Help with office art?

[shortstax]

Do you have a favorite place/city that you like to escape to? Perhaps a nice framed landscape shot of that location? Nicely framed maps can look pretty cool in an office environment too.

[delawarejen]

What kind of art do you like? Is there a particular color or colors you want to include? You could try googling stock art that meets your interests and see if anything jumps out.

A picture of a vineyard came to mind. Historical buildings are also a good bet, especially if they're local to your office. Historical photos in general can work, depending on the subject. Not sure what kind of music you like - if you like classical or opera, a picture of a concert hall would look nice. Do you travel? Something that reminds you of a vacation in a subtle way might work.

[Susie]

This is one of the walls that I face in my office. The watercolor is of a clock tower on my college campus.  I bought it when I was back visiting a while back and had it framed.  I swear the scale looks better IRL, it looks kind of small in the pic.  My diplomas are behind my chair.

[dr.girlfriend]

I have some dog-themed stuff in my office. Not sure if it's appropriate for Big Law, I work with kids and they love it. This is one of them, "Small Dog" by Sam Toft. I used a Sharpie to make him smile a little more before I framed it. :-)

[Poppy]

If I remember correctly, framing posters is actually kind of expensive. My husband ended up making the frames for our theater room project. You can get inexpensive large scale canvas art at Bed Bath and Beyond or Target or the like, and it may end up being cheaper.

[simpsongal]

Try Etsy too - I bought an oil painting for my office from there, it's a nice street scene and it wasn't too expensive. Bonus, it's on canvas so it doesn't really need framing.

[genet313]

Not art, but I went the plant route for my BigLaw office.  I actually found some deal on DailyCandy (now defunct) for a florist to come in and recommend a plant for the space given the light/temperature, etc.  

It wasn't too cheap, I think it was around $150, but it covered the consultation (she actually came to my office to look at the space), the plant itself, a really nice pot and delivery to my office. The plant started out maybe around 2-3' tall, but totally thrived and is about boob-height now (I'm 5'6'').  I still have it (but brought it home when I left my old firm), I still enjoy having it, and only water it maybe once a week.  So definitely worth the money.    

It is a schflera

houseplants.about.com/od/foliageplants/p/Schefflera.htm

[Susie]

Oh yeah - plants are a good call. I also have two peace lilies, a banana plant, a christmas cactus, and an african violet all on the window wall. They make me happy.

[Deleted]

Some cool stuff here: society6.com/prints

Choosing something kind of close to a "normal" size that you can just slap in a frame from Target saves a lot of money. Getting two or three 8x10-ish prints and putting them in pre-matted frames isn't too much money.

 

[pattieice]

I second the Etsy recommendation. I bought a watercolor of a certain landmark on my college campus. Put it in a 11x14 frame from target and it looks really nice. The older I get the more I prefer original art and photographs over store bought art. If only my budget would agree!

[dr.girlfriend]

You can also buy spray adhesive and spray-mount things yourself. Like others said, frames in standard sizes at IKEA etc. are pretty cheap -- just shoehorn it into the best available size.

Do you like movies? We have this "film map" thing at home which is cool but looks more formal / professional maybe.


www.wearedorothy.com/shop/film-map-signed-limited-edition

[rikki]

I'd be happy to send you this piece that came with my office.