Original article featured in Cambridge Agenda magazine, June 2011. Image credits, The Rug Company, Graham and Green, Mark Box

Art is a great way to add personality and individuality to your home. Knowing where to begin can seem daunting but once you work out what you are looking for collecting art can be great fun. Victoria Harrison of Angel + Blume looks at how to start.

Finding your style

The art you choose should reflect and complement your home and personal style, so the first thing you need to do is work out just what your style is. Do you live in a modern apartment or a traditional cottage? Do you love all things retro or are you drawn to contemporary pieces? The art you choose will be influenced by these factors. If you are unsure, have a look through some interiors magazines, pull out any images that appeal to you and use these as a basis to start from. Once you’ve worked out what sort of art would suit you and your home you can start shopping. This approach will also help you to keep the art you choose consistent throughout your home.

Where to buy

Galleries are obviously a good place to start as gallery owners have years of experience and the pieces they have for sale will be carefully considered and curated. A good gallery owner should be able to help with your selection and some may even let you borrow a piece to see what it looks like in situ before you make a decision. Most galleries have websites that you can browse before visiting. Art fairs are another place to source art and although these fairs can be a little overwhelming but they are a great place to find inspiration and discover new galleries and artists. Auctions can be another good source if you have a clear idea of what you are after and Ebay is a good option if you have time to spare to research.

Knowing the artist

If you are lucky you can sometimes discover an artist whose ideas and style tie in perfectly with your own. If this is the case it can be really rewarding to start collecting works by a particular artist. Many will undertake commissions too, so you can have a totally unique piece of art designed especially for you. Open Studios, where local artists in Cambridge open their studios to the public, will take place on the first four weekends in July this year. This is a totally unique opportunity to see behind the scenes and have a glimpse into how artwork is produced. From painters and illustrators to ceramicists and woodcarvers everyone taking part will have original artworks for sale.

Think laterally

As Open Studios illustrates so well, art can be anything from photographs to pottery to wall hangings and rugs. You don’t have to spend a fortune either. If you have a vintage poster that you love, get it professionally framed and make a feature of it. Grouping prints together will make a stronger impact too; black and white photographs can look really striking when displayed together on a coloured wall, for example. Lighting is crucial too, so consider this when thinking about where to hang or place your art. After spending so much time tracking down the perfect piece of art it is really important to ensure that it is being displayed to its best advantage to make it really shine.

Do you love it?

Most importantly, art in your home should be inspiring and uplifting so choose something because you absolutely love it rather than because it goes with your design scheme. Buying something only because you think it is a good investment is rarely the best approach as you are going to be looking at it every day. Art can be a very good investment but like anything, unless you have expert knowledge or insider info you are going to need good luck to turn your collection into your pension fund so our top tip is to buy from the heart rather than from the head.