Perhaps of all home decor, art is the thing you can most go really, really high or really low on in price. When done perfectly effortlessly, I love just a framed and matted handwritten drawing or phrase. That is about as cheap as you can get. For our nursery, inexpensive was my strategy. I wanted the room to be totally done, but didn’t want to spend much money on the finishing touches because my sights were already set on my next rooms that are more visible in our home. (Hi, powder bath!)
With a lot of white in the room, I planned to avoid any artwork that was too high contrasty or pop of color-ish. I thought something chic and black and white would look good above the crib. Ordering a sample of wallpaper and then framing it (with or without matting) can look awesome and is really cheap.
Lots of wallpaper sources I found send samples that are about 8 x 10 inches. Those are often about $5.
jenny lind crib | crib sheets | yellow ring dish | mint bud vase | dried craspedia flowers (similar) | white ball lamp
I wanted to fill an 18 x 24 frame, so I was delighted the company who made the pattern I liked best (“hands“) happened to send 19 x 25 samples. How perfect! They shipped really fast too. (Please note, it does arrive folded, but I was able to smooth it enough that it has not bothered me at all.)
Other excellent wallpaper sources that would be ideal to look into if you want to frame some samples as art yourself are: rebeccca atwood, farrow & ball, aimee wilder, anthropologie, ellie, flat vernacular, hygge & west, elizabeth graeber, walls need love, kate zaremba company, pottok (where I got this print), rifle paper co., juju papers, and abigail edwards.
For matting, I find hobby lobby has the best prices and they will cut a custom piece down to any width I like. Wide mattings are so cool and dramatic, I usually want that.
For a medium, 11 x 14 frame near the door, I did another one of my favorite inexpensive art tricks. When we are on dates sometimes we like to walk around used book stores. I always peek at the art section to see if there are any books that include large color prints of artwork. So often there is! This print I cut out of this book I found for only $6. I guess you could say this art was $6, but really it is even less because there are many more inside to use.
A quick note on frames, michael’s craft store “studio decor” brand is really, really good for simple, sleek frames at crazy prices. The big white one was only about $12 and the medium one was about $6. I also stocked up on this nice, light wood one and these super thin black frames that make any print look really polished (especially with a big mat!). I think those are better than ikea prices? And I think easier to drive to.