So you're a sports fanatic seeking to decorate your home or office with conversation pieces or maybe you just want a vintage sports theme for a specific room like your man cave or bedroom. Purchasing antiques can get expensive and require space to display them. Consider filling your space with vintage sports photography. Artwork is something that can hang on your walls so it doesn't take up too much space. It’s also a great way to surround yourself with conversation starters without going broke. There are a few tricks and things to consider when choosing vintage sports posters.

Choose a color!

One big thing to consider is the color. What will fit best in your decor, black and white, sepia toned or color sports photos. The color theme you choose can depend on the color of your walls, furniture and other accessories in the room. If the room is full of color it may be a good idea to use black and white or sepia to tone the colors down. Using color sports photography in a room full of color can become overwhelming. The sepia tones and photographs that lack rich colors is what tends to give the photograph a more vintage feel. When you find the right color for your room, the finish for the print is your next big step. If a frame compliments your piece best, you'll want to use a frame that has more of a vintage feel rather than a modern frame. Some mat colors that may pair well with retro sports photos include egg shell, buff and serene cream.

The Sport or the Name?

Before you automatically select photography that includes famous athletes or stadiums, browse pictures that feature the unexpected or show humankind’s love of the sport. Good examples are photos like Free Golf and Retrieving the Ball. Each one presents everyday people engaged in the sport of golf. We carry prints in various types of categories like football, racing cars, hockey, tennis, lacrosse and more. So take time to find the beautiful golf course or the motivational soccer poster rather than automatically searching for famous sports players and stadiums.

If you do feel compelled to spotlight famous athletes or locations, there are tons of sports places and people to choose from in our categories. One of our best illustrations in that regard may be found in the photo titled, Lou Gehrig – With Bats. It's almost a 3-D look the way that the baseball bats are positioned, it gives the illusion that they are literally coming out of frame. This piece and pieces like it would look great printed on a seamless piece of canvas or a two-toned, ebony and gold bastion frame.

The Last Game

The last best thing to consider is the last game. If you have a favorite athlete, finding photographs from their last game is not only great decor but a great conversation starter as well. A good example would be to pair photos like Lou Gehrig – Farewell #2 or Babe Ruth - Farewell.

Finish it Off

Artwork is not complete with out a frame, laminate or canvas finish. If a canvas best suites your desired piece, choose a painted sides color that matches something in the frame. For black and white photos, black painted sides is always an amazing finish. If you're choosing a frame finish, choose a vintage styled frame. You can also choose a frame that matches the furniture in the room it will decorate. If you have a mahogany colored bed frame and the chosen piece is going in that bedroom, try choosing one of our mahogany frames if they match the piece as well.

All of our frame and canvas finishes come with 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Showing your love for someone special during Couples Appreciation Month doesn't have to include fattening foods, overpowering perfumes and expensive flowers that eventually wilt and die. There is a better option, love art. Love art comes in different forms to match the personalities of those you appreciate the most. For instance, there are heart paintings, romantic art and love prints to choose from at our gallery. Created by a variety of accomplished artists, they’d fit into a wide array of interior designs too. Let’s take contemporary interiors and pop art fans as examples. They may enjoy art by Roy Lichtenstein.

Roy Lichtenstein’s artwork often features comic book characters kissing or pining away for a loved one. His romantic yet contemporary scenes may be placed on to canvas, framed or laminated to suit your loved one’s design sensibilities. We've even heard of couples who display the comic book lovers alongside of memory boxes filled with souvenirs of their first date, engagement or wedding.

Word art also tends to be quite popular among Couples Appreciation Month celebrants.

This is especially the case with prints that include romantic poems or sayings. Artist Louise Carey has several pieces of art that fall into that category. The sayings that she uses in her artwork often talk about unending love, true happiness and friendship. They tend to have a contemporary, youthful vibe that many people adore. Those that prefer a more mature feel to their artwork may prefer prints by artist Bonnie Mohr instead. Her paintings include complete romantic poems and verses that touch on issues like fate, spiritual love, marriage, new beginnings and the joy found in sharing life’s journey with another.

Those are just a few of the art themes lovers will find among our holidays collection.

April is National Decorating Month but that’s not the only reason to shop for wall art in the days ahead. There are a lot of funky holidays scheduled to take place throughout the month and we’ve got several framed art pieces that can help you celebrate them in style. We’ve picked out five unusual observances to help you get started:  

Straw Hat Month

It’s Straw Hat Month. So why not celebrate it by decorating your home or business with paintings featuring people wearing straw hats? Famous artists Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir have created several paintings that would blend into a straw hat theme. There are also full color photos that celebrate straw hats too. They include Susie Boyer’s Working Day is Done and Walter Bibikow/Danita Delimont’s Cuba, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, Cuban Straw Hats.

National Kite Month

National Kite Month is another reason to redecorate in April. Try setting up a display wall featuring artist Jack Sorenson’s Flying Kite with Friends or Paul Brent’s series, Beach Kites. Brent’s series would pair perfectly with artist Katharine Gracey’s Beach Houses collection or Michael Paraskevas’ My Seven Aunts. They feature flying kites too.

International Guitar Month

International Guitar Month also falls in April. That said, you might want to hang a series of guitar themed artwork throughout the house. The list of artists whose work contains great images of guitars includes, but doesn’t end with Pablo Picasso, Tang Ling, Edouard Manet, Adam Perez and Deann Hebert. Of those five, Tang Ling’s collection includes a series of black and white photos taken at a guitar factory. In our opinion, they’d look fantastic on display in a music room.

Car Care Month

Fans of vintage motor vehicles rejoice! It’s officially Car Care Month as well. So hang up framed photos of classic cars, racing posters, race drivers and more. We’ve got more than 700 pieces of car art to choose from, including works by artists Antonio Massa, Scott Westmoreland and Keith Mallett.

National Card and Letter Writing Month

Lastly, April is prime time to pay homage to the lost art of letter writing. Yes, it’s actually National Card and Letter Writing Month. Celebrate it with movie posters like Letters to Juliet or contemporary prints like Wild Apple Studio’s Letters Series. Other artists who’ve creating pictures featuring letters are Deam Millman, Albert Ludovici, Cristin Atria and Alma Lee.

If you have any questions about purchasing artwork that fits right in with these and any number of April’s funky holidays, please contact us!

If you're into thrift store shopping and bargain hunting, chances are your home features a mix-and-match collection of treasures from the past. You're not ashamed that your dishes come in all colors, shapes, and sizes; you embrace it! Enhance the look you already have going by adding some retro art your walls. Remember, art doesn't have to match the couch and the couch doesn't have to match anything else.

Looking for a place to begin? You may or may not be able to remember the days when you could get a hot fudge sundae for 20¢, or an order of fries for 25¢, but with the great variety of attractive vintage food advertisements to be found, the kitchen is a great place to start your retro transformation. Look for retro-style patterned fabrics to make curtains, napkins and tea towels. Go to thrift stores and see what sort of old kitchen gadgets you can find. Even it they're no longer in full working order, you may be able to use them as decorative accents. With a little luck, you'll be able to track down an old-fashioned set of malt shop or Coca-Cola glasses at a second-hand shop to help complete the look. 

It's easy to find art to go with a retro theme that doesn't necessary scream retro on its own. Keep an eye out for inspirational quotes or text-based posters with an aged, weathered look. For example, here are some distressed text posters that might make lovers of New York. Chicago, and Boston a bit nostalgic.

Contact us to find more great decor ideas for your style!