What do you want your framed piece to look and feel like when you get it home?
Design comes down to a gut feeling, you can hear it in a person’s words “This feels right”, or “That feels wrong”. We tell our customers that “your instincts are right 90% of the time — so trust them”. It often when the brain and logic get involved that design mistakes happen.
A couple of examples are when the client wants to fit the art into a room where there are no colors in common and wants to frame the art to match the room. This person may get very few compliments on their art – they might hear ‘what a nice frame’ or nothing at all!
Another example is when the artwork and framing style are out of sync with the rooms design and feel. The room is very modern and the art and framing is very traditional. This technique and the reverse can work but, it has to be done with care and the boldness and may be hard to live with for most of us. If the framing is picked to compliment or enhance the art by using elements within the art—that customer will get multitudes of compliments on their artwork. Generally most admirers won’t notice that it’s not the exact same shade of ‘blue/red/green’ used in the room.
If art is bought because it resonates in the buyer, the art can then be the jump off point for the room's design and colors. When done this way the art, the room, the furnishings, the accessories and the owner end up being comforted and comfortable within the environment they have created around their art. If you absolutely love the artwork and don’t want to change your décor—you may have to find a new location for the art. Then look for artwork that you may not love but that goes with your décor.
The second reason to frame to the art is that you will generally change the wall colors, buy new furniture or rugs before you will re-frame your art— most art has a minimum of 10-15 years before you may outgrow it. When the art is framed to the décor - re-framing to fit the new décor will become a necessity. If you frame to the art it will always look good. You may have to move the art to a new location or room—but you won’t need to re-frame.
So, you wish to match your décor – frame using inexpensive, decorative posters and decorative framing or choose art that will compliment your decor and won't hurt as much when you get tired of them and want to dispose of them. This art would be bet as filler or as an accent piece.
When the art and frame design are balanced and well thought out – the viewer will first see the whole presentation as one piece, second the Art and third the framing. It is custom and each frame package is designed and hand-crafted for a specific person — there is no mass production here.
After all you did frame that expensive fine art to highlight your local framer, didn't you? — or to highlight your good taste!
