"Often people ask about framing, but I realize that they may not
know what a good framer is/does.
When you walk into a shop look for the following:
Look at the wall samples. do you generally like the look of the
work they do? Do you enjoy the colour combinations and design styles
they hang on their walls?
Look closely at the framing packages - are the mats cut with
straight corners? Are the bevels nice a crisp? Are their little
notches of torn paper in the corners? Are there obvious over cuts in
the corners? Are the bevels of the mats WHITE??? (NOT off white,
(except in come cases where museum mats are creamy coloured) not
yellow or orange tinted, or that look like cardboard. (These are NOT
acid free mats)
Look at the frame itself. Is is free of scratches and dents?
(Sometimes shop samples can get a bit roughed up - but they should not
look REALLY bad) Can you see through the join in the corners? The
miter on the corners should be closed. No open spaces. No globs of
glue. Check the sides of the frame for nail holes. Are the corners
markered and puttied (that means that say if you are looking at a
coloured frame - you can't see the wood colour along the seams of the
mitered corners.
Look at the back. Is it properly sealed with paper? Are there
bumpons? (Bumpons are the little nubby things at the back of the frame
on teh bottom corners. They provide a small space of air behind your
frame to allow the wall and the frame backing some room to breathe and
they also help to keep the frame straight on the wall. The best ones
are plastic and rubbery - the worst are the cork and foam ones.)
What's the hanging hardware? Screw eyes are not as strong as other
methods. Sawtooth hangers should only be used on very small pieces.
What's the wire like? do they seal the ends or use plastic
encapsulated so it won't poke you or scratch your wall?
What does the work inside look like? Wrinkled? wavy? creased? (Some
things are meant to look wavy - ie: watercolours)
Ask about their stretching methods. Do they use acid free foam
core? Do they tape? do they staple? They should be
pinning or lacing on acid free board.
Ask about the type of glass you want. It's a big project and want
UV protection? ask about it. Not everyone WANTS UV (it's more costly)
so decide if you think it's worth it or not. A quick stitch may not
warrant the extra UV - but if you want it to last for a long time then
go for the UV.
Don't be fooled by different names of glass. Michael's
"masterpiece" glass is the same glass as the Conservation glass at any
other framing shop. They say it's better, etc, but we've checked into
it and it's the exact same thing. It just comes in a different box. So
ask, ask, ask questions.
Do they do their own work? Do they ship it away? Don't always
assume that the person in the back is the framer - in our shop all 3
of us are framers and we all do the work on every project (we all have
specialties - I cut most of the mats, "D" does most of the mounting
and laminating, and any "specialty frames" "M" does the frame cutting,
and probably 75% of the assembly. We can do each others jobs for the
most part- but we often stick to our own department - which means that
on any given frame job at least 2 or 3 people work on it. I can't tell
you how often that people come in and think that the "guy" is the
framer and that "M" and I are just fluff minding the counter. It's
insulting! Some of the old guys almost fall over when they see me and
"M" working with power tools! LOL!!
How easy is your designer to work with? Are they willing to listen
to your suggestions and show you what you want to see? Are they also
willing to show you things you never thought of without over powering
you (ie - they will say things like "I'd like to show you something
else as well if you don't mind. It never hurts to see something
different" and then be able to explain to you why they like that
design, as opposed to "you know, this design you picked is uuuugly -I
think you should do this" (I had a framer do that to me once. I was
framing a piece for my son's room. It was a colourful jungle scene and
she wanted to put brown on it. I thought it looked a bit drab and told
her so - she had a hissy, flopped the matting samples at me and when I
picked out something else myself and asked her my opinion - she said
"I already told you what I thought looked good". True story.
Your framer should ask a little about your needs. Where's it going
to hang? what is the decor in the room? Is it going to be a main part
of the decorating or just a side piece? Did you have any ideas of
where you'd like to start?
ALWAYS frame to suit the picture - NOT the room. If you can make
them work together great - but if not - then frame for the picture.
That way it will look good no matter WHERE you hang it. "
