I have a terrible habit of buying everything in grey, white or black. Those are my favourite colours both in interior design and in clothing. It can be boring I know, but I like the harmony and tranquillity of these colours.
It has taken me a long time to admit that our house needs more colour. I found the best way for me to see this was by taking pictures and looking at the room and the space from an outsiders point of view. To be honest, I was quite astonished how bare and clinical everything looked so I decided it was a time to buy new art work.
The problem with putting paintings up is that I need to really love them because inevitably they will leave a nail on the wall. Secondly, I am terrible at making decisions. I’d also like to think that art work and furniture I buy is a long term investment. Sure it is easy to replace the Ikea stuff but if I am having to live with something everyday, and don’t like it, it is going to get to me.
So, in the hunt for some new paintings, I came across a very good website www.art.co.uk. Their selection is huge and best of all they always seem to have some sort of a sale (although I’m sure this is factored in the price). They also have several framing options and you can choose what type of glass you’d like, for example clear or non-glare. The non-glare option is slightly more expensive but if you don’t want the picture to reflect light from it, it’s a good option. I opted for the clear glass this time as I was worried the non-glare option might darken the vibrant colours in the paintings. That is the difficulty buying online, as I cannot compare the two before making a decision.
My paintings arrived promptly and well packed. As you can see, I had a little helper who was very curious to get into the boxes. I had to keep the paintings very far from her as she would have loved to take a bite off them!
I think they are stunning! The artist is Esther Wragg and the art prints are called Desert Road I and Desert Road II. I have been having mixed feelings about them before but I do think they are beautiful and look great in our contemporary living room.
The only negative is that the frames are extremely fragile. I already managed to damage one side (fixed it with a black marker pen so we are all good!) but I have never had this problem with any other frames. The materials they use are obviously not high quality, but then again they are probably right for the price.
I had a perfect spot picked for them in our living room behind our giant TV and my husband did an excellent job hanging them up! I found it quite difficult to get a decent photo of them as the light was reflecting from our main window but hopefully the pictures will give an idea of the end result.
