I feel incredibly lucky to have bought our house during this buyer's market, because the sellers did everything they could to make it attractive. All the paint was new and clean and relatively decent colors, it was professionally staged, and they fixed everything we could possibly demand before we signed on the dotted line.
Good thing, because we had ZERO extra funds after making the move, and ZERO interior design sense anyways. To avoid an entirely empty main level we splurged on a microfiber sofa from the Slumberland clearance center - the first new sofa we had ever purhased - and eventually I added a few throw pillows. After nearly a year, I finally got adventurous enough to start putting things up on the walls.
I haven't bought much "art" in my life, and nothing of significant worth, but I'm pretty proud of what I was able to put together. I scoped out the "No Coast Craft O Rama" in the Global Marketplace and came across two artists I fell in love with. Lonny Unitus was the one I came across first, the Minneapolis and St. Paul prints were amazing - I loved the style, the colors, and the fact it was a local artist producing small batches of signed prints. I scooped them up immediately, and then had to fight to protect the fragile paper rolls amid the throngs of arrogant hipsters. I didn't find much else at the show that I really liked (or could afford) until I got to the very back corner of the building - and it was another print maker. Adam Turman had these amazing bright prints of Minnesota landmarks, many of which I passed every day on my commute. He was SWAMPED with business and my head was spinning with ideas - finally I picked out three, all my budget would allow. The State Fair seemed an obvious choice, it was basically our neighbor and a big part of our summertime celebrations (and work...). It also seemed a fitting bridge between the Minneapolis and St. Paul Prints, and in an amazing stroke of luck they were all on the same size of stock. Score.
I didn't love the colors on the Duluth one, but knowing that was such a major icon of our wedding and the first place the hubs and I went when we met, I decided it was too meaningful to pass up, even though it wasn't my visual favrite. Then I picked the grainbelt sign mostly because I knew the hubs would love it, and the colors would balance out the set.
That's all I ended up buying at the show, and somehow I made it home mostly unscathed. The show was a MADHOUSE and I wasn't doing a great job of guarding the posters while mashed in the lines and crowds, but they were okay. After I got them home, I tossed them in the guest bedroom for a long while until I could afford frames.
I scoped them out at Michaels a few times, but refused to buy until they went on sale. It's a battle I face constantly - I know everything at Michaels will eventually go on sale, so there is no reason to buy something when it's not 40% off...but waiting was pretty tough! Worth it though when I got 6 huge frames with nice white mats(the prints + one for Bob Dylan) for about $25 each.
They were easy enough to get set up, though I had never dealt with stringing the hanging wire before, and though I had plotted out my hanging plan several times it took some trial and error. I finally decided on the format above - it's probably a little high, but that's nice so you aren't bothered by a frame when sitting back on the couch. I have ideas of putting a long thin sign on both the top and bottom of the middle 3 images, filling in the space between the different sized images, but I can't quite come up with an idea or quote I like yet.