This past week, I’ve been searching for some decorative and artistic inspiration for a couple of rooms in my home. I’m hoping to do a gallery wall in our family room with a look that channels a gentleman’s hunt/sport study, library, and sort of Ralph Lauren whiskey lounge vibe. The room is far from done, but i did want to share one Idea I’m very excited about! Finding and printing art from museum collections for free! Stay tuned for a post on the before and after of that room, no promises on when though :P.
I think it is so fun to work on the design for a space. I really love the “research” and “brainstorming” part and can spend hours creating mood boards on Pinterest and collecting ideas. One design trend I’ve been loving lately—and seeing everywhere on the internet (thanks, algorithms?)—is the idea of hanging classical artwork in museum-style frames as part of a gallery wall. I’ve always loved hanging art in my home, especially gallery walls that look like they came straight from a museum salon or an old chateau. Oh and if you are looking for tips on hanging gallery walls, check out Jenna’s recent post, she has some easy formulas to make it easy for you!
Here is a photo of our Gallery wall stair case from our previous house, (some frames didn’t have art just yet when I took the photos)
Whether it’s the aesthetic trends of “Old Money,” “Dark/Light Academia,” or “Cottage core,” or the growing cult following (of which I am a card-carrying member) of Nancy Meyers films and their subsequent decorating styles (think Father of the Bride, It’s Complicated, The Parent Trap, Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday), art is having a big moment! I know in some circles it never stopped, but the overarching trend seems to have been in a decidedly different direction.
It feels as though, finally, the pendulum is swinging away from the drab, gray/beige, minimalist, characterless, soulless (wow, Brittany, don’t hold back, tell us what you really think 😉) decorating styles of the last decade and back toward a more collected and curated and dare i say ‘cluttered’ aesthetic? (when did a little bit of a lived in look become so abhorrent, i mean we have to actually live in these homes right? give me piles of book to read in the corner any day!) Apologies if that’s your jam! And don’t get me wrong—if minimalism fills you with joy, by all means, keep it simple! There are parts of every design trend that I can find appealing, and I do love a good decluttering from time to time. But personally, I’ve been craving more warmth, richness, and personality in home decor. Bring on the delightful details and lots of color!!
I also have a sneaking suspicion that the rise of the Samsung The Frame TV—which allows you to disguise your television as framed art—has helped renew interest in hanging classical artwork at home too. (Not gonna lie, this has been on my Wishlist for a while, but I’ve just not been able to make the leap yet, my tv is still perfectly good after all, but I do still pine for this one :P.) And, thanks to modern technology, it is now incredibly easy to access high-resolution files of nearly everything hanging in any of the major museums and download them for FREE. Yes, you can download a high-resolution image of a Monet, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Manet—you name it—for free! Can you spot the TV in these gallery walls, well yes, its not that hard. But it’s much more appealing than a large black square all the time it’s sitting there unused right?
What’s fun is that this also means that the same art is available for free for you to print and hang too! No fancy TV needed! (ok yes it doesn’t solve the big black hole on your wall problem, but hey Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a good gallery wall 😛 )
Where to Find High-Quality Digital Art
If you are also someone who likes deep research and doesn’t mind spending some hours combing through digital galleries, many museums and institutions offer public domain collections, with more adding them all the time, meaning you can download and print high-resolution versions of all the artwork in their collection for free!
Grab a tea or coffee, put on some classical music and pretend like you are wandering the salons and galleries and rotundas of your favorite museum, it’s not nearly as good as being there, but hey there are no crowds, you can wear your pjs, and your feet wont hurt (your eyes and your scrolling finger I can’t make the same promise for :P)
- The Louvre
- The Met’s Open Access Collection (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- The Rijksmuseum Digital Collection
- The Library of Congress
- Smithsonian Open Access
- The National Gallery of Art
- The British Museum
- The Musee Rodin
- Artvee
My friend Katie at “A Home is Announced” has a stunning blog where she shares tips and tricks for finding and printing beautiful artwork, and she even curates her own collection of (FREE) finds in different themes, if you aren’t one for hours of scrolling. Please go and read her posts on Public domain art & Giving artists proper attribution, How to create a DIY faux oil painting on a budget , and uploading digital art to your TV. Her blog is just beautiful, and has very much inspired me with this project!!
I’m so excited to find pieces that will help bring this room’s vision to life—but as with any design project, it’s all about balance! The best gallery walls are collected and contain a mix of wonderful treasures. Many of you already know, but for those who don’t, Jenna and I come from a family of artists. Our Grandma, Great Aunt, Aunt, and my Mom are all oil painters, and I feel so lucky to have easy access to original artwork to hang in my home. You can follow the links to see a selection of their artworks.
At the end of the day, I would love to have originals for every piece I hang if I could, but it’s not always available, in the budget, or the right fit (size, orientation, etc). Using digital repositories of old master paintings is a fantastic way to complement my collection of family art and collected treasures with pieces in different styles or subject matter, helping to pull everything together. And for those who don’t have access to original artwork, this is an incredibly affordable way to achieve that rich, collected look. Seriously—people are reselling these public-domain artworks for a markup when you can find them yourself for free!
Here’s a little trick I love: If you see a vintage-style painting being sold on Amazon or Etsy, take a screen shot, open a Google search and use the image search tool to track down the original artist and museum. From there, you can go to the museum’s website, download a high-resolution file, and print it yourself.
So if you’ve been feeling inspired to add more artwork to your home—without breaking the bank—this is such a fun and rewarding way to do it!
Inspiration & More Resources
Deco Frames for the The Frame TV
Sources for frames for your fancy new artwork on Amazon
You can also find lots of frames at yard sales, thrift stores, and estate sales 🙂
Another Tutorial on how to print and Create faux oil paintings
Who knew? Maybe I need one of those Samsung TVs?
Brittany, You have beautifully written the thoughts I have had about creating ones own home, not with
“Decoration” but with all the things you love, have collected, like to have around you, have inherited, or found as a treasure in an estate sale, or a Thrift shop, especially the Art that you have shone the way to accessibility. .
Arranging things becomes a joy. All put together for comfortable real everyday living, All creating an atmosphere for family and friends to sink into and feel “at home”