Art should be personal. Selecting pieces that you really love should not be influenced by the color of the carpet or your couch. To really make a statement, art should be chosen based on it's own merits.

You have just moved into a new home. Perhaps it's your first real home that you plan to invest time and money into decorating and styling. You are eagerly looking for ideas to help make your home comfortable and beautiful.

You have just been looking through a magazine for decorating ideas and admire a gorgeous home that highlighted the owner's fantastic art collection. You realize that the bare walls in your home create an emptiness that is crying out for attention.

With this sudden urge to fill them up, what are you going to choose for art?

It is not hard to find art - whether you choose originals or reproductions. The variety and diversity of styles is enormous, so where do you begin in making your selection?

Try to purchase art as you would any other piece of furnishing that you plan to have for years. You want to select pieces that you will love and appreciate for a long time - whether you keep your couch or not.

When you admire artwork in a gallery or even in a fantastically decorated home you will notice that it is the art that sets the tone, not the other way around. Artwork should be featured, and not chosen to compliment it's surroundings.

You will likely find that you are drawn to works that are in colors or themes that suit your home anyway. If you do like traditional decorating styles, it is quite likely that you will been drawn to more traditional styles of artwork as well. The same is true of more modern or contemporary tastes.

Talking to a gallery owner or interior decorator, you may also find them able to give you suggestions on how the artwork could best be appreciated. Using picture lights to illuminate the artwork will add enormously to it's appeal as well as to the mood of a room.

Your artwork will make a significant statement about you personally. It is well worth your efforts to select pieces one at a time and choose art that truly reflects you instead of filling your walls with mediocre work that you will tire of quickly. By making thoughtful choices and viewing each piece as an investment, you will always find a special place for your art in any home.

Paula Hogar is the webmistress of http://www.frloghomes.com and is a real fan of log homes and everything that they represent. If you have a site related to homes, email her about exchanging links: paula@frloghomes.com with "exchange links" in the subject line.