Our oh-so talented designer + project manager, Rohde, is taking over the blog this week to answer all of your questions about how to find the perfect artwork for your home. He’s rounded up some of BANDD’s favorite places to shop for art online that fit all sorts of price ranges. Take it away, Rohde!
Design by BANDD Design | Photography by Molly Culver
Have you ever moved into a new place and realized that you have an awful lot of bare-ass wall staring back at you in every room? That’s fortunately a problem I’ve never had. Because I’m a hoarder. Well, an art hoarder anyway (note to self: call TLC, because that’s their next big show). I collect art the way some people collect stamps. Really big, sometimes expensive stamps that I have nowhere to put. But I digress…
I know a lot of people at different stages of their lives either suddenly realize that they’re grown-ups and their Monet Water Lilies poster that they’ve had since college just isn’t cutting it anymore, or that the really cool “art” they bought at HomeGoods is actually kind of hideous. (ohhh honey, we’ve all been there).
So when you find yourself 1.) in possession of a new home, or 2.) finally adulting, or 3.) newly married or newly divorced (especially if you’re newly divorced!) and you have no real art to liven up the place, where do you look? The interweb is definitely a great place to start. I love finding things in person, but it’s very time consuming and not to mention difficult during a pandemic. And there are so many great sources for art online, so let’s get shopping!
Design by BANDD Design | Photography by Molly Culver
Ebay
Of course Ebay. I’m legally obligated to include Ebay in a list like this I mean it still has everything. Big, little, any style or subject you could ever want. And the always tantalizing possibility that you can find something for a real steal.
Etsy
A close second is Etsy. They have a HUGE selection. Also virtually anything you could want in terms of art.
But the things that make these two great are also an achilles heel. Have you tried just browsing on Ebay or Etsy? Better get comfortable. You’ll be there a while. If you’re looking for something very specific, then it’s not so bad. But there is a lot of really bad “art” on both sites. A lot. A soul crushingly large amount.
Chairish
Still want to browse, and potentially find a good deal? Chairish. Not just for furniture, kids. They have a lot of great art there, new and vintage. This is almost always where I start a search, or a good idle browse. They have a huge selection and a wide price range, but much better curation. And most sellers are willing to consider reasonable offers of less than the asking price. Probably my favorite art source online personally.
Society6
Another one of my favorites is Society6. There’s some surprisingly good stuff in here. And while it’s also fairly well curated, there’s a huge number of prints to choose from. Which is another thing to consider – they only sell prints, no original or limited editions that I’ve seen. But the prints are good quality and fairly inexpensive.
Juniper Print Shop
What if you need something good, cheap, and unbelievably oversized? Juniper Print Shop has you covered. This one’s my secret go-to, so don’t tell your friends. They don’t have a huge selection, but what’s there is good. And cleverly, they offer massive print sizes up to 55” x 79” that are designed to work with IKEA Bjorksta frames. Because honestly, at some point frames become the limiting factor in a lot of art. It’s usually expensive to even throw a flimsy frame around something that large, so these guys are great. They also sell digital downloads of their pieces so you can have them printed locally on your preferred paper.
What about if you find yourself in a position where you want to buy some honest to goodness Art (capital A)? It can be kind of overwhelming. Do you go to a gallery? Art consultant? Online? The answer is…it depends. If you’re spending massive amounts of money, then you’ll probably take the first 2 routes. If you know enough to know what you like, then there are several good options online…
20×200
20×200 is a great place to dip your toe into the art market. They thoughtfully curate works from up and coming artists, the print quality is extremely high, and the print runs are limited. Each print is signed by the artist and comes with a COA. The pieces they sell are also exclusive to their site.
Tappan Collective
Another great art site is Tappan Collective. They offer unique and amazing original art and limited edition prints in a variety of media – drawings, paintings, and sketches. The prices vary greatly, but there are many pieces under $500.
Saatchi Art
Probably my favorite place to source slightly pricier art online is from Saatchi Art. They have an incredible amount of high quality selections and they also have three dimensional art and sculpture! Their search tools are pretty comprehensive and they have a Visual Search function that allows you to find pieces that are similar in style and color to what you’re looking at. Kind of an Amazon-esque, “You might like these too” type of thing, which is actually surprisingly helpful.
