Tips to make your art feel at home

Bare walls? Start here.

Before grappling with how to display art at home, you’ll face an equally important question: How do you start a collection? There is no one right answer, but experts do suggest some simple strategies:

Buy what you love: “It really is that simple,” says Michelle Isenberg, an arts adviser for public, private and corporate collections. Adds Santa Monica, Calif., gallery owner Craig Krull: “I never recommend anyone buy something for investment.” Personal pleasure, he says, should be the driving motivation.

•Educate yourself: “Take classes,” says Isenberg. “Get out there and look at lots of art. Start with what you like and move a little outside of that circle, and then try to figure out what it is you don’t like. You’re going to change your mind.” She doesn’t object to buying at events such as art festivals. But expand your horizons. “Art goes beyond simply liking it or disliking it.”

•Start small: Isenberg suggests editions as an affordable way to start collecting good art. Check out art fairs, Parkett magazine and auctions. Another tip: Buy directly from artists.

•Think beyond decor: “You don’t buy art because you want it to match something,” interior designer Molly Luetkemeyer says. “You buy it because you like the subject matter, the style, the palette or because it challenges you.” Some people might not understand or appreciate a piece in your home, and that’s OK.

•Make it meaningful: “I tell my students, ‘I’m going to be taking you to see really good artists, and what I want you to do is think nothing. I want you to just look,’ ” Isenberg says. “They’re not going to like 98 percent of what they see at first. I won’t let them say, ‘My kid can do that,’ and believe me, they will say it. I won’t let them talk to each other. I want them to really feel what makes them uncomfortable and get past it and understand where the artist is coming from. They don’t have to like it, they don’t have to buy it, but they need to see it.”