One of my favorite things about our interconnected world is how easy it is to discover marvelously talented people today – people who, even just five years ago, I might never have had a chance to encounter. The internet and independent storefronts like Etsy have made it so much easier for talented folks around the world to set up shop and find like-minded consumers – and I love that!! I think it’s so neat that someone who might never have found a market for their DIY keychain kits or cutest Disney princess dresses or wooden toys in their hometown can now grow a booming, worldwide business thanks to the simple and inexpensive tools at our fingertips.

In the same vein, I don’t often set foot in galleries, so until recently my chances for learning about talented young artists were slim. With Etsy and Pinterest, however, I now have more options than I have walls. Here are five of my current favorites:

Artist: Yang Yang Pan
Medium: oil
Print pricing: from $25 for an 8×10″ print to $75 for a 16×20″ print
Original pricing: unknown

Artist: Belinda Marshall
Medium: acrylic
Print pricing: from $40 for a 7×8″ print to $140 for a 16×23″ print
Original pricing: starts at $275

Artist: Emily Rickard
Medium: acrylic (I think)
Print pricing: $32 for an 8×10″ print
Original pricing: starts at $575

Artist: The Fox & She
Medium: acrylic
Print pricing: n/a
Original pricing: starts at $135

Artist: Michelle Armas
Medium: acrylic and oil
Print pricing: $35 for a 13×17″ print, $350 for a 36×36″ canvas print
Original pricing: starts at $200

I know that Michelle Armas’ work is nothing new in the online world, but I adore it. That particular painting just fills me with glee – it’s all of my favorite colors in one square, and I will have it in our home one day!

In the meantime, I’m wondering if it might be worth it to try my own hand at an abstract? I have no experience whatsoever with painting, but I think it’s good to try something creative and outside of your comfort zone every so often. Have any of you worked with acrylic or oils before, or been interested in trying? If I’m not the only one, I might try to convince one of my best friends (a very talented painter – she graduated from RISD!) to give us a primer. Let me know what you think :)

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Hello, friends! Today I thought I’d share our gallery wall! I wrote about this project a bit here — thank you again for your comments!

Unlike the dining room table refinishing project, I felt good about just diving into this one! Based on my inspiration, I tried to stick to the pink, blue, and metallic families; made sure I had a mix of photographs, watercolors, oils, and more typographic designs; and incorporated a variety of frame and mat styles.

Here’s the before:

Yikes! I knew I wanted an arrangement that softly arched over the TV, so we started by playing around with all the pieces on the floor, right in front of the dresser. By doing it in front of the wall where it would hang, it was easy to approximate the space between each frame. Then, we just started at one end, and added pieces left to right, eyeballing as we went! Definitely a two-person job, so thanks to John for all of his help :) I’m not sure if this technique would work for everyone (I like to think one of my super powers is the ability to accurately eyeball whether something is even or level), but it worked great for us.*

Here’s what the space looks like now!

I would love to tell you a bit more about each piece, because they were selected with love! Apologies in advance for the photos — this project was so hard to photograph, with the glare on the glass and the shadows from the frames!

From left to right:

The “peace, love, and cupcakes” print is actually a card a friend sent to us (similar version here). The large square is an instagram sunrise from a trip to Florida. The little oil painting is a commissioned piece that was made for my grandmother many years ago. It’s of the view from her front porch in Maine. The Oh Happy Day print is available in the SW Shop! The watercolor of the Blue Mountains was a gift from my sister-in-law. The cake print is by Paul Ferney. The flamingo print was a wedding gift from two dear friends (available here). Last but not least, the photo was a gift from our wedding photographer, taken during our cocktail hour picnic.

Let’s talk about the frames for a minute. I was worried that they would add up quickly, but ended up being pleasantly surprised! Thankfully, several of them had already been collected prior to this project, so I only bought three new. Even so, the total cost was low: three were from Target, one from Michael’s, two from A.C. Moore (spray painted blue), and one from Goodwill.

To conclude, this project gets two thumbs up from me: it was fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, and added a welcome dose of color to our white walls. Can’t wait to hang the rest of the art in this room!

*If you’re looking for more exact instruction for hanging, Real Simple has some great advice on measurements and guidelines!

One of my favorite Etsy sellers is Dimdi. She makes the sweetest watercolor paintings of animals, and they’re wonderfully affordable! Her 8×10 prints are just $25. She also does custom pet portraits based on a photo you send her, and I can speak to the quality of those because we’ve had both of our cats done. Yes, we are those people. I’ll show them to y’all sometime if you’re super nice to me :)

I also more recently discovered another watercolor animal artist, Eastwitching. Between Alison and Irene, you’ll have access to all the adorable animal paintings your walls could ever want. Here’s a small sampling:

All of the watermarked paintings are from Alison, and the others are all from Irene.

I love these paintings for a nursery or child’s room, but they’re also perfect mixed in with other pieces in a more adult space. Here are two of Eastwitching’s flamingos in a cheerful breakfast nook:

Southern Living

Love, love, love these newly released Edward Hopper stamps. Will definitely be using them for our save the dates — perfect for an ocean-side wedding! AND they’re Forever stamps!

Order yours here. Image via Scout’s Honor Co.