7 Interior Designers Share Their Tips on Buying Art for Your Home

Buying the right artwork for the home can present challenges for anyone looking to find an aesthetic balance in their living spaces. What if it’s the wrong piece? What if it overwhelms the room or fades into the background? What if it won’t fit? The considerations involved are aplenty.

Interior designers navigate these questions every day. For them, art plays a central role beyond mere decoration. The right pieces—displayed in the right places—can function as a core aspect of a living space’s mood, identity, and harmony, while also helping their clients express themselves. From framing and placement to scale, color, and light, they understand how to help a piece truly belong in a space.

Whether you’re considering a purchase in terms of a particular room or are looking to set a certain tone with an artwork, you can gain inspiration from the seven leading interior designers featured here as they share tips on buying art for the home.

One of the most sought-after interior designers in Los Angeles, Brigette Romanek has counted the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyoncé, Joe Jonas, and Demi Moore among her clients. In 2018, she founded Romanek Design Studio, which often incorporates art into the homes of her A-list clientele.

Take your time to find what you love

Romanek encourages a measured, intuitive approach to buying art.“If you see something and it takes your breath away or stirs something in you, that’s the feeling,” she said. The designer advises against rushing to fill every wall, noting that “a single piece you truly love will bring more soul to a room than a bunch of pieces you chose just to fill a space.”

Pay attention to framing

How you decide to frame an artwork is more than just a finishing touch, Romanek noted. “Framing is an unsung hero,” she said. “The right frame can completely shift the vibe of a piece, and the wrong one can take away from it.”

Don’t ignore small spaces

Don’t overlook parts of a home that are less obvious when it comes to displaying art, Romanek advised. “Don’t underestimate smaller or unexpected spaces, like a kitchen or powder room,” she told Artsy. “Those can be the perfect spots to add personality and surprise.” She often leverages these areas to add bold contrasts, such as sculptural pieces in minimally designed rooms.

Based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Michael Bargo is an interior designer and furniture dealer known for his eclectic taste. A graduate of the New York School of Interior Design, Bargo honed his skills at the influential Aero Studios under Thomas O’Brien before venturing out to create his studio, colloquially known as Galerie Michael Bargo. He often pairs mid-century, French design with contemporary art and vintage rarities, and has designed spaces for The Row and Mark Ronson, among others.

See as much art as possible

Bargo’s first tip is straight to the point: “See as much as you can.” Before anyone can decide on what art they want to live with, Bargo believes they need a foundation to compare it to. “The only way that you can really learn what you like is to see a lot of different things,” he said. “Empty walls are better than bad art. It’s so important to be patient. We all want our spaces to be perfect overnight, but collecting a home’s worth of art takes a lot of time.”

Be wary of trends

When buying art to live with, it’s important to purchase things you love above anything else. “Don’t buy things because they’re trendy or recognizable,” Bargo warned. “If something you like happens to be those things, that’s fine, but don’t put the cart in front of the horse.” For Bargo, building a meaningful collection takes time and should begin with the rooms you use and love the most.

Designer, artist, and best-selling author Justina Blakeney is best known for her signature “boho” aesthetic and her maximalist approach to interiors. Blakeney is a painter, the founder of lifestyle brand and creative studio Jungalow and author of The New Bohemians and Decorate Wild. Currently, her work is on view in a solo exhibition at The Art Wolf in Los Angeles.

Be mindful of wear and tear

A home is meant to be lived in, and a natural consequence is that belongings will incur some weathering over the years. Without care and attention, art is no exception. Caring for art can be as simple as proper placement, noted Blakeney. “When you’re investing in art, especially if it’s pricey and especially if you’re really drawn to how the colors are…just be aware of any placement that might be in or near a window that might affect the longevity of the piece,” she told Artsy.

Be aware of your space

A self-professed maximalist, Blakeney advises a wary approach when it comes to considering the size of an artwork in relation to where it lives in the home. “Scale is something that is very important that oftentimes people don’t think about right away,” she noted. For instance, if a large wall features a small artwork, she suggests “balancing it out with other items, whether it’s wall lighting or other artworks to create some visual cohesion.” Placement also matters, she added, when aiming to align a piece of art with “the feeling that you’re trying to invite into your home.”

Co-founder and partner, Charlap Hyman & Herrero

Los Angeles

Despite his young age, Adam Charlap Hyman has quickly built up a formidable interior design portfolio. He is the co-founder of Charlap Hyman & Herrero, an architecture and design firm based out of Los Angeles and New York. From 2021 to 2024, the firm has been listed as one of the top 100 most talented architecture and design firms by Architectural Digest.

Look for art far and wide

While every art lover has their niches, Charlap Hyman stresses the importance of getting out of one’s aesthetic comfort zone. “Looking far and wide at old and new work can be really helpful,” he said. “Push yourself to look outside of the galleries you might know. Explore auctions and write down names in museums.”

Buy art smartly for high-traffic spaces

What a room is used for can guide the sort of art that may suit it best, Charlap Hyman noted. “In TV rooms and playrooms, oftentimes we’re looking for large-scale photographs that are behind glass,” he said. “They almost wind up functioning a little bit like a window… they reflect a lot of light.” He also noted the importance of durability in these high-traffic spaces: “It’s okay that it’s there and somebody’s head knocks into it when they lean back on the sofa.”

Nicole Hollis launched her studio, NICOLEHOLLIS Inc., with her husband, Lewis Heathcote, in 2002. Hollis studied interior design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and is a former fashion retail designer in New York. Today, she leads the San Francisco–based firm known for its luxurious residences and boutique hospitality spaces, including the Candler and El Prado hotels.

Invest in “high-impact” rooms

Hollis recommends that the bulk of your art budget should focus on the rooms that naturally draw crowds, such as living rooms, dining spaces, and entryways. “Allocate a larger portion of your art budget to these areas for impactful pieces that may appreciate in value,” she said. In these rooms, art is regularly a starting point for the designer. “Often, I start with the artwork and create a color scheme and furniture selections around the work of art,” she added.

Consider long-term value

Art should be both emotionally resonant and financially informed, Hollis advises. “Understand the market,” she said. “When making a significant purchase, consult art advisors or gallerists to understand the artist’s market trajectory.” According to the designer, one method to secure the value of your home’s art collection is to incorporate more accessible pieces—prints, editions, or work by emerging artists. “This allows you to support different artists while building a layered, financially balanced collection,” she said.

British influencer and consultant Lucy Williams started her career as a fashion journalist, contributing to outlets like InStyle and Stylist. Today, she is a consultant, influencer, and writes the Substack newsletter Remotely. Recently, she has earned acclaim for remodeling her home, which is featured in a separate Instagram account.

Think about the home first and foremost

Where art is displayed for purchase and where it might live are two separate things that art buyers should keep in mind, Williams pointed out. “You might love it on a white wall in a gallery, but is it going to sing in the room you have in mind?” she said. The designer often mocks up what an artwork might look like in situ using apps like Canva or InDesign to visualize a piece in a different context.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Williams advises people to make their home dynamic by mixing things up. “A traditionally decorated room with antiques can be totally transformed with a contemporary photographic piece,” she said, while modernist spaces benefit from something “softer, lighter, and more whimsical.” Differences in scale, too, can improve a space. She noted that “a small but perfectly placed piece can be just as impactful as something huge,” citing a recent Haidee Becker acquisition that transformed her hallway.

For more than two decades, Shawn Henderson has been a prominent fixture in New York’s interior design scene. He has earned a reputation for a style that is refined, relaxed, and approachable, which he has applied to projects at high-end residences and hospitality spaces alike. Several projects feature eye-catching art at their center, from a farmhouse in Connecticut with works by Elmgreen & Dragset to an Aspen retreat with an Alexander Calder tapestry.

Do your research

Henderson understands that purchasing art can be daunting, so he advises doing as much research and preparation as possible. This is especially pertinent when making a big purchase. “We just try to back it up with research and documentation,” he said, whether that’s contextualizing the artist’s practice or explaining how a piece might grow in value.