It’s been about three weeks since we moved into our apartment in San Francisco. We’re all unpacked and have just a few things left to hang on the walls, but still have quite a bit of decorating to do. This apartment is vastly different from our New York one, both in terms of style and layout. We’ve repurposed virtually all of our furniture to work in the new space, but still have a list of pieces we’re on the lookout for. Most notably, our living room feels a little undone, as you can see above and below, and we also don’t have dining chairs. Along with a set of those, we’re on the hunt for a larger coffee table to match the scale of the living room, a sofa table to place behind the Chesterfield, and a new media cabinet (our TV is currently sitting on a second old coffee table that used to live in a den — please ignore the messy state of our electronics and the giant hole for the TV mount!). But, all in good time. We’re okay with saving and hunting for the perfect pieces versus a quick Ikea fix, for now!
Beyond the furniture and decor items, one of the biggest things we’re working on is getting some new artwork for the walls. The apartment has a very open concept floor plan, so we have big walls that beg for large pieces of artwork. In previous apartments, I’ve been known to purchase smaller pieces and create gallery walls; somehow, for this space, it doesn’t feel quite right (and I’m less into the gallery wall look now than I once was). We’ve never purchased any large scale framed artwork, so I’ve been looking at Minted to find some, specifically for a space over credenzas in the dining room, as well as a big blank wall in the living room, opposite one of our sofas.
I’ve purchased artwork from Minted before (the “Some Things Take Time” print that I still keep in my office as a good daily reminder), but since I last purchased artwork from their marketplace, they now offer framing services for almost all print sizes. And, it’s extremely affordable, especially compared to the cost of framing a piece that’s 40 inches wide (or more) on your own! Have you ever browsed Minted’s art marketplace before? I know that they’re sometimes more recognized for all their cards and invitations, but I think they do art prints really well. Minted works with independent artists to feature limited runs of their prints, so when you buy one, your print is one of 350. Once a print is sold out, it’s gone. It’s a feature of their program I really appreciate, because between us, there have been prints I’ve purchased off Etsy and the like before, and if/when they get featured on a larger site and everyone starts buying it or other items from the artist, it can sometimes feel like my find is no longer as special. No bueno.
I’ve spent a good amount of time bookmarking prints that I really like, and am working on with Joe to narrow them down to ones we’d like for our spaces. You’ll notice a theme — for this apartment, I’m really drawn to black and white works, with a couple that utilize blue tones to compliment the color of our walls (which we unfortunately can’t change). Most of these are landscape oriented to better fit the walls we want to hang them on, but there were a few portrait oriented works that I thought were so pretty, I’m saving them for other walls in our apartment! Stay tuned, as once we get the apartment a bit more furnished, select the art work, and get it hung, I’m going to share which ones I picked and all our other furniture progress! Eventually, I want to photograph the whole apartment to give you guys a little home tour.
Any favorites from my picks, or from your own browsing on Minted? Have you ever purchased prints from the Minted art marketplace before?
Your apartment looks lovely so far! Can’t wait to see it completely finished. Your mirrored cabinet is absolutely amazing!! I’d love to have one of these myself.
xo Andrea
Wonderful and Marvelous
I love them all! How would you choose?
I can visualize some big pieces in there – I totally agree with preferring some larger scale pieces. I also really like some of those brass accessories I see :)
I love that couch! I’m looking for something similar, do you mind sharing where it is from?
The Chesterfield (light linen color) is from Restoration Hardware.
Love the apartment setup so far! How did you guys end up finding your apartment? The real estate market in SF is really crazy right now and I’d love to hear about any tips/tricks you guys picked up during your apt hunt.
Surprisingly enough, we found our apartment on Craigslist. However, we saw it literally 5 minutes after it had been posted, and applied the same day, sight unseen. Since we were in NY, we had friends go to the open house for it a few days later (which the management company required us to do before we could apply), so once they started taking applications on it after the open house, we were first in line. Having lived here from 2006-2013, the best advice I can give is to just act fast, and be okay with getting 80% or 90% of what you want. Also, like us, if you see a place that has an upcoming open house but you think you’re really going to love it, apply before the open house. If you end up viewing it and not liking it, you can always pull your application.
Beautiful prints! I’ll definitely be checking Minted out. I adore your mirrored dresser, too!
Warm Regards,
Alexandra
http://www.littlewildheart.com
Did not know this existed but definitely need to check it out!
Palm Trees in the Wind is my favorite of those pieces. Anything that subtly evokes the beach is right up my alley. Your space is gorgeous (what we can see of it) and you have great light in that apartment. Happy furnishing! :)
I think large scale pieces would look amazing in there! Can’t wait to see it hung up!
I’m also on the hunt for large-scale are and recently discovered that Society 6 has tapestries. I’m thinking of buying one and framing it like an art print!
You might also like the large scale watercolor prints from Black Crow Studio. I’ve been waiting for the right spot to hang one for years!
http://www.shopblackcrow.com/collections/watercolor-canvas-prints?page=3
Oops, those were the canvases, but they have fine art prints too and a 60×40″ is under $500!
Neither are probably on Minted—but I love works from Kara Rosenlund and She Hit Pause Studios! Been wanting bigger prints of both for my own place :) also, I kind of love the blue-ish walls, it’s the color of my bedroom right now haha.
Looks like the apartment is really coming along.
I am loving the palm tress blowing in the wind, I also love the light wall color. It’s so relaxing.
Dresses & Denim – $300 Shopping Spree Giveaway
The place is looking great so far! And I love that Minted frames prints for you – the easier, the better, I say!
You might also consider icanvas. Their selection may not be as broad, but they print everything on canvas stretched over a wood frame. I think it looks beautiful – and very artsy, but it is also very practical: it is both inexpensive and light! It was SO much easier to move with the canvas pieces than with glass (or even plexiglass) frames!
I’m drooling over your apartment right now! May I ask where you found the mirrored dressers?
They are from a site called Euro Style Lighting that I worked with a few years ago! I don’t believe they sell this exact version anymore, unfortunately, but I recently saw that Z Gallerie has some similar looking pieces (they always have a lot of mirrored furniture!) http://www.zgallerie.com/c-181-mirrored-furniture.aspx
I love mirrored furniture these are beautiful, where did you get the brass reading light from?
Hi Hannah! It’s from Lamps Plus: http://www.lampsplus.com/products/robert-abbey-kinetic-antique-brass-pharmacy-floor-lamp__61361.html