year, and I am so excited to give it a try. Apparently after a certain amount of time that a piece of art is at a gallery or museum, that piece enters the public domain. And when it does, it means that anyone that wants to can go onto that museum’s website and download a digital copy of the piece for free and use it to their heart’s content. Just be aware, there is A LOT of art in the public domain. On one hand this is great news, because you can find so many great and unique options from paintings, sketches, letters, architectural drawings, and more. But you may want to find ways to filter down your options or you could be overwhelmed by the hundreds of pages worth of choices.

*Setting Sun on the Seine at Lavacourt” by Claude Monet (1880), oil on canvas, part of the collection at Petit Palais, Paris, click here to see the full article about public domain artwork.*

5) Calendar Art

Similar to finding art in books, you can also find some unique styled art pieces in calendars that can be cut out and framed. Just search for calendars by the style you are looking for and you can walk away with several pieces for around $20 total.

We live in Utah, so vintage skiing posters like the ones in this calendar are always a hit for decorating in the winter for $13.99.

You can grab an impressionist painting calendar like this one for $9.99.

For some fun vintage food posters, check out this calendar from Bon Appetit for $15.99.

For some botanical prints, check out this botanicals calendar on amazon for $12.99

Or, if you prefer more traditional pieces from the classical masters, try something like this Famous Paintings calendar on Amazon.

6) Make it yourself

If you still aren’t having any luck finding a piece you like- try making one yourself! Or sprucing up or adding to a piece that is almost where you want it to be. Right now, especially, abstract art in simple color schemes is really trending in high end decor, and making an original piece yourself makes for an interesting talking point amount friends and visitors. So put on your creative hat, grab some paint and canvas from your local craft store, and see what happens! Or try your hand at adapting a piece you find thrifting!

For ideas on how to get started, check out this great DIY abstract art tutorial from The DIY Playbook

7) Ask for artwork as a gift

If all else fails, gifting or being gifted a piece of art can be heartfelt and sincere way to add to your collection. Of course, you would want to be conscious of price here, but if you’re friends and family know that you would enjoy receiving artwork as a gift, it might give them some good ideas for birthday and holiday shopping.

For Christmas once, my husband had mentioned a certain painting of Christ that he really liked. So I bought it for him to keep at his desk, and he loves it!

I have been gifted a couple of pieces from friends and family as well on different occasions and they are truly some of my favorite pieces, not only because I love the art, but I love the sentiment of someone having thought of me and our experiences together when they saw a certain piece.

I hope this article gives you some new ideas and gets you excited about all the possibilities out there for adding beautiful artwork to your space without breaking the bank! Happy hunting!

Danielle Peterson