I’ve been renovating my neglected old farmhouse in rural northern France for some years now. It’s been transformed from a hovel with dirt floors and gaping holes in the roof, bare concrete walls and corrugated iron doors that flapped in the wind into a comfy home. But it needed a bit of a style makeover when the DIY was done.
I love art and when I discovered IXXI I knew I’d found my inspiration.
Incredible collection of art
This young, innovative company makes art personal. They take the greatest paintings in the world – whether by Van Gogh or Monet, and have partnered with several major global Museums. Or they take your own much loved photos of family, mementoes of places you’ve been. Or a Pixel or collage. And they turn it into art for you to hang on your wall.
There’s a huge choice – classic to modern paintings or take your own photos and upload them. From here IXXI make them into art to the size you want. I wanted to go big!
Fill your walls with joie de vivre
I wanted to wake up every morning looking at the Eiffel Tower, even though I live a long way from it. So when I browsed the thousands of photos on IXXI’s site, the dreamy work of French artist Nathalie Lété stood out. Pinks and blues, perfect for when you open your eyes first thing – dreamlike and pretty.
For the spare bedroom I chose Van Gogh’s Noon – Rest from Work from his copies series (copy after Jean-Francois Millet). The blue sky and yellow wheat fields with a couple resting in the heat of a summer afternoon are the stuff of day dreams.
I’m looking forward to fill my other rooms with art I love. Be warned, the more you look in IXXI’s site – the more you look, the more possibilities you see and the more inspired you are.
IXXI Your World
But these aren’t just copies of paintings or copies of your photos set onto paper or canvas. They’re made into laminated cards. Water and UV resistant, non tear, long lasting and oh so clever. You can choose from several different sizes. And you clip them together with a truly innovative plastic popper system (which come in different colours). And there are no nails to bang into the wall. The designers created a way to hand the art by using an ingenious sticker system which works brilliantly.
The concept was devised by Three Dutch designers who wanted to offer “endless possibilities in image, shape and size” that’s affordable. They were inspired by an award-winning project they created in Holland clipping together 17000 postcards. They transferred their ground breaking concept to art for homes, museums, leading brands, photographers and designers, around the world joined in, from Disney to the Louvre – making their art accessible to all.
My art arrived in a tile sized box with everything needed to put it together which is easy (actually, popping the plastic clippers is good fun), and to hang it up.
And it really does bring joy to art in the home.
IXXI mail to anywhere in the world, find details here: www.ixxiyourworld.com
