Artwork Fit For A Beggar Or A King

One dilemma I often hear voiced is how to cover bare walls without spending a large fortune on original art or a small fortune on cheap reproductions. One great solution is prints. It's possible to buy originals for as little as twenty-five dollars, and prints have enormous stylistic flexibility.

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For those of you who shy away from the stereotypical black and white landscapes, there is a whole world of colored prints with a graphic quality that can read as modern. I have a pair of 19th century seaweed prints in my kitchen which I fell in love with for just this reason. These are from my favorite print souce, Panteek Prints, which has thousands of antique prints online.

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Another wonderful aspect of prints is their ability to mix with other pieces of artwork. Because they tend to be subtle, they make wonderful components of a bigger architectural arrangement. You can start with one or two, which look great on their own, and gradually build around them. That is what I've done in my living room, and it's a trick that works well almost anywhere.

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Prints are also one of the few types of artwork that can take colored mats. This is a great way to introduce edited punches of color into a room, or even create a dramatic paneled effect by covering an entire wall.

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For a more relaxed approach, you can use prints from calendars or postcards and display them as a collection in jars.

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Photo credits: 1. Francois Halard 2. & 3. Anne-Marie Maginnis 4. Marie Claire Maison via Apartmenttherapy 5. via Interior Divine 6. Southern Accents via Things That Inspire 7. Martha Stewart Living via Swish and Swanky