29 Great Tips for Choosing the Right Picture Frame & For Hanging Artwork and Family Photos

In my recent article, Easy, Inexpensive, Do-It-Yourself Picture Framing I discussed, among other things, ideas for how to use mats when framing family photos and artwork.

Mandy Katz, who blogs at AngloFiles.com, has a flair for choosing or making just the right frame. Below are tips from Mandy that will help take the worry out of framing and hanging your artwork.

Color

• It's often safe to use black, white or off-white for the mat, but it's generally not a good idea to juxtapose white and off-white.
• A black mat and a wood-finish frame work nicely together.
• Consider colors that won't clash or look bad against your wall color.
• Choose a mat color that's in the image, but not overwhelmingly present and not prevalent along the border of the art so that you have contrast.
• If you use a double mat follow the same rule with a contrasting color. The second color should appear just a bit in the picture and this will bring that color out.
• Look at it all together to figure out the color of your frame. If you have a color mat, you probably want to go with a wood finish or neutral frame. Using color in both the frame and the mat can look gaudy.
• Professionally made mats come in a variety of textures. Using texture can help set off the artwork, especially with a plain frame. For example, a silk mat in a black laquer frame can have that wow factor.
• Here's an example of an effective color combo: a watercolor of a tropical tree frog in a shiny bright green frame with big white mat. Color mats with white frames are also effective.

Style: Plain or Decorative? Wood or Metal?

• The style of the frame should go with the mood or style of the art.
• A shiny black laquer frame, for example, can look great with Chinese art.
• Wood frames may lend a rustic look; think about the effect you want.
• A slender metal frame gives a sharp, clean, modern look for, say, an abstract painting or a print.
• Metal frames can be less expensive than other choices and are good for posters, which often demand neither a fancy frame nor a mat.
• A thin wooden frame is often problematic for large pieces of art (looks aside, the frame needs to be heavy enough to hold the weight of the glass).
• A wide frame on a small picture can have a great effect; you often see old masters hung this way in museums, little pictures in big frames.
• Double frames with plexiglass between them, instead of using a mat, allows the wall to show through and can be pretty cool looking.

Glass

• Regular glass is usually a good bet. However there are times when other choices make sense.
• Non-glare glass can be practical in places where you have, well, glare. Some people don't like it because from some angles it can dull the vibrance of the art.
• Plexiglass can yellow and scratches easily but it's lightweight, an advantage for hanging large pieces, such as posters, which by the way generally do not need mats.

Hanging Art

• Hang small or medium-sized works in clusters, even if that means empty space nearby. You don't want your pictures to look lonely.
• Group different sizes and different frames together for an eye-catching effect.
• Leave some open spaces; not every wall needs to have a painting.
• Hang art and family photos with balance, but you don't necessarily want symmetry, especially if frames are not all the same.
• Lay clusters out on floor to arrange them before driving nails into your wall.
• Hang art at eye-level of a not very tall person.
• Strive for the right height. When hanging art above a sofa, you want it to clear people's heads, but it should be low enough to look connected to the sofa. It you hang it above a table, similarly it should be low enough to look connected, sometimes leaving space of only a couple of inches.
• Err on the side of low; most people hang their art too high.

Common Mistakes

• Matching art to furniture color
• Mismatching of content and frame, for instance putting an ornate or gilded frame on a child's artwork.

What tips to you have for framing and hanging artwork?

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