After my home tour on Design Mom, I got a lot of questions about the original art in our home. I wrote Part 1 about acquiring the art and now I want to talk about framing it.
So now that you've invested in a piece of original art for your home, you have to figure out the best way to display it. Depending on the medium, you might be able just to find the perfect spot to hang it and call it a day. The oversized pink bull in our living room was that way - it was created on a framed canvas (or stretched onto one before it was sold), so all I had to do was put it on the wall. But most of time, especially if you've received it directly from the artist, you might need to frame it.
If it's a piece you really love or that you're going to feature as a focal point in the room, you need to consider custom framing. With very, very few exceptions can you buy a pre-made, standard-size frame for a good piece of art. I hesitate to say never do this, but I'm leaning towards it.
(Don't get me wrong, I use store-bought frames for photographs throughout my home, and these photos are definitely works of art. It's also easier to print a photograph in a standard size. For purposes of this post, assume I'm speaking of paintings, drawings, etc.)
We have several paintings created on canvas that we've had custom framed without glass. When you're choosing a frame, look at a variety of options, even if you don't think it's your style. It's really hard to tell what an ornate frame might look like until it's right beside the piece. Ask the framer for suggestions.
This one was two layers thick, the gold part is one section and the inner black detail was added. Make sure you don't frame out the signature.
I called this the meat cleaver frame when we chose it. This is not the type of thing I would have picked myself, but it worked perfectly for this aboriginal work that The Gorilla brought back from Australia.
For the oversized photographs we have in our stairwell and man room, we usually go with a plain, 3-inch black frame and white linen mat.
To add a little bit of interest, make the mat super wide.
For works created on paper, you can mount it on linen and behind glass, giving it a cool depth.
We've done that in several places, and I think it's my favorite style. It looks especially custom.
Think outside the box when custom framing. I don't think I ever would have chosen this black lacquer frame for this really dark charcoal, but it works well. It's modern and classic at the same time.
Custom framing can be quite expensive, so build it into your budget when you're looking at the buying the art, especially if the piece is large. But you don't have to absolutely break the bank on it. Your local art store (Michaels, Aaron Brothers, Hobby Lobby) offer custom framing and almost always have half-off coupons every now and again. A couple of the photos in this post were of frames done at Aaron Brothers. Surprisingly, they offer a similar selection to the "fancy" framer I used for something else. The turnaround time was about two weeks, and I was really pleased with the result.
Art changes your home. Do it well, and display it in a way that makes you happy. Sometimes this doesn't mean framing it in a traditional way at all. Non-traditional ways to display art will be next up in this series, so stick around.
