There’s now an updated 2013 version of this post here.
*I’m going to have to apologise in advance for the typography bias here. I can’t help it! I love words! Words as art are cool!
Blacklist Studio Prints. I’m in love with everything Sydney’s Jayney and Nathan Johnson do, and word on the street is that they’re ridiculously nice people to boot. Their world map and flag artworks are flying off the shelves this year and their typographic prints remain firm favourites, seen in all the homes magazines. Nathan and Jayney’s home has even been on the cover of Real Living. Their work is fun, cool and full of love! I interviewed them here.
Typo. For REALLY cheap canvas art catering to mainstream tastes, go no further than Typo. They also have all manner of wooden and wire letters in different colours, metal signs, posters and wall decals.
Urban Road. If you want colourful, large art in a hurry, check out Urban Road. Everything’s on canvas, which is really handy if you’re a renter using 3M hooks. There’s a great range of designs and you have the option of choosing custom colours on some of them. It can be hard to fill a lot of blank wall on a budget but I think these guys provide great value, as well as free shipping Australia wide, and everything arrives ready to hang. They often have great specials too so keep an eye on their website.Etsy. Never underestimate Etsy! You’ll find prints in literally hundreds of stores all over the world. Must are designed to fit standard frames so yes, that means you’re probably off to Ikea to stock up. And the beauty of prints is they cost next to nothing to ship so your options are open to the entire globe! If you want something nobody else has, Etsy is a great bet.
Ikea. Speaking of Ikea (above), you can’t go past it for affordable art, whether it’s ready stretched on canvas, or a variety of prints and different frame options. The only problem is, you’ll often find a lot of other people have the same thing. Still, once or twice a year Ikea come out with something really awesome and you can’t help but buy it anyway!
Burbia. I bought their Lower North Shore type map print and I’ve already grown tired of it, but then I’m fickle. My boyfriend, and everyone else who saw it, LOVED it. And it was only $40. Free shipping too.
Keep Calm Gallery. I discovered these guys when I lived in the UK and have also bought from them online since I’ve lived here (they ship internationally). Their prints, by a handful of artists, are fantastic. Largely typography, some are super special limited editions with foil and the like and a lot of them have a sense of humour. I’m a big fan. I bought my pink Keep Calm and Carry On print from here more than four years ago when the world and his wife didn’t have one too…
Spineless Classics. Entire books on one piece of paper. They have to be seen to be believed. For the literary lover, they’re just perfect.
Hello Polly. I really like the cute collection of affordable prints at this Australian online store. Check it out.
Bold & Noble. I’m pretty sure they were the first people to do the typographic maps and they do them best in my opinion. I have the London one and it’s brilliant. They have some other great designs too. They’re UK-based but have a few Australian stockists, including Kindred Gifts.
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18 replies on “10 places to buy affordable art”
Etsy is my go to!! Love it for cheap prints, and even affordable originals… for example lately I’ve been seriously lusting after a piece by Malissa’s Place, and I don’t think $65 is too bad for a piece of art. http://www.etsy.com/shop/malissasplace
Burbia annoys me. A complete copy of Ork’s work, and absolutely nothing new to bring to the table when stealing Ork’s ideas.
I love ‘word’ art too, can’t get enough! Great collection here Jen. I had never seen Hello Polly before.
As a designer I’m always torn between keeping in budget and providing original art. I’ve always had this rule – no un-original art of any kind unless we absolutely have too. What does this mean? If you’re my client we’re not hanging a copy of Van Gogh’s Starry night unless it’s the real deal or a really great counterfeit 😀
Anyway, Etsy has suddenly become my go to for great inexpensive art. There is a plethora of fabulous artists and pieces are so horribly reasonably I sometimes feel like I’m cheating the artist. It’s nice when I can follow my own rules and still keep under budget!
BLANK despoke art is excellent as well http://www.blankbespokeart.com ships to NZ and Australia.
I’m definitely a lover of art. I have a couple of investment pieces as well as some cheaper oils I’ve picked up around the place.. Recently I came across a photo on Flickr by a fine art photographer from Ukraine and immediately fell in love with it, so I contacted her and purchased the digital file ($150AUD). My plan is to get it printed onto a large canvas and hang in my bedroom.
love that watercolour!! alas living in a rental… I am too much of a goody two shoes to put more holes in the walls :/
Don’t worry about hols in the walls, buy the removable 3M hooks, they are mazing!
Definitely add into this list ‘Signed & Numbered’ on Greville St, Prahran – super affordable yet exclusive too!
great round-up and definitely off to check some of these new places that I’d never heard of before. Spineless is a great one!
Keep these top 10 places to buy posts coming. Always on the lookout for value art to recommend to my home staging clients
Will do Imogen, they tend to be very popular!
For Australians there’s a new online gallery which has just launched called ARTFULY – http://www.artfuly.com. There’s a good selection of affordable art by new and established artists at less than 75% of normal gallery prices. There’s a feature where you can animate the artwork into a room (See it in a room) on the bottom of every artwork page, and it’s delivered from the artists studio direct to the buyers door with a 7-day return guarantee. Art can be filtered by size, style colour and price to find something quickly to suit your room and budget.
I’d love to toss Mammoth & Co into the list! We offer a curated collection of limited edition prints and original art by established and emerging artists from around the world. We’re artist run and handle all of the printing ourselves in-studio. Check us out: http://www.mammothandcompany.com
Cheers!
I too would like to offer up another to this great list: http://www.ineednicethings.com . I Need Nice Things was created to make contemporary art affordable. Printed to order (with the ability to choose paper stock and size) and we also offer worldwide shipping. It’s breathtaking art without the breathtaking price.
Hola Jen! I would love to add one more to your list, if your readers are interested to discover more! No such thing as too much art!
Everything Begins collates and curates beautiful art from some of the world’s most exciting emerging talent and makes it all available to browse and purchase in the Everything Begins online gallery – http://www.everythingbegins.com.
Typographic Prints, Limited Edition Prints, City Art Prints and Typographic Maps right down to truly unique and beautiful fabric bird sculptures. We love to surprise!
Hope your readers love what we have to offer 🙂
Amy x
Hi Jen,
We would love to be apart of your list!
Artlounge Online Art Gallery offers the ultimate in affordable art for your home, office or commercial fitout. Custom Canvas designed to suit your specific project, right through to express turnaround and colour matching, Artlounge is the only choice when it comes to your Australian Canvas Art partner. All our artworks are created, printed and processed by our Australian inhouse art team of graphic artists, interior designers and visual artists – using only premium quality product.
Hello, what an awesome list of arty things! My name is Arna and I thought I would introduce myself as an enthusiastic emerging artist. I would love to be included in your showcase of artists somehow? To see some of my work please go to http://www.artofkundalini.com thanks for your time, Arna
Hi….what a great website to stumble across, I’m Steve and have been playing around with photography for a while now. I have started to flip photos on their head by playing with colours and tones just like traditional artists and would welcome feedback on the results. Please see my work at http://www.mosman-digital-art.com Cheers and enjoy…Steve