I am always looking for new ways to display framed art. I noticed in the recent Pottery barn catalog this picture with the same finish frames all hung in a row with the sides touching. I love this idea! It creates an architectural feel in the room. This would make a great accent wall in a room. Or two rows of sepia toned family photos in a hall would look great especially if the top row had the bottoms of the frames lined up and the bottom row had the tops lined up. I might have to give that a try in my hallway at home. I will post pictures when its done to show how it worked out.

In an effort to “green” ourselves at the shop we have been doing a little research on supplies that are friendly to the earth and trying to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as possible. We just got a line of new eco-friendly frames made out of bamboo, which are beautiful. We are also expecting a line of quality photo frames that are also made from bamboo, have a water based finish, and the packaging is 100% recyclable. I am looking forward to getting those in shortly. As the custom picture framing industry catches up to the greening trend I am hoping that there will be a lot more options available as far as style and finishes.
Here are some photos of the new bamboo frames.

a wide 2 1/4″ frame available in all three finishes

this is about 1 1/2″ wide also available in all three finishes

This one is my favorite with an inlay of the light wood available in both widths.

The first drawing for the gift certificate drawing was on June 28th! Congratulations to these winners:
Karen Norris won the first prize of a $100 gift certificate
Gladys Miller and Georgia Lord won the second place prizes of $50 gift certificates each.
Don’t worry if you did not win this months there are still two more drawings on July 26th and August 30th.

I try to get all of the furniture catalogs and home decorating magazines that I can to stay up to date on color and style trends. Recently I have noticed a lot of places are leaning their pictures against walls and book shelves. Like this one I saw in a Pottery Barn catalog recently. It is a very informal look, especially when paired with interesting objects.

This is great for weddings and anniversaries. This was done by using old photos of the couple grouped on either side and combining them with the ampersand. Great on guest book tables and makes a great keepsake for the couple.

A customer brought in the beginning of their business plan which was written on a bunch of pieces of napkins. I was not sure what to do with this at first, so I asked her to leave it with me for a few days. I emailed a few ideas to her using our visualization software. We decided to cut the companies logo out of the mat and then varying the heights of the pieces of napkins, to add some interest. It was a fun project.

I recently framed an invitation for a friends wedding. The invitation was a really sweet pair of love birds with leaves on the outside. I decided to use a fabric wrapped mat with the leaves and branch pattern on the mat so the pattern was raised. I thought it turned out pretty good.

This is the closeup of the pattern.

this is the end result.

Here are some ideas to consider when choosing framing for your artwork.

1. Look to the art you are framing for clues about color and style: Bright? Subtle? Formal? Modern?

2. Look at framed pictures in magazines and on television to figure out what styles you like.

3. Experiment with wide mats or moldings–they can look great even on small artwork. You can also add embellishments to the mat like v-groves or French panels.

4. Try several different mats and frame moldings until you find the combination you like best.

5. Remember: The goal is a balanced design that enhances and provides a good presentation for the art, without overwhelming it.

1. Keep art out of direct light, especially if very valuable, sunlight will fade art over time. UV blocking glass, called conservation glass can also help block out most of the harmful rays.

2. Avoid extremes in temperature and humidity. Dry conditions can crack the art and dampness promotes mold growth.

3. In some older art they may be framed with wooden panels or cardboard, which will burn the paper causing a yellow/brown halo effect around the mat opening especially. Acid-free backing can be put in place of the old backing without much expense.

4. When cleaning the glass on your art spray the cleaner onto the rag first which will prevent glass cleaner from leaking inside your framing package and damaging art, mat, and frame.

5. Not sure what to do? A quick trip or call to us might save you a bundle down the road.

Whether you are planning to decorate your entire home or just one room with art, you can make it an easy and personal experience by choosing items from your home. Take your keepsakes and cherished memories out of the drawers, and give them new life as framed wall decor. Once you have the task to hang them to truly show case them can be daunting here are a few tips for hanging your wall decor.

1. Not too high! This is the most common mistake made when hanging pictures. 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 should be about 55” to 58” from the floor.

2. Hanging a picture next to a lamp or low table where the viewer will be seated? Its eyelevel again, except the level of the eye now will be much lower. The picture should look connected to the grouping.

3. be sure to use hangers that are strong enough to hold the weight of the picture. Two hangers are better than one. The weight will be distributed and the picture will be less likely to shift. The custom frame shop will typically provide two hangers for the framed item.

4. Is the wall strong enough? Most framed pieces weight less than ten pounds while the hangers provided by a custom frame shop will well exceed that weight the wall may not be able to support the hanger. You may need special hangers for the wall that will not pull out or droop down. Wall board, metal walls, brick walls and old plaster walls may present a problem, but there are hangers for all types of walls; be sure to use the right one.

5. 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. Keep the distance between pictures small—just a few inches apart.

6. When hanging a picture wall, create alignments, so the viewer’s eye has lines to follow. These visual lines may be horizontal or vertical. Any two frames should have a common line, horizontally or vertically. Keep the spaces between pictures nearly equal—two to four inches apart.

7. All types of art can be hung together. Drawings, paintings, collages; traditional subjects or modern; picture walls can be the gathering place for an interesting collection of art and photographs.

8. Here are two ways to “audition” a picture wall: a) arrange and rearrange the pictures on a floor until satisfied with the layout before hanging on the wall. b) 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.

9. Measure and mark (with a pencil) the location of the nails on the wall. Remember to pull picture wire taut when measuring the distance between the top of the frame and the wire.

10. Avoid hanging valuable art in direct sunlight: excess light can damage many types of artwork. Use ultraviolet filtering framing glass to significantly reduce harm from light exposure.