AS AN INTERIOR designer I’m regularly asked to add the finishing touches to client projects, sourcing pieces of art, vases & ornaments and curiosities to make a space feel truly pulled-together and lived-in.

Most people share a similar styling challenge, which is that their shelves are laden with novels or DVDs that were bought many moons ago and are currently gathering dust.

The first thing I do in every project is ask the client why they’re holding on to that collection - a perceived value perhaps, a notion they may read or watch something again - or is simply just because they’ve never asked themselves the question before?

A book collection can tell visitors something about the person who lives in a house, so it’s important to review the book pile carefully, but typically client’s find that most of their paperbacks amassed over the years can be weeded out and donated to charity. There’s Fara Books in Teddington if you live in the area - or books can be sold to a second-hand reseller such as worldofbooks.com, a website which will also pay for old DVDs.

Client’s often confess that they’re holding onto their books just because they don’t know what to put on their shelves instead - so once those shelves are have been cleared it’s time for me to recommend some impactful alternatives.

A HOME cinema room had long been on my husband’s wish-list when I met him in 2004. Such was his obsession with all-things movie related, the first thing he ever bought me in the early days of our relationship was a DVD player from Tesco  –oh the romance – because I had readily given mine up in a divorce settlement a few years earlier and he simply could not believe I didn’t own one.

It’s fair to say audio-visual equipment has never been a big passion of mine. My priority when we got our first house together was to sell his extensive collection of speakers-on-stands on eBay and to dispose of a highly-veneered Hi-Fi cabinet at the tip. He did manage to hold onto a pair of absurdly large subwoofers that I insisted had to sit on the floor, behind the sofa, where, allegedly the sound was muffled. 😊

Fast-forward 15 years to our current home which we bought primarly because it had a basement flat offering potential to expand the main house’s living space down into the lower floor and maximise our investment. My husband’s cinema room dream was about to be realised, but it was not without its trade offs.

I WAS on a shuttle bus heading from The Affordable Art Fair’s Battersea home to Sloane Square station when I overheard (OK, eavesdropped) a couple discussing their art purchases, or more specifically, the distinct lack of.

 “It’s a bit overwhelming,” I heard them confess to another couple sitting across the aisle. “We’re fine at buying things like vases for the house, but we have loads of blank walls. It’s relaxing to wander round these fairs but, after a while, you forget what you saw and leave with nothing.”

As we disembarked at Sloane Square and the couple bid their goodbyes, they laughed: “We’ll probably see you again next year!  And the year after that!”

This conversation really stuck a chord with me. 

Buying art to hang on your wall is a huge decision, particularly when budget is a key consideration. Most people – our couple on the bus – go into it ‘hoping’ to be struck by something that is reasonably affordable that will quite literally fill a hole.

Buying art is of course not like buying a sofa, or an oven. Art is not something you ever really, actually need. Art is a nice-to-have, putting it very low on the priority list but, ironically, very high on the list of expectations.

 A piece of art has to DELIVER. This is money that could be spent on OTHER THINGS.

 So, people wait, and they browse and they live with empty walls. Sometimes for years.

 So how DO you confidently buy art and where should you go to find it?

As with most things, the key is in the planning & preparation….