The Best Way to Choose the Best Frame for Your Art
Finding the best frame for your art is one of the most essential parts of buying art for your home or office. What may have looked great when purchasing may look terrible by the time you have it on your wall and leave you dissatisfied, or worse, wanting to return your art to the supplier.
How can you avoid this situation? Well, it's all about balance...
Whether you are purchasing your art online or from an art store in your local area you have to consider not only which wall the art may be going on but also the objects surrounding the area that add elements of color to the wall itself.
Let me show you what I mean by picturing the following. We have a white wall, with some dark vertical shelves, a small potted plant in a tan vase and a soft light. Next, we are on our favorite art website ordering our art and find a beautiful piece that is a expansive rolling landscape that we must buy now. Now let's choose the frame. First, let's consider the wall. It is very light white and has accents in tan - the vase, green - the potted plant, and black - the shelves. The best choice frame in this situation is something that stands out from the largest amount of color in this area, the wall. We should choose a dark frame rather than a light frame. Next, we need to complement these element colors - the vase and the shelves - so that our framed art does not stand out like a sore thumb when mounted on the wall. We complement these colors by selecting a nice dark tan, brown or black color for our frame to really offset these accent items.
You can fine tune the style of the frame by choosing extra trim options. Look at the smaller elements in the room. What colors are you dealing with? Do you have red or gold books on those shelves? Maybe a small set of nick-nacks lives on top of the shelves. What kinds of shapes are used in the furniture in the room? Are you seeing a lot of curves or straight edges? Ideally, you want the shape and trim of the frame to complement these subtle sub-elements in your room.
Next, it is time to choose the mats. Mats are heavy paper inserts that create a more refined look or you can even use an embossed effect to make your art really stand out. In many cases this comes down to personal choice. However, as a general guide, to create the decorative illusion that the art was designed to be part of the room, you should choose matting that compares well with the color of the wall but also contrasts with the primary colors in the art itself. You can often use double matting to soften transitions of color or create virtual blend to soften any harsh colors in the art itself. Ideally, have the two mats should compliment each other.
As we have seen, with a little effort about the area you want to place your framed your art within, you can make any art blend into your home with good framing and matting choices. One final piece of advice - if you are purchasing art online or at a brick and mortar retailer, take a photo of the area you are going to hang your art on to compare with your framing options and matting. That way you have an accurate representation of the colors and it will help you remember the exact shades you may be dealing with.
How can you avoid this situation? Well, it's all about balance...
Whether you are purchasing your art online or from an art store in your local area you have to consider not only which wall the art may be going on but also the objects surrounding the area that add elements of color to the wall itself.
Let me show you what I mean by picturing the following. We have a white wall, with some dark vertical shelves, a small potted plant in a tan vase and a soft light. Next, we are on our favorite art website ordering our art and find a beautiful piece that is a expansive rolling landscape that we must buy now. Now let's choose the frame. First, let's consider the wall. It is very light white and has accents in tan - the vase, green - the potted plant, and black - the shelves. The best choice frame in this situation is something that stands out from the largest amount of color in this area, the wall. We should choose a dark frame rather than a light frame. Next, we need to complement these element colors - the vase and the shelves - so that our framed art does not stand out like a sore thumb when mounted on the wall. We complement these colors by selecting a nice dark tan, brown or black color for our frame to really offset these accent items.
You can fine tune the style of the frame by choosing extra trim options. Look at the smaller elements in the room. What colors are you dealing with? Do you have red or gold books on those shelves? Maybe a small set of nick-nacks lives on top of the shelves. What kinds of shapes are used in the furniture in the room? Are you seeing a lot of curves or straight edges? Ideally, you want the shape and trim of the frame to complement these subtle sub-elements in your room.
Next, it is time to choose the mats. Mats are heavy paper inserts that create a more refined look or you can even use an embossed effect to make your art really stand out. In many cases this comes down to personal choice. However, as a general guide, to create the decorative illusion that the art was designed to be part of the room, you should choose matting that compares well with the color of the wall but also contrasts with the primary colors in the art itself. You can often use double matting to soften transitions of color or create virtual blend to soften any harsh colors in the art itself. Ideally, have the two mats should compliment each other.
As we have seen, with a little effort about the area you want to place your framed your art within, you can make any art blend into your home with good framing and matting choices. One final piece of advice - if you are purchasing art online or at a brick and mortar retailer, take a photo of the area you are going to hang your art on to compare with your framing options and matting. That way you have an accurate representation of the colors and it will help you remember the exact shades you may be dealing with.
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