Our Blog

1. What and why to custom frame. - Whether you are framing a poster, your child's hand prints or a fine work of art, custom framing will reflect your personnel taste and protect your piece for years to come.

2. Consider the surroundings. - While you should certainly consider the room's decor, you shouldn't match the frame to the room at the expense of what looks good with the picture. Keep in mind that the room decor may change in the future.

3. Choose matting to enhance your artwork. - Matting is the term used to describe the "window-cut" material placed around the image within a frame. They can be made of a variety of materials such as paper, cotton and fabric in a wide range of colors. Mats serve as s spacer allowing the artwork to expand and contract with changes in humidity. Matting make the overall size of the finished piece larger and provides a space for the eyes to rest between the art and the frame.

4. An ounce of prevention. - Many times cherished art is damaged prior to arriving at the frame shop because it is improperly stored or transported. If it's a rolled piece such as a poster, serious damage can be caused by rubber bands, tape, paper clips and even a gentle squeeze. Make sure that the artwork is placed in a folder, protective covering, or a tube.

5. It's all in the detail. - Consider adding another detail. Fillets, beveled mat treatments, creative window openings, specialty paper or fabric mats can add a distinctive flair to your artwork. We are familiar with these options and can help you decide what works best with your item. Sometimes it's the smallest element in framing your artwork that makes it stand out.

6. Choose the best frame to enhance your art. - There are thousands of different frame styles and sizes in a variety of stains, glazes and finishes. Let us help you select the frame that best suits your artwork and have it made to your exact specifications.

7. Archival materials protect your art. - Some common framing materials such as paper mats and cardboard contain acid that will gradually destroy your art. Using archival mats and backing boards will help protect art from the damaging effects of time and from common pollutants that cause yellowing, fading and deterioration.

8. Mounting your artwork properly. - The dry and wet mounting processes bond artwork to a board to prevent artwork from bubbling or waving and are appropriate for posters and photographs. Pieces of any value are generally not dry or wet mounted since these processes are usually irreversible and can greatly affect any resale value. Museum mounting, commonly known as hinging, attaches the art with paper hinges to the board. The art hangs freely, allowing it to expand or contract with changes in humidity. Hinging or archival photo corners are recommended for original artwork, delicate photographs and other irreplaceable items.

9. Choose glazing to protect your artwork. - Glazing refers to the glass or acrylic material covering the artwork as a means of protection. There are many variations including regular clear glass, anti-reflective (chemically coated), non-glare (acid etched) and conservation glass (specially formulated to help filter UV light) There are also acrylic glazing products that come in the non-glare and UV filtering varieties. Acrylic is lighter in weight and is safer that glass but requires a soft cloth and a non abrasive cleaner as it scratches easily. It is ideal for over-sized pieces, frames hanging in children's rooms or on items to be shipped.

10. Find the right framer. - A good framer will help you with all the decisions that go into properly framing your picture. Quality framers have years of experience with preservation framing and design using a variety of materials and methods. Our designers and framers have a combined total of over 75 years of experience to help serve you better.

1. Not too high! Think in terms of eye level, so that the eye of the average viewer falls about one-third of the way down from the top of the picture. This will be about 55 to 58″ from the floor.

2. Be sure to use hangers that are strong enough to hold the weight of the picture. Two hangers are better than one for large pieces-the weight will be distributed and the picture will be less likely to shift.

3. When hanging a pair or trio of pictures, group them together so they relate to one another instead of appearing to float in a large space on the wall.

4. When hanging a picture wall, create alignments, so the viewer's eye has lines to follow. These visual lines may be horizontal or vertical. If a picture wall contains many pictures, there may be several of these alignments. Any two frames should have a common line, horizontally or vertically.

5. Two ways to "audition" a picture wall:

• arrange and rearrange the pictures on a floor until satisfied with the layout before hanging on the wall.
• make templates by tracing around each frame on a piece of newspaper, cut out and hang the newspaper samples (taped to the wall with small pieces of removable tape) until satisfied with the arrangement.

6. Use two hooks to hang the picture instead of one. Two hooks will keep the picture from tilting forward and shifting from side to side.

7. Avoid hanging art in direct sunlight; excess light can damage many types of artwork. Use framing glass that filters ultraviolet rays to significantly reduce harm from light exposure.

1. Narrow mats create a busy target. Don't be afraid of large mat borders.
2. Don't try to match room colors exactly.
3. The framing should not overpower the art.
4. Hang pictures at eye level.
5. Mix frames of different colors and styles in a room.
6. Re-frame pictures and reuse frames: perhaps a new mat color is all you need to coordinate your old artwork with your new decor your picture framer has hundreds to choose from.
7. Use plexiglass on art that will hang in children's rooms or play areas. It does not shatter like glass and the edges of broken pieces are not as sharp.
8. If color is critical, bring samples of fabric and paint into the picture framer.
9. Look at room decor in magazines and on television to help figure out what you like.
10. Ask questions at the frame shop, why are they using certain materials, the more you know, the better you can make decisions about framing your art and objects