The Framer's Cheat Sheet — 8 × 10 in (20 × 25 cm)
HOW TO FRAME HER WITHOUT SPENDING MORE THAN THE PRINT COST:
Nobody warns you about this bit. You buy something you love, it arrives, and suddenly you own a lovely piece of paper and a fortnight of trips to a framer who wants three figures.
You don't need any of that. This artwork is a standard size, which means it goes into a frame you can buy in a shop.
The size you're looking for: 8 × 10 inches, or 20 × 25 cm. Same thing, listed both ways depending on where you shop.
The one I'd choose:
An 11 × 14 inch frame with an 8 × 10 mount. She sits in a white border, nothing gets covered, and it looks like a proper piece rather than a photo in a frame. These options are with glass. Choose the colour option to match your decor, I personally think black with a white mount suits this piece the best.
1. Allington Frame — Frame Company — currently priced at £10.79 (£6.95 p+p)- Please note that you need to put CUSTOM SIZE MOUNT AS 8 X 10 MANUALLY!
2. Oxford Frame - Photo Frames & Art- currently priced at £15.71 (£4.95 p+p) - This frame is made from Polcore, a recycled polystyrene, which is an environmentally-friendly, high quality, framing material.
If you'd rather keep it simple and super budget friendly:
An 8 × 10 frame, no mount — she fills it edge to edge. The frame lip will overlap the outer few millimetres of the drawing, which nobody really notices.
1. Easy photo frame- Dunelm- £2 (£3.95 p+p)
But of course, buy to your taste, whether that is a funky colour or style of frame e.g. a box frame like this one from Ikea or a whimsical bobbin frame like this one from Dunhelm.
If you'd rather go properly:
If you want museum glass, a hand-cut mount and something built to last a century, any decent local framer will do it for somewhere between £60 and £150. It looks wonderful but it is not necessary.
Hanging:
There are hanging strips in the box. No drill, no holes, no arguing with your landlord.
How to use them:
Frame her first, the strips hold the frame, not the paper
Wipe the wall where she's going and let it dry properly. They won't stick to dust.
Press two pairs of strips together until they click, then peel and stick one side to the back of the frame, near the top corners.
Peel the other side and press the frame to the wall. Hold it there for about thirty seconds.
Take the frame back off, press each strip firmly against the wall for another thirty seconds, then wait an hour before hanging her back up. Tedious, but it's the bit that stops her falling off in a fortnight
To take her down: pull the little tab straight down, slowly, keeping close to the wall. Don't yank it outwards, that's what takes the paint with it.
Where they won't work: textured wallpaper, freshly painted walls (give new paint a couple of weeks), and some chalky plaster finishes. If you're not sure, a single small picture hook is the safer bet.
How high: hang her so the middle of the picture sits at about eye level -roughly 145 cm from the floor. That's the height galleries use, and it's why things in galleries look right and things in houses sometimes don't. But, ultimately, pop it where you think it will look awesome!
Then stand back a few feet and admire!
One more thing: your phone has a spirit level in it. On an iPhone it's inside the Measure app. No need to buy anything.
Any trouble at all, email me. I'm a real person and I actually answer.
Kirsty x