My Favorite Online Art Resources + My Personal Art Collection

I love having lots of artwork throughout our home. It’s probably because of my years of art school and working in art museums. Yeah, that’s probably why. I enjoy having pieces I find beautiful, ones that make me think, those that make me laugh, and the ones that are nostalgic. Bad art is my biggest deign pet peeve, simply because I hate when people fill their home with nothingness just for the sake of having decor. It makes me sad to see junk hung on the walls of people’s homes just to fill the space.

If you’re interested in pretty, funny, interesting, and mildly moody art, I think you might like the pieces I have. Or at least you might fancy to learn of good online art resources? So, here’s a tour of my home’s artwork and a list of my favorite places to purchase art. My collection is ever-evolving and I’m working my way towards having more originals, so stay tuned to watch my collection shift over the years.

Photo by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson

Favorite Online Art Retailers

Artfully Walls - I really like the curation on this site. It makes finding art prints so easy and I approve of so so many of the pieces. You can shop by room, or by pairings or by color, or by style of work. Just hover over the top navigation bar to find drop-downs to help you search for what you’re looking for. I appreciate that Artfully Walls emphasizes the artist behind each piece- they include an artist statement to better understand the piece.

Society6 - A great place to buy prints by independent artists at a good price. You can also get designs printed on coffee cups, shower curtains, duvet covers, and pillows - in addition to framed art prints. There’s a TON of artwork and it isn’t curated like some of the other art retailers, so you might need to do some digging for the pieces you like (read: there’s a lot of bad art). I happened to save a collection of pieces that I like to a page here.

Minted - This has become a go-to resource for art prints as well as greeting cards and custom printing for special occasions. I get our annual holiday cards printed here! There’s a large library of prints, but admittedly they don’t tend to be funky/weird/risky pieces. They are great neutral prints that blend in with many types of decor. Finding the showstoppers takes a hair more digging.

20x200 - If you want to buy original pieces because you’re sick of getting prints that everyone has, yet you don’t have the budget for original works, 20x200 is a good middle ground. They offer limited edition prints, so they are more exclusive, but aren’t an original that will set you back $$$$. The 20x200 collection includes lots of unique artists and pieces you won’t find on many of the other retailers I’m listing in this post.

Photo by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson

Juniper Print Shop - Jenny Komenda’s shop has a bunch of economical prints at large scale sizes - all designed to fit in IKEA frames! She also has downloadable prints so you can buy the digital file then print whichever size you need. She listed options for where to print your digital downloads depending on what you’re size and material you’re looking for, too.

Etsy - It’s tried and true and a great resource for artists of all sizes. Little up-and-comers are selling prints and originals, and so are the gallery-represented artists, too. This is also a great place to find vintage art, too!

The Met Open Source Gallery - If you’re looking for Museum-level artwork without spending any money, this is your best bet. The Met has made many Museum pieces available for download (in super high-resolution!) for free. Once you download them, you can do whatever you want with the images like print them out or manipulate them and paint a mural on you wall.

The National Audubon Society - If you’re into birds, you can download thousands of Audubon prints for free. I’m such a sucker for this style of print.

Photo by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson

The Poster Club - More art prints with available framing options, too! Most of their collection is abstract and graphic. I dig it.

Saatchi Art - If you’re in the market for originals from gallery-represented artists, then Saatchi is a great resource! It collects many original pieces from artists showing in galleries all in one place. Because the pieces are originals, they come at a higher price tag, but you can sort based on your budget. There’s a category for originals under $500.

UGallery - I haven’t purchased from here but they, like Saatchi, sell original artwork at varying price points. You can sort by price or medium or style.

Lost Art Salon - I haven’t had the pleasure of ordering a piece from this gallery, but I’m anxious to do so! They sell original vintage pieces by historically significant artists that have been lost to time.

Photo by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson

Chairish - Primarily known as a retailer for vintage furniture, they also have vintage art as well as new pieces, too.

Craigslist and Estate Sales- I’ve found all sorts of great vintage artwork by browsing Craigslist and venturing to estate sales. You really have to hunt and stay true to your vision or else you can end up coming home with some bad art, but the hunt is part of the fun.

Instagram, word of mouth, art shows, and life in general - There are SO many artists out there! Not all of them sell prints on these websites, so you gotta do some digging to find them. Don’t limit yourself just to these websites! I’ve found many artists I like through Instagram accounts that highlight say, female illustrators, or the Still We Rise auction that sells work by artists and makers supporting great causes. You can find local artists in your area by going to university art shows, museum events, and exploring the art scene. I’ve stumbled upon artists while staying in Airbnbs, in restaurant bathrooms, at friends’ houses, in small shops during travels, and just out and about. Keep your eyes peeled for gems.

A few call outs to artists not featured on these websites or some of my favorites that you’ll see I have in my personal collection: Sara Madiera Day, Mary Sinner, Nicolas V. Sanchez, Laurie Anne, Caitlin Metz, Permanent Press, Amber Morgan, Tali Yalonetzki, Richard Vergez, Alex Kanevsky (he did this painting of me), Jon Michael Frank, Esther Pearl Watson, Erica Hauser, Ron Nicole, and a bunch more - I’ll be back to continue updating this post as I dig through my brain archives.

Photo by Sara Tramp for Emily Henderson

Framing Options for Prints

Once you buy your print online, you’ll wanna get that puppy framed. Many of these retailers I listed above have framing options, but if not or if you want something else, here are a few resources for you.

Framebridge - I’ve used Framebridge for a bunch of projects including framing photos I took (think family photos and wedding pictures) as well as a family heirloom photo taken in the 1880s! You can also send them posters, certificates, and objects to frame.

Simply Framed - I’ve never used this service but it’s another option like Framebridge.

Stiicks - These are magnetic pieces of wood that pinch your poster so you can frame pieces of different sizes without a custom frame. Easy peasy.

IKEA - Their frames are often wonky sizes so it’s hard to get a frame to fit your print. One option if you’re tight on a budget is to get an IKEA frame of your choosing, then take the frame and the print to your local framer, Michaels, or Aaron Brothers then have them cut a matte to fit the frame and the print.

Bulldog clips - These are just clips but you can clip them to the top of an unframed canvas or a print then hang them on nails. I did this in the kitchen when I was in a hurry to hang something and I have no regrets. You can get them in stainless, black, copper, basically all the colors!

Michaels and Aaron Brothers - They have a variety of frames of different styles, but I struggle to find the slim, minimal frames, but they do have them! Make sure you go in when they have a sale or a coupon because the discounts are killer. Be sure to head to their matte section to find the matte that fits your frame and print. The ones that come stock may not be the right fit so you may need to mix and match.

Target - There’s oodles of styles and colors here, and many options for simple frames. You may want to do the trick I mentioned in the IKEA section to get the matte to fit just right.

Amazon - I haven’t had great luck with Amazon frames for one reason or other. Reviews tend to be mixed and the retailers change so if you buy a frame today and want a second one next month, sometimes the same frame is gone. It’s hard to get a matching collection sometimes.

Custom framing - support your local framer by getting your artwork custom matted and framed. You can even buy a vintage frame and have a custom framer fit your image inside.

Don’t forget about the beauty of a picture rail molding! It’s my favorite way to hang artwork hands down. No holes in the wall, it’s easy to switch pieces out, and it looks just classy. If you are going to put holes in your walls and you have old plaster and lath walls then you NEED this little tool. Trust me.

All of the Artwork in My Home (excluding vintage)

If you’re interested in my art roundups, check out more of them here!