I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best way to make your house interesting on a budget is through original art. Everyone has vertical space to fill, and it requires zero functional considerations so art is where you can be interesting, get weird, have fun, lean into big colors and it can change the context of your whole room (AND LIFE!!). BUT, because it’s purely decorative there seems to be this imaginary pressure that it has to really represent your style, as if it has to MEAN something, and because of that people are often paralyzed and walls remain blank for years and years. And listen, contemporary original art can be so expensive (rightly so), so people buy placeholder art at Homegoods, never to be changed out. I’ve collected vintage art for decades – both before I had any money and still, and my goodness my collection is pretty darn epic. So here are some of my best tips:
You Don’t Have To “Get” It – You Just Have To Like It 🙂
My gut is trained and will tell me instantly that I like a piece of art. Usually, it’s due to the colors, the energy, or if it makes me smile or think. At this point it’s immediate – my gut is LOUD and bossy. But I’d say don’t worry if you don’t understand it, you just have to like it and if you like it GET IT. I love knowing the history behind the artist or the piece, for sure, but if you don’t that’s ok.
Original Art Is A Once-In-A-Lifetime Situation, So Don’t Pass It Up, And Don’t Overthink It!
I think the biggest barrier to entry is that people are unsure if it’s “perfect,” or they feel like it should really mean something or have an artistic intent that they can speak to. I mean, SURE, that would be great but you could also look at a piece of art like a shirt or a chair and simply ask yourself if you like how it looks, if it feels like your style, and if it would go with the other things you already own. You HAVE TO CLOSE THE DEAL. Take my big blimp for instance – I didn’t get it, but I liked it so much. It reminded me of the Beatles, it was whimsical and pop-arty and made me think. It was $200 which was the most I had spent on anything at the time (24 years old and living in New York) and it wasn’t until 8 years later that I could afford to frame it properly (which cost $1000), but I cherish that piece so much.
When In Doubt, Stick To A Color Palette Already In The Room (Or Home)
This is my #1 tip to ensuring you actually hang it on your walls – YOU HAVE TO LOVE THE COLORS. Now, of COURSE, you shouldn’t buy art (or not buy art) based on whether it has the perfect palette but I can tell you from YEARS of experience that when it works cohesively in your home you are that much more guaranteed to hang it and love it for longer. That random yellow abstract I collected that I still love sits waiting for its moment, whereas most of my other blue/green/gray pieces work so seamlessly. This just makes your life easier.
The big vintage painting in Elliot’s room, for example, is way more colorful than most of our main spaces but I loved it so hard and fast, the colors are so intense and beautiful. Once I pictured it in her room, on her wallpaper, I gave myself permission to splurge on it because I knew that it would look so awesome in Elliot’s room.
For Vintage, You Have To DIG (And Dig And Dig)
In LA I was spoiled by the flea markets, my god are they good. But you still had to show up early and dig, look past the damaged frame, picture it in a vignette in your house, and go through box after box from weird estate sales. I have found some of the best pieces were behind others, hung high on a wall out of sight, or in the boxes unframed, stuffed with a lot of studio or student art (ie. their “practice” art that is honestly good enough for me at times!).
Be Picky, But Not Snobby
This dog painting was $20 (unframed, another $100 to frame it) and it’s a little silly, but my god it’s just so good. The frame really elevated it, even though it’s just a simple metal frame. Listen, if you want me to be a snob I can be, (i.e. don’t buy HomeGoods wrapped canvas faux fine art photography if you are looking to build out a longer-term “vintage” collection). But don’t let how rudimentary or basic drawings scare you – I once bought what looked like children’s pencil scribbles on white paint and I swear it looks really good where we styled it. Sometimes a strong geometric shape on a canvas does something for a collection even if it looks so simply done.
Splurge On Bigger Pieces And Paintings
Big art should be more expensive than smaller art because it can really command a room (and therefore do a bigger job). Sometimes one big piece of art is $400 but four smaller pieces of art might cost even more! I know it is hard to get your head around (and if you are like me, might be hard to convince our partners it’s worth it), but a good big piece of art can change a whole room, become the focal point, the conversation piece, the jumping off point for everything!! Don’t pass them up. And yes, a painting with more colors, tones, or mediums took more time and materials to create, so value it accordingly. Oil paintings specifically take a really long time to do because of the dry time (you can’t add colors until the first color dries) so by nature of time spent on it, it’s okay if they are more expensive.
The Frame Matters (And Also Doesn’t??)
Sometimes the frame makes the art and sometimes the art is great despite a terrible frame. Try to look at and value the frame and the art both separately and/or collectively. God that sounds confusing. The point is, sometimes I’ve found a really simple piece in an incredible tramp art frame and the combination makes it beautiful, other times I have to look past the world’s dumbest, gaudiest frame to see a pretty painting and take it out (and later invest in a new frame if needed). Feel free to ditch the frame and keep the art or vice versa.
Think Outside A “Simple painting” – Go sculptural Or Textural
Before I could afford huge vintage paintings I collected the coolest flags and hung them in a way that made them look more elevated. (I LOVE that blue and white one still!).
Just last year I framed a large boro piece in our family room because the colors, tones, and casual vibe were exactly what I wanted to “hold the wall” as well as contrast with the wall of seascapes. Think vintage quilts, scarves, etc.
I also love flat sculptures (like the wooden one in the gallery above the floral chaise in our Los Feliz house). If it’s flat (ish) it can be hung on the wall so don’t let something unconventional stop you.
But Where Do You Find Them???? Where Do I Shop?
Thrift Stores: For those who have serious time to dig and want to stay on a super budget, thrift stores can deliver, but they can also be a ton of 90s generic stuff to comb through. Also, thrift stores these days are so overpriced it’s wild. But this is where you are going to “score” the best (it just might take a long time).
Antique Malls or Flea Markets: This is definitely my preference and where I’ve found the best gems. You see while it requires some digging, a human with a discerning eye has already selected it. You aren’t forced to rummage through so much used garbage and you might have better luck. Typically dealers that are at flea markets or booths in antique malls don’t have a super high overhead so their prices can be pretty reasonable.
Vintage Dealers, via Instagram or Curated Stores: I love buying from local Portland vintage sellers (Form & Function, @shopwilma, @fabiusgrange, @donefortheday, @total_nonsequitur, @20thcenturyinteriors) and I’m proud to be able to support them. Now dealers are special – they have a trained eye, years of editing experience, and they work their asses off, doing all the footwork for you (waiting in line at estate sales, driving far away to scour country thrift stores, building frames by themselves, etc). So yes, they are going to be more expensive. You are paying for their eye, their years of building contacts and of course their time, but you likely are going to find something better faster. Don’t try to barter much with them unless you are buying a lot of pieces (the profit margin isn’t big, let’s support them!).
Etsy and eBay: Because I do believe that I’m a vintage shopaholic I find myself on these sights all the time when I can’t go in person (drinking wine on Saturday night while watching Younger, perhaps?). But I rarely find “steals’ since it’s mostly dealers who need to markup a lot to make a living and shipping costs can be so high with art. When I was curating my seascape collection I found most of them at random antique malls over the years, but near the end, I was desperate for a few pieces that were a certain shape or size and I splurged on a few by Etsy sellers that were GORGEOUS.
Facebook Marketplace: What I love about FCMP is that sometimes you’ll get these huge vintage maps for so cheap or a box of random paintings that someone is trying to dump for like $50. Heck, it could be a bunch of vintage 80s posters that someone inherited that could be so dope in someone’s room. Plus, a lot of the curated local dealers will advertise there which I love because it helps me learn about new stores and dealers in town then I go and follow them directly.
Ultimately, it’s my opinion that these dealers are so valuable and if you can afford to buy art from them you should feel good about it (and again, be kind about bargaining and avoid it unless you think it’s just very overpriced). The profit margin is not high on vintage – it’s an unscalable business – so let’s pay these curators what their eye is worth if you can. But if someone is trying to charge $200 for an unframed small pencil abstract, feel free to offer what it’s worth to you (just don’t be bummed when they say no).
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Kaitlin Green