It feels so good to get back to blogging, you guys. How are you? I hope December is off to a brilliant start for you all! My brother arrived in NYC last night so I’m excited to spent the weekend with him and his wife doing all the touristy things you never do when you live in a city yourself. I can’t wait, especially as the past few weeks have been kinda full on, in a good way! I have been busy with some great work projects, finally finishing the unpacking from our recent move, traveling to New Orleans (more on that very soon!) and, of course, getting to work on adding some #MakeYouSmileStyle personality to our new place! I recently shared the plans for our bedroom makeover on the blog and then a peek at the freshly painted room over on my Instagram, so there’s more to come on that soon! Today, however, I’m sharing a makeover I did with a super cool Scandinavian design website I discovered that sells affordable art prints and posters. Click through after the jump to see how I transformed my small dining nook (calling it a room would be too generous, TBH, this is, after all, an NYC apartment!) with a lick of paint and a collection of stylish and affordable art prints!
Honestly, you guys, you’re gonna want to add Desenio to your go-to list for art when you are decorating. It’s frustrating how art can be prohibitively expensive sometimes, right? It’s awesome to have a resource for affordable art prints that allows you to add personality to your walls in style without breaking the bank. No, really, prints start at under $4 – amazing! I was really impressed with the quality and how quickly they shipped. I mocked up the gallery wall in Photoshop before I ordered to make sure the selection flowed well together. Then, while I waited for the prints to arrive I painted the wall in my dining nook Black Magic by PPG Paints. I promise I didn’t just pick this paint color because it’s the name of a super fun Little Mix track…!
One thing to keep in mind when you are picking art prints for a gallery wall is to mix up the scale and perspective of your choices. For example, here you can see how I placed a typographic print next to a mountain landscape. These two pieces compliment each other as one is striking and graphic, while the other has perspective and draws you in. When you do this be sure to have a red thread that runs through all the pieces to keep a cohesive feel overall. In this gallery wall it’s the black, white and grey palette. The splash of pink in the top right corner is a hint at what you can expect to see when I reveal the rest of our open-plan living space…!
I’m thrilled with how this little corner of our new apartment has come together. The hanging pendant is from IKEA and I am obsessed with it. The metallics really pop against the matt black wall, don’t you think? I love how it draws the eye down across the art and to the table below – it has made it feel really intimate for dining at night. The dining chairs moved with us from our old NYC Brownstone apartment, and I love how they compliment the black wall. Do you like my dining nook makeover? What pieces of art from Desenio are catching your eye?
// My affordable art prints: Owl | Stockholm | Mountain | Old Photograph | Circles | Photography by Will Taylor | Posted in partnership with Desenio, all views my own
28 Comments
This looks great Will and I love your look as well…very stylish
http://karinecandicekong.com/2016/11/10-beautiful-inspiring-christmas-wreaths-to-make/
@Karine – Thanks so much! It was a great way to add some personality and style to this small corner of the apartment. Happy Friday!
Stunning! Will! You are Amazing!
@Rene – So kind of you to say, thank you!
This is a beauty of a space Will! Love how the owl shines against the black wall!
@Susana – Isn’t he handsome?! Calling him Hedwig, naturally! Hahaha.
So talented!! Wow!!! I wouldn’t know where to start selecting different prints and you made it look so easy! lol
@Faryn – You are too kind, thank you. I have a whole selection of blog posts that share gallery wall tips and tricks. Search ‘gallery wall’ here on the blog to read them! 🙂
Killer selection man. Especially like the mountains and owl. This site will be great when I move into my new apt. in January.
@Ben – Thanks! Glad you like them! All the best for your new place! 🙂
Such a stylish little space. I love it. Still all sad that I can’t have that light!! xo
@Emily – Thanks so much, lovely! x
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Will, where did you find the little house on your tabletop?!
@Will – It’s from Flying Tiger Copenhagen!
Love love love vintage street photographs! That copper frame looks great with b&w theme 🙂 Also that little house is adorable!
@Soutrik – Thank you so much! I love how all the elements came together. Isn’t that little house so cute?!
So creative ! I love it, Will 🙂
@Tuan – Yay! So glad you like it! 🙂
Thanks Will for your Desenio tip! I just bought a house and am gonna do a wall with cool prints, so obviously this comes in very handy! My eyes fell on the owl as well and I see you picked that one and printed it as the biggest of your collection ?? Keep up your good work Will! Love from The Netherlands
@Violette – My pleasure! Congrats on your new house, Desenio will come in super handy for the decorating! Thanks for your support of my work and taking time to stop by the blog! 🙂 Hugs from NYC!
Obviously I adore the Stockholm print but I also love the owl. I used to have a gigantic Owl loving phase and I still have multiple owl memorabilia around the apartment. I’m going to stop saying owl now.
-Didier
http://www.didieryhc.com
@Didier – Hahaha. No joke, I seriously went through an owl craze as well. Had ceramic owls, wooden owls, vintage owls, owl prints. What are we like?!
This is absolutely stunning, Will! Loving the mix of black and metallics. So eye-catching! Great job.:)
@Donna – Really kind of you to say, thank you! So happy you like it! 🙂
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I love this so much, Will! Your blog is amazing. Where did you find your table & chairs? They are so great!
@Stephen – Thank you so much! The table is from IKEA and the chairs are from Room & Board.