Demystifying Framing
Pictured art: Josie Azuma, Morgan Auten Smith, The Strange House, Holly Young, Sophie Gori
I’ve heard a statistic that people are about 50% more likely to buy a piece of art already framed. It makes sense, and I think its because of all the unknowns with framing—what will it cost? How do I do it? Where do I go? And also, how long will this take? I love working on paper, especially when I do more minimalist works with a lot of negative space—I think a white mat and frame just compliment that type of work and highlight it better than if the piece was just on a canvas. Also, I love the way that framed pieces look in interior design—they definitely have their place and can make your artwork look very high-end. Because I love working on high quality paper so much, I wanted to write this blog post to help out with the intimidating framing process. I’ve broken it down into 2 parts: 1) Framing Standard Works; and 2) Framing Custom Works. I am including links for the frames and businesses listed at the end of the article!
Framing Standard Size Art
First off, what is a “standard size” piece of art? If you have art on paper that is 4x6”, 5x7”, 8x10”, 11x14”, 12x12”, 16x20”, 18x18”, 20x20”, 18x24”, 24x30”, or 30x40”—you can probably pop it in a ready-made frame. There are definitely other sizes you can find a ready-made frame for, but this list is what I’ve found to be the most popular and easy to find sizes.
“Standard size” art is the typical sizes you will find when an artist uses a readily available and already cut piece of paper (or canvas), and that often correlates to being able to buy a standard frame for the art. This will almost always be less expensive than framing a custom size piece, and you can purchase standard-sized frames from so many places. My favorites, for the price, quality, and options, are Target and West Elm. Target has nice-looking standard frames in their Room Essentials collection, Threshold, and also their Project 62 line. The West Elm frames are very high quality and typically will be pricier than what you could find at Target, but they also have a custom look. When shopping for frames, make sure you pay attention to the frame size as well as the mat opening, so that you get the correct mat opening size for your piece.
Note that for larger art, such as 18x24” and 30x40”, you can pretty easily find poster frames. These typically are lighter and may not have as quality of a feel as non-poster frames. So if you are looking for a more high end look, you can get a larger high quality frame from some of the places mentioned below.
Top right image by Josie Azuma is custom framed through Framebridge. Top left is by The Strange House, framed in a standard frame from Target (Project 62). Middle left blue and cream piece by Holly Young also framed in standard frame from Target.
Custom Framing Art
If you can’t find a standard-sized frame for your art, then you will need it custom framed. You probably know of a local framing place, and that is always an option. However, there are a lot of online places that can make and send you a custom sized frame, or you can send them art and they will send it back framed. This is often more affordable than the brick-and-mortar local framing stores, and the results are very good.
Piece by Josie Azuma custom framed and float mounted (paper on top of the mat to show the edges) by Framebridge. Marin frame shown (and myself in the glare). This piece is available here.
My favorite online place to send works to be custom framed is Framebridge. The process is easy—1) you place your order; 2) they send you a box to ship it to them in; 3) they frame it; 4) they ship to you. I’ve also had good experiences with their customer service. What I love about Framebridge is their frame selections—they have what I think is the most current and well curated selection of frames for modern interiors. You can get a large piece of art (around an 18x24”) to an extra-large (around 22x30”) custom framed for a range between $175-$225. They also offer free designer services to help with framing if you need it.
Both pieces by Josie Azuma, custom framed in Framebridge’s “Marin” frame (my favorite because it works for almost everything)!
A less expensive framing option for custom sizes is Frame it Easy. A large piece of art around 22x30” can be framed and matted for around $115, depending on the frame type, mat size, etc. The custom-made frame ships to you, and you add the art. The instructions are easy and the website has additional help if needed.
Custom sized white frame and mat from Frame it Easy. Piece by Josie Azuma for Liza Pruitt (sold).
Another online option for custom framing is Simply Framed. The cool thing about Simply Framed is you can have a custom sized frame sent to you if you want to save money, but they also give you the option to send your work to them and have it framed. Like Framebridge, they can send you the shipping materials and a label so that it takes the guess work out of how the heck to mail your art to them. If we take that same large size as an example (22x30”), you can have that sent in and mailed back to you framed for around $256, depending on your selections. If you want the frame sent to you for framing, that cost decreases to around $202 with a frame and a mat, and even less expensive if its just the frame.
I hope this gives you some guidelines on your framing options for paper works and the cost you can expect to spend. I also offer drop shipping from Framebridge on my website—you order the paper piece from me, I send to Framebridge for framing, and then they send it framed directly to you! Very easy. I love helping people pick out frames and I’m always happy to help with framing questions or offer advice! Now go buy some art prints here, here, or my sale of original works on paper here!
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