Art is one of those interiors decisions that can feel overwhelming. There is the money involved, yes, but more than that, there’s a feeling that if you choose the wrong thing it speaks to poor taste. Which means that deciding on a piece for your walls can seem like an enormous challenge. 

For those who are struggling to take their first steps into art ownership, there is a new breed of dealers; ones who will not only help you choose it but rent it to you. Meaning it is commitment-free. 

Samantha Palmer, the creator behind the Instagram account @the_flint_house, has three rented paintings hanging in her mid-19th century home on the south coast of England. Before moving in, she and her husband Adam had lived in New York for many years and had ‘never ever hung art on our walls because, if you hang art, you pay for it at the end of your lease, so we became lazy and thrifty’.

But after upsizing from a small NYC apartment to a house in the UK, the couple had a lot of blank walls to fill ‘and we realised that we had become a bit scared and clueless on how and where to put art’.

She signed up for a service called Interrupted Art, which costs £66 a month. After an initial consultation call, the team curates a small selection from which you choose one piece that they bring and even hang for you. Every 10 weeks, they repeat the process.

The business was founded by Stephanie Crosland-Goss, a former art buyer for the Tate, who says her aim is ‘to totally change the way people can explore and collect contemporary art’. She believes that buying art should be ‘joyful, interesting and experimental’, but knows from experience that it can often feel overwhelming and intimidating. Along with not knowing where to shop for art, she found people ‘had tried and failed to buy, either because they couldn’t agree with their other halves – this is a huge barrier – or because they’d never had the confidence to commit’.

Her service aims to help overcome all those points of friction. ‘It strips out the hassle of snooty galleries, endless online swiping and helps people know it works in their space,’ Crosland-Goss says. ‘If you’re making a commitment you want to be as sure as you can be.’

Unsurprisingly, Interrupted Art is a huge hit. Along with Palmer, other fashion-forward clients include Made In Chelsea star Louise Thompson, who has a piece by Amy Devlin. 

It works well for artists, too. While galleries charge up to 50% commission and art fairs charge thousands up front, Crosland-Goss doesn’t charge anything up front and a low commission on sales ‘so the lion’s share of what people pay goes to the creator’. As a result, she has a long waiting list of artists to choose from.

It’s not the only rentable art service – although it is the most accessible. Rise Art, an online gallery, has a rental offering (alongside its more typical sales), which it says is to ‘empower clients, be they first-time buyers, interior designers or businesses, to make informed decisions by letting them try artworks before purchasing’, according to Sophie Heatley from the gallery. Prices range from 5-10% of the artwork’s value, per month, along with a shipping fee; one painting available to rent, by Micheal Haran, costs $4,980. Luminaire Arts offers a similar service, with prices starting from £50 per month, depending on the price of the work. Other rental platforms include Granger Hertzog, which provides rental artworks for luxury development projects, and GingerWhite, as well as Café Art for offices. 

While renting is perfect for the commitment-phobes among us, it can turn into something more permanent: if you love it, there is the option to buy, as Palmer has done. ‘I loved the three pieces I rented so much that I can’t part with them and have purchased all of them,’ she says. ‘I can’t imagine our home without them now.’