Wall Art Envy: Top 5 Free Stock Photo Websites

Have you ever had trouble finding that perfect picture (or two or more) to hang on a wall? If you’ve scoured the shops (both bricks and mortar and online) and are still coming up empty, consider stock photography websites. I found these dinosaur skeleton illustrations on Thinkstock. At just $13 a piece, they were a thrifty way to create this gallery wall, which is a focal point in project Smooth Move.

If decorating on a super tight budget, there are also sites that offer free high resolution stock images. Here are my 5 fave.

New Old Stock contains vintage photos from the public archives free of known copyright restrictions, ideal for displaying a bit of history in your home (think museum-style picture frames with extra wide matting).

Rawpixel claims to have the most diverse collection of stock photos. It provides access to royalty-free images, including vector graphics, prints (art, paintings and illustrations) and public domain content like this King Soloman’s seal from Les Liliacées (1805) by botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté.

Pexels is one of the world’s most trafficked free stock photography websites and for good reason. Easily searchable, its vast collection is covered under the Creative Commons Zero licence, which means all images can be used for free for commercial and personal purposes.

Unsplash is updated daily with new images, so chances are good that you’ll find something you like. While the search tool is the fastest way to find a specific picture, the very best are featured on the site’s homepage.

Pixabay offers more than 1.6 million images for download. The sheer volume can be overwhelming, especially if you have little time on your hands, though its categorization of images helps refine the search process. The Editor’s Choice is particularly helpful if you don’t have something specific in mind or you’re simply looking for inspiration.