Frame Destination

You may want to spruce up every room in your house with a little personal decoration on the walls, but some rooms are better equipped to handle framed artwork than others.

When hanging artwork in the bathroom, the biggest problem you’ll run into is the humidity. Moisture can easily creep into a frame package, allowing mold to take hold and flourish. That doesn’t mean that hanging artwork in the bathroom is a lost cause, though: with a little bit of preparation and the right type of artwork and frame, you’ll never have bare bathroom walls again.

Hang Moisture-Proof, Replaceable Artwork

Mold can survive on almost any surface, but some materials will particularly encourage growth. Paper-based and wood products are a favorite snack of mold, for example — and it just so happens that much framed artwork is created on paper.

Don’t hang irreplaceable artwork in the bathroom, such as paper-based limited edition prints, documents, original paintings or vintage movie posters. If you do prefer a framed print, consider getting an inexpensive copy that you won’t mind replacing if mold begins to grow or the artwork begins to warp. Though you should not hang original or special canvases in the bathroom, canvas prints are generally safe in the bathroom as they often feature a special coating that can ward off moisture.

Alternatively, hang a framed metal print. Metal prints are made with aluminum, which does not rust or warp, and mold won’t grow nearly as easily — if at all — on these prints. Metal prints don’t require glazing, either, so you won’t have any chance of moisture buildup in the frame. Other items can also be framed in the bathroom, such as tiles, plates and other artwork made from non-paper products.

Use a Metal Frame

The bathroom’s constantly changing temperatures may cause wood frames to expand and contract, causing damage to the frame. Instead, use metal frames — our metal frames are made with aluminum, which does not rust and will withstand those fluctuating temperatures.

Avoid Glazing, But Use Acrylic When Needed

Moisture can more easily build up inside a framing package when there is glazing. If possible, use artwork that doesn’t require glazing; if you do need to use glazing, use acrylic instead of glass. Acrylic, unlike glass, allows some moisture to pass through, which will prevent moisture from building up inside the frame.

As a bonus, acrylic won’t shatter if the frame falls off the wall — an important factor in a room where you are often barefoot.

Vent the Room

Many bathrooms have exhaust fans, so make sure that you actually use it. Run the exhaust fan as soon as you enter the bathroom and for at least 20 minutes after a bath or shower. Leave the bathroom door open when not in use, and if you have a window, leave it open as often as you can.

For the Pros, Create a Sealed Enclosure

There is a way to frame whatever you want in the bathroom: create a sealed frame enclosure. This is generally only done by professionals for extremely valuable items, and it uses many materials that you most likely won’t have laying around the house, such as foil laminate or silica gel paper. Hugh Phibbs, a renowned preservation consultant, has written extensively on the subject of creating sealed enclosures that effectively trap out moisture, outlining methods that have been used to protect important documents such as the Declaration of Independence.

Of course, most people will probably opt to hang that precious artwork elsewhere in the house, instead choosing less important but still appealing artwork in the bathroom. While the bathroom is a place of heat and humidity, the two greatest enemies of wall frames, they can still be a great place to show off your taste in art and décor.

You may want to spruce up every room in your house with a little personal decoration on the walls, but some rooms are better equipped to handle framed artwork than others. When hanging artwork in the bathroom, the biggest problem you’ll run into is the humidity. Moisture can easily creep into a frame package, allowing […]

A crooked picture frame on the wall is one of life’s greatest annoyances, especially if you’re a bit of a perfectionist. You’ve selected the best picture frame for your art and made sure that you’ve hung the frame in the right spot; you don’t want to be constantly nudging one corner to make sure it’s level. Instead of adjusting and readjusting your picture frames, put a stop to those slants and tilts with a few tips from the pros.

Use the Right Hanging Kit

Start off on the right picture framing foot with the right hanging kit. Sawtooth hanging kits are easy to use, but when used improperly, these hangers often lead to crooked picture frames — or even broken ones, once they’ve failed and fallen on the floor. Only use sawtooth hangers on picture frames that are light and relatively small — less than 12 inches at its longest side — to ensure that the picture frames stay straight and on the wall.

Frame Destination includes free picture frame hanging kits, which include all the correct materials for wood and metal picture frames, with every complete frame order (i.e. you’ve ordered mat board, glazing or backing board for the frame). With our complete kits, you don’t have to figure out which hangers work best with which frames.

Use Two Hooks, Not One

When hanging picture frames, many people will use just one nail or hook to hang the wire on — but this is where the problem starts. Using only one nail or hanging hook makes it far easier for the picture frame to slide around. In order to keep picture frames from moving on the walls, use two nails or hooks to which you attach the hanging wire; if you’re using a sawtooth hanger, opt to use two instead of one to ensure that the frame is straight. Our hanging kits always come with enough hardware and hanging wire to use two nails or hooks to hang your picture frames, though if you prefer sawtooth hangers, they can be purchased separately in both metal and wood versions.

Don’t Leave Too Much Slack

Too much wire gives your picture frame that much more opportunity to move around. The hanging wire should be just the right length for your picture frame and two hooks — too long and it will start to tilt (either to the side or forward), while too short a wire can damage the frame and its contents due to the tension. With the wire, you should create a nearly straight line across the frame but not so tight there is tension on the edges of the frame. Frame Destination will always cut the right length of hanging wire when we send you a complete frame package, though you can always adjust it yourself. For illustrations and exact steps on this process, read our blog post on "How to Position and Attach a Hanging Kit to Your Metal Picture Frame."

Use the Wall Bumpers

Included in every hanging kit are items that are perhaps the most important part of the package when looking to keep picture frames level: wall bumpers. These bumpers, which are small, clear circular rubber buttons with an adhesive back, stick to the back of the frame’s corners to protect the wall from damage. But the bumpers do more than that; they also help keep the frame steady, preventing it from sliding around.

Anything from bumping into the wall to slamming a door can cause a picture frame to slip and start tilting to one side — but it doesn’t have to, provided you’ve taken a few simple steps to ensure your picture frames stay straight.

When framing artwork with mat board, one of the typical questions is about mat border size. Specifically, how wide should the borders of the mat board be? Framers, artists and art lovers all have different opinions. Some like single mat boards with four equal borders, while others love the look of double or even triple mat boards. There is also another classic style of framing art, which is the subject of this blog post today, the bottom-weighted mat board.

What Is a Bottom-Weighted Mat?

A bottom-weighted mat board simply means that the bottom border of the mat board is wider than the top border. This mat board style is common among traditional framers, as its practice has been in use since Victorian times.

Bottom-weighted mat board

While it’s not entirely clear why or how the practice of bottom-weighting mat boards began, some framing professionals suspect it started because of the high ceilings common in Victorian homes. Pictures were hung at an angle high on the wall, making it easier to view. However, tilting the artwork made it appear as though it was off balance; to correct this illusion, people began framing their artwork with a wider bottom border.

Another explanation of this mat board style is simply that the optical center is higher than that of the geometric center; in other words, where your eye is drawn is actually above the actual center of the space. It is related to the golden mean, also known as the golden ratio, a popular concept in art.

The Meaning of the Golden Mean

The golden mean exists when two quantities have the same ratio as the ratio of their sum and the larger of the two quantities, expressed as a formula:

Also related to the Fibonacci sequence and the golden spiral, which uses the golden ratio as its growth factor, the golden mean has been used in art and architecture as well as in math. Piet Mondrian’s famous Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow — and in fact the many works based on this theme — exhibit the golden ratio, as does da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Artists began basing their work off this concept, believing it created art that was more aesthetically pleasing.

Visual representation of the golden ratio

This pattern has been found in nature, too, which makes it all the more fascinating: the seeds on pine cones follow this spiral, as do the smallest seashells and the largest galaxies. Everywhere you look — under the sea and up to the stars — you can find an example of the golden mean.

Using the Golden Mean in Bottom-Weighted Mats

The golden mean is great for creating artwork, but how does it fit in with creating mat boards? The answer is simple: you can use the ratio, which can be expressed as 1.618, to determine the correct size of the mat board. This ratio will show you how much larger the area of the mat board should be than the artwork itself. For example, if you have artwork that is 8 x 12, simply multiply the length and width by 1.618 to determine the size of the mat board.

Then, to determine the bottom width of the mat board, you need to find the optical center. To do this yourself, you can use a piece of paper as big as the mat board.

Place the print (or a sheet of paper the size of the print) in the top-left corner of the temporary mat board.
Measure to find the vertical and horizontal middle of the remaining mat board, i.e. the mat board not covered by the print.
Use a straightedge to draw a line from the right side of the board where the drawn horizontal line ends to the bottom left-hand corner of the artwork. Where this line intersects the vertical line is where the lower right-hand corner of the print should be.
Once you’ve positioned your artwork, you can measure how wide the bottom border should be.

This method may not look “right” with all artwork, and some may say that the mat board is too wide or the bottom border too big. Play around with these methods — and the golden mean — to see what kind of bottom-weighted mat board works best.

Need some creative inspiration that will make your celebration of love a huge success? We’re here to help. Forget the mundane chocolate and flowers and opt for a meaningful gift that is sure to spark the “feels.” Here’s five sure-fire future favs for your Valentine.

Frame Your Favorite Photo

There’s never a better time to make use of all those great photos you take as a couple but never frame or display — we’re all guilty of it. Framing your favorite photo can be the perfect gift, but don’t opt for a flimsy off-the-shelf picture frame; instead, choose a quality picture frame and mat board that perfectly complement your photo and will last far beyond your next milestone anniversary. Using a hand crafted, and personally designed frame will not only help preserve your photographs for years, it will show that you care about the small details and your memories together.

Give a Framed or Canvas Print of Your Pet

Those sweet or funny photos of your four-legged or feathered loved ones make great gifts. Besides, they are members of the family too — loved and cared for just like our own children, so why not surprise your special someone with a framed photo of your beloved pet? Profile 500, with its many options for natural hues, is a stylish way to feature Fido or spotlight Simba. Match the hue of the frame to one of the colors in the animal’s fur or feathers for a masterfully designed presentation, or top that with a large canvas print; alternatively, commission a portrait based off a favorite photo of your pet. Once you receive your canvas, you can display it beautifully inside a stunning canvas floater frame.

Frame a Love Letter

Love letters are a lost art, but few forms of communication are more romantic. For those that exchange them, especially those who have been in a long-distance relationship at one point in time, they can be a cherished and sentimental gift. If you have a collection of love letters (or if you don’t — there’s no better time to write one), pick your favorite and frame it.
Score even more creative points by using a love letter as the mat board, surrounding your favorite photograph. Purchase a complete frame package with a mat board cut to your specifications. Lay the letter or letters over the mat board and cut out the mat board opening in the center of the letter. Use a spray or liquid adhesive to attach the letter to the mat board, and then assemble the frame. If you’d rather not damage your letter, make a high-quality photocopy, rewrite the letter or simply write directly on the mat board.

Create a String Collage

One frame can display multiple photographs and can be a reusable and romantic home décor item. Purchase an empty frame, string, small clips and wooden or cardstock letters of your initials. Attach three lengths of string horizontally across the frame; on the uppermost string, clip your initials as well as an ampersand or plus sign. On the lower two strings, attach a few of your favorite snapshots. With this frame, you can swap out snapshots over time — it’s a personalized gift that can evolve with your relationship.

Get Puzzled

Give the gift of a good time plus a cherished keepsake with a personalized puzzle. Choose a favorite photo to have made into a jigsaw puzzle — there are tons of online shops that specialize in puzzle making — and spend some quality time putting all the pieces together. Once you’ve completed the puzzle, you can permanently glue it together, mount it to a board, and frame it to enjoy for years to come. The bright and modern colors of the Nielsen Profile 117V are a perfect complement to vivid photo puzzle hues and other decorative framing projects.

Frame Your Favorite Photo

Give a Framed or Canvas Print of Your Pet

Frame a Love Letter

Create a String Collage

Get Puzzled

When it comes to framing artwork, there is a lot of lingo to learn: rabbet, hinging, moulding and points, to name a few. Two terms that are often confused — and often incorrectly used interchangeably, when in fact they are very different things — are float mounting and floater frames.

The confusion lies in their names, as they both use the word “float.” The word is used in both terms to describe the effect they produce: one is a type of mounting technique that “floats” the artwork off the mounting board inside the mat, while the other is a special type of frame for canvas artwork where the art appears to be floating inside it.

Float Mounting: An Overview

Float mounting does not refer to a frame but to a certain type of mounting technique. The standard methods of mounting artwork uses a mount board or uncut mat board with no window to which the artwork is usually attached with hinging tape, tissue, spray adhesive or dry mounting. Although photo corners and strips may also be used, they will be visible. Note that using permanent adhesives in mounting artwork is not archival, and they should only be used with replaceable prints and items.

In the standard mounting method, the mat board, which has been cut slightly smaller than the artwork to reveal an opening in the center, is placed over the print. This covers a portion of the artwork’s edges.

However, for some artwork — such as those with an important signature in the corner or unique edges, such as a worn-down document or a deckled watercolor — covering the edges is undesirable. To display the entirety of the artwork, framers will opt to float mount the piece. This means that no parts of the print are covered: either there is no mat board, or the mat board opening has been cut larger than the artwork itself. A typical float space around the artwork ranges from 1/4" to several inches depending on the look desired.

In order to add more interest, some framers will float mount on uncut mat board blanks instead of mount board — instead of just black, white or cream, the standard mount board colors, you can use a variety of eye-catching hues to draw the eye and complement the artwork and its striking edges.

Floater Frames: An Overview

A floater frame, also called a floating frame or float frame, is a style of picture frame specifically for stretched canvas artwork, available in both wood and metal. When using this frame, the edges of the artwork — generally canvas on stretcher bars — does not touch the inside edges of the frame, making it look as though the art is floating within it.

The canvas is attached to the frame on the back with offset clips, which are simply screwed into the stretcher frame. Though it looks like magic, assembling and hanging this type of frame is just as easy as standard wood and metal frames.

Can You Combine Float Mounting With Floater Frames?

No: while they have similar names, they are not the same thing. One is a technique and one is a product, and they’re also not used with the same types of artwork. Float mounting is used with photographs, charcoal and pastel artwork, prints, and documents, while floater frames are used with stretched canvases. Canvases cannot be mounted or matted, and prints cannot be attached to floater frames.

If you’re going for a distinctive, ethereal style for your prints and canvases, try your hand at some framing magic — float them!