Picture Framing

My first thought given my limited experience so far is that framing is a headache and I would sooner stay clear!  Theres a number of challenges to consider, firstly a frame is generally chosen by a customer with their existing décor in mind and that’s fine, but of course when I am building my stock, I have no clue what that décor or any other decor looks like.   Given I am a small business with limited funds I can’t stock a myriad of different frames, this necessitates taking a standard approach going with something neutral, like a chestnut-coloured wooden frame and then hoping for the best. 

The second issue is cost, as soon as you frame a picture you add cost, if you buy a good solid frame with a glass screen, you are multiplying the cost by a factor of four or five, that’s not always appreciated by potential customers.  Some images that I have had professionally framed I have had to inflate the cost to over one hundred pounds and more, I am not sure potential customers are ready to spend in excess of one hundred pounds at a local craft fair!  Conversely, I can’t get my head around buying a cheap frame rickety frame with a Perspex screen, they look cheap and the overall product is degraded, so for me I go with value over cheap, for good or bad!

My solution has been to purchase, in bulk (to reduce cost), a neutral frame to suit a more pastel décor, I have chosen a chestnut-coloured frame with a glass screen.   I do the matting, framing and sealing myself, I now have all the tools and know how (thanks YouTube) to do a professional job, the final product looks great and the price is under one hundred pounds.

The overall approach I take is to sell the majority of images in a ‘strut’ frame which essentially is a cardboard or matted frame in a cellophane wrapper.  My best sellers are in both a strut frames for those customers who wish to frame the image themselves and in a wooden frame which is hugely convenient and can be put on the wall in minutes, no faff!   Due to the available space on the stall the vast majority of the images are in a strut frame within an artists browser with only a few images actually framed.

What I have found is that one frame that absolutely works in most every situation is when framing a black and white image, the frame can be black, the matt can be grey or white and the whole thing looks terrific on nearly every wall regardless of the décor.

Let me know if you have a different framing strategy, always keen to hear better and more informed ideas….