3 Ways to Style a Gallery Wall

Creating a cozy, happy home means surrounding yourself with the things that you love. This includes photos and art pieces! One of the best ways to showcase your favorite photos and art pieces is to frame them in a gallery wall. Simple yet bursting with personality, a gallery wall highlights the images that are most important to you while bringing style and charm to your home.

Choose Your Frames
Just as important as the images you frame are the frames you put them in. Decide on the look you want to create. Minimalistic, monochromatic frames, such as simple black, really let your photos and art pieces shine. Eclectic, detailed frames can complement your images while creating a cozier feel.

(In)Consistency Is Key
When styling your gallery wall, think about the different sizes of the frames you’ll be using. The images that you’re hanging are likely a wide range of sizes, so you can use different frame sizes to match the images or use a consistent frame size with matting to fit the smaller images to the larger frames.

Spacing, Spacing, Spacing
A great way to create a unique style for your gallery wall is through spacing. Using consistent spacing can complement the sleek look created by minimalistic, monochromatic frames and can balance out a more eclectic frame collection. Using different spacing between frames can strategically draw the eye to star pieces of your gallery wall.

There’s no right or wrong way to style your gallery wall, so get creative with it! Want more framing ideas, tips, and inspiration? Follow us on Facebook or check out our available frames.

How to Accent Your Home with Metallics

Timeless elegance—it’s a design characteristic that many people try to create, but few are able to achieve. The secret? Using key design features in small doses. For instance, adding metallic accents to your home will create that sophistication you’re looking for without venturing into the realm of gaudy.

Metallic Frames
Metallic frames are the perfect way to add a little glitz to your living space. The goal with a metallic frame is to draw attention to the photo or art piece you’re displaying—not to detract from it. Go for simple metallic frames in colors that work with the color palette of your image. If you have a gallery wall, adding in a metallic frame every couple of feet keeps your look consistent without overdoing it.

Metallic Lamps
Whether your room calls for a floor lamp or a couple of small lamps on accent tables, metallic lamps can bring elegance into the space. Like with the metallic frames, keep the design of the lamps simple and focus on metallic colors that really shine amongst the other colors in the room.

Metallic Pillows
Throw pillows are a great way to bring style and elegance into a room, and throw pillows in metallic colors offer a great pop of sophistication without stealing the show. Layer metallic throw pillows in with patterned and solid throw pillows to create a look with a bit of dimension. Additionally, metallic accents, such as beading and grommets, can bring an element of texture to the look.

Ready to bring style and sophistication to your living space with metallic frames? Check out the frames we have available on our website for inspiration. Our Facebook page has great design ideas, too!

3 Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Frames

Spring has sprung! With warmer weather and blooming flowers comes spring cleaning. We’re excited to get our homes spotless to welcome the new season, and we’re particularly looking forward to showing our frames a little love.

Start by Dusting
No matter the size, shape, or material of a frame, it collects dust. Along the top, along the bottom—your frames can collect more dust than you might think. Start your spring cleaning routine by dusting all of your frames with a feather duster or microfiber cloth. Make sure you dust along the top, sides, and front of both the frame and the glass.

Use the Right Cleaner
The wrong cleaner can damage your frames, so it’s important to use the right cleaner. For wood frames, it’s best to use a wood oil or another cleaner that’s specifically designed to preserve the natural beauty of the wood. For plastic frames, an all-purpose cleaner is a great option.

Don’t Forget to Clean the Glass
Keeping the glass in your frames clean will allow you to enjoy a clear view of your photos and art pieces. Taking the frame apart and cleaning the glass separately from the frame is a great option if your frame is made of wood or another material that may be damaged by the glass cleaner. If you would prefer not to take your frames apart, simply spray the glass cleaner onto your cloth instead of directly onto the glass. Want to take your cleaning to the next level? Use old newspapers and a vinegar/water mixture.

While cleaning, you may run into some old frames that need to be replaced or some photos or art pieces that you want to frame. Check out our Facebook page and available frames for inspiration!

Frameworthy Spring Break Art Projects

Spring break is a magical time of year. The weather is warmer, the sun is brighter, kids are out of school, and it’s a great time to tap into your creativity. Looking for family-friendly activities? The following art projects will keep little ones engaged, will be fun creative outlets, and will result in some frameworthy artwork for your home.

Paint Abstract Landscapes
Everyone sees the world a little differently, and how interesting would it be to see the world through your children’s eyes? For this art project, set up a table with whatever paints you have available—watercolors, finger paints, tempera paints—and a stack of paper. As a family, paint abstract landscapes that explore all different environments, like the beach, the mountains, or your backyard.

Draw Family Portraits
Portraiture is an artistic tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Have your kids help brainstorm ideas for creating the perfect sitting area using a favorite chair and a few props, such as a lamp, books, or side table. Take turns having one family member sitting in the chair and the rest drawing their portrait. Colored pencils, markers, crayons, and pastels would be great for this art project.

Make Collages
Collage is a fun artistic form that many kids enjoy. Start by setting out a large stack of magazines and some kid-friendly scissors. You’ll also need glue sticks and cardstock. Have your kids talk about the images that they like while cutting out the pictures and words that they want to include in their collages. Together, glue all of the cutouts onto the cardstock.

Art projects are fun activities that create lasting memories—and amazing art to hang on your walls. Ready to frame your masterpieces? Check out our available frames and Facebook page for inspiration!

Enhance Your Kitchen Decor

Don’t let the oven, refrigerator, and pots and pans put a damper on your kitchen’s style. You can have a cute kitchen by implementing three simple kitchen decor strategies! It’s time to get your kitchen looking as chic as the rest of your home.

Shelves

  • Shelving in your kitchen is a great opportunity to combine utility and decoration.
  • If you have space, install a pot hanging shelf on your kitchen wall. A pot hanging shelf will clear up the cabinets for additional storage, and you will have your pots and pans hanging within reach! It makes cooking so much easier.
  • Hang a simple wall shelf to display your favorite cookbooks and recipes.
  • Pantry shelves aren’t just for pantries! Set them on your kitchen counter too. Pantry shelves will help you have more space on your countertop while still allowing you to have all the essential spices within a short reach.

Bar Cart

  • A bar cart doesn’t need to be just for beverages. It can be a convenient, chic way to store your kitchen appliances when they are not in use.
  • If you don’t use your blender every day, you don’t need it on the counter top. Place it on the bar cart! It will still be accessible, but it will make your kitchen look and feel less cluttered. Do this with all the appliances that you don’t frequently use, like the toaster, the food processor, the immersion blender, etc. Clear the clutter from your countertops!
  • A bar cart also makes a great coffee station. If you find that your coffee essentials take up too much space on your counter, create a coffee station on a bar cart! It is like having extra counter space. Plus, most bar carts have wheels, so you can wheel it to an outlet when you want to make coffee.

Wall Art

  • Decorative wall art is another great way to dress up your kitchen. Here are just a few suggestions that would look great in mismatched frames for a kitschy kitchen.
  • Frame your favorite family recipes.
  • Make a photo collage of kitchen memories. For example, do you have photos of you helping your grandmother baking bread? Do you have pictures of your father helping your mother in the kitchen? A photo collage is a creative and personal way to add flair to your kitchen.
  • Frame art of different foods. Incredible artists have painted foods, why not frame prints of them in your home? It adds culture and flair.

Frame Warehouse has 16 convenient locations and can assist you with any of your framing needs. See our website for a variety of over 80 frames or visit us in person to speak with our friendly staff about what you are looking for in your home decor!

4 Tips to Succeed in Thrift Shopping for Home Decor

It’s easy to get overwhelmed at thrift stores. There are often far more unusable items than there are usable items, but that doesn’t mean you can’t discover amazing pieces at thrift stores and secondhand shops! You simply need to approach thrift shopping with patience, strategy, and an open mind. Here are four ways to help you decorate your home through some frugal thrift shopping.

Have an Open Mind

  • The first step to successful thrift shopping is to go to the store with an open mind. Do not have your heart set on finding a specific item for a specific spot in your home. That is not how shopping at thrift stores works.
  • Be prepared to look around a lot. When something catches your eye, such as a bookshelf, a decorative piece, a chair, anything, think about how that item can be integrated into your home decor! Find the beauty and utility in the items that grab your attention.

Be Prepared to Modify

  • In your thrift shopping experience, you may find a piece of furniture that you love but it needs some work. Maybe the wood stain is worn, or you don’t like the upholstery on the chair. Don’t leave that piece behind! Simple modifications can make an item look new and personalized.
  • Don’t be afraid to purchase something that needs a little elbow grease! You’ll appreciate your home decor more knowing that you customized it and added personal touches. No one in the world has the same decor as you! It is completely unique to your home.

Be In Good Spirits

  • If you are feeling stressed or exhausted the day you had planned to shop, don’t go to the thrift store. You will have more success if you are in a good mood and feeling creative! There is a lot of potential in items you will find, but if you aren’t feeling excited about discoveries, chances are you won’t see the beauty in the items that you come across.

Bring a Friend

  • Bring a friend to enjoy the thrift shopping experience even more! Your friend will discover uniqueness in pieces that you may not have seen yourself.
  • A friend views your home differently than you. They will have another perspective on what can complement the furniture and themes within your home. A fresh pair of eyes is always a great idea.

For another quick way to update your home decor, you can change your wall frames! Something as simple as new frames can change the entire feel of a room. Browse Frame Warehouse online for over 80 styles of new frames at warehouse prices. Happy shopping!

7 Steps to Organized Closets

During the winter, closets become riddled with things we don’t use during the winter season. We stopped playing golf so the clubs are in the closet, along with the baseball mitts, scooters, helmets, suitcases, summer shoes, etc. They all end up in the closet! Come spring, our closets are unorganized and seem like an overwhelming project to tackle. Don’t let yourself feel stressed. Break the process down into pieces, be prepared, and you’ll have your closet organized in no time!

Step 1: Gather the Essentials
Before you open the closet to Narnia, be prepared for the worst. Gather the essentials. You will need garbage bags, two storage bins, and a cup of coffee for extra motivation.

Step 2: Open the Closet Door

Step 3: Start from the Front
The key to completing a task is taking it one step at a time. Instead of clearing out the whole closet and dealing with everything at once, start from the front of the closet and work your way back.

As you pick up items, sort them. Use the garbage bag for the trash (anything you no longer need or items that are in disrepair). Use one storage bin for items that you want to to donate to a secondhand store and use the second bin for items you want to keep in the closet.

Step 4: Sort
Now that everything is out of the closet, it’s time to sort. With the pile of things that you want to keep, begin sorting things into piles. Maybe you sort by the amount you use different items, or by the season that you use items. Sort the pile in whatever way makes the most sense for you.

Step 5: Grab Bins, Drop Off Donations
Now that you have the piles sorted, decide what kind of storage bins you want to use. On your way to drop off your donations you can pick up the storage bins that you will need at home.

Step 6: Put Away the Sorted Piles
Take the piles that you’ve created and put in them in the organizational bins you just bought. It’s instantly gratifying when you can organize your piles into recently purchased bins!

Step 7: Label Bins and Put Them In the Closet
Now, label the bins and stack them in the closet based on when you will need to access items. If you use something frequently, keep it at the front of the closet. Put the stuff you rarely use in the back.

Tada! You did it. In only seven simple steps, you’ve organized your entire closet without much stress. You’ve paved the way for the new season!

For more home tips and tricks, read more from our blog. Additionally, if you’re looking to redecorate your home or organize that old stack of photos, check out Frame Warehouse online to see over 80 frame varieties.

Take Your Office from Drab to Fab

Improve your office environment and impress your clients with an amazing yet simple office makeover. Stop walking into a dreary, beige room every day. Facilitate a healthier, happier, and energetic work environment with these easy-to-implement decor tips!

 

Use lighting to your advantage.

  • Offices tend to be lit dimly, which makes for an uninviting atmosphere. Add lamps to your office space to enhance lighting and highlight areas of your office.
  • Choose decorative lamps that match the personality and aesthetic of your office or company. If your company has a chic, trendy vibe, use lamps that are modern looking, smooth, and that match your color scheme. For a more kitschy, creative vibe check out your local vintage stores for neat floor lamps.
  • Experiment with different kinds of light bulbs. Using fluorescent bulbs can make a room feel dull and uncomfortable. Harsh lighting isn’t great for an office environment, yet it is so frequently used. Try using soft white bulbs rather than fluorescent ones. The soft white light bulbs can create a more welcoming and calm atmosphere.

 

Implement wall decor.

  • Wall decor bring life and personality to any room. Choosing what kind of wall art you want is the challenging part!
  • There are many different kinds of options. Do you want edgy art in a complementing frame? Do you want a minimalist graphic design in a sleek, simple frame? Do you want to create a frame creation from your past client work? Maybe you want to inspire greatness and creativity in your employees. To do that, frame inspirational and relevant quotes.

 

What are some quote ideas?

  • Choosing the right quotes to frame is the key to developing the proper motivation. Here are some popular quotes to choose from:
    • “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
    • “Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise.” – Frank Ocean
    • “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” – Dorothy Parker
    • “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce
  • Simply type these quotes up in a bold font and frame them in a thick, black frame. You’ll have a trendy, simple, and cost-effective way to add flair to your office.

 

Add a reading corner.

  • Any office space can be improved by creating a reading corner. It can inspire thoughtfulness and ideas in your employees and give your clients insight into what your business is all about!
  • Take a small bookshelf and fill it with books, magazines, or journals that are related to your industry and career.
  • This corner should also have a cute, decorative chair that is also comfortable.
  • Consider accenting this area with a floor lamp.
  • Fun idea: You can also frame quotes from your favorite books and hang them on the wall in the reading corner. Doing so would tie the entire reading corner together.

 

For more framing ideas, tips, or inspiration follow us on Facebook! To view and purchase a variety of frames, visit our website or one of our sixteen convenient locations.

 

Straighten Up Your Kids’ Room With Frames

Kids’ rooms are impossible to keep tidy and organized. It’s incredible the amount of stuff all children tend to accumulate! From books and toys, video games and coloring books, shoes, and clothes, accessories and makeup, posters and papers, kids’ rooms are a huge project for organization!

 

To instantly tidy up the appearance of their rooms, help your children frame their wall decorations. Their friend’s photos, their movie posters, their band flyers, all these wall decorations will look better in a frame.

 

Frames make wall art and decorations look put together.

  • Messiness is a huge part of being a teenager or middle schooler. They are juggling a lot with school, extracurriculars, friends, and other responsibilities. Often, the last thing they are worried about is their room.
  • Help them maintain some style by framing all of their posters for them. You can frame all the movie posters in one style of frame. Frame all the band posters in a different style. Hanging them in a unique poster cluster will bring a new focal point to their room, which will distract from the mess that might be all over the floor.

 

Make it a family activity.

  • Sometimes finding ways to bond with your teens can be difficult. They are busy and don’t always like to spend free time with their parents. Making a family activity out of frame shopping and photo buying can be a great way to spend quality time with your kids.
  • They will appreciate the effort that you are taking to help them organize and decorate their room, plus putting all their art in frames and getting it hung up takes time and assistance. Doing these projects together will be fun and productive!

 

Keep their posters and band posters in good condition.

  • We always remember the decorations that we had on our walls when we were kids, right? The memories of each movie poster or songs associated with different band posters. Unfortunately, many of us used sticky paste, staples, scotch tape, or thumbtacks to display our posters. This often resulted in ripped corners, sticky edges, or unfortunate tape rips right down the middle of our beloved posters.
  • Help your kids preserve their memories and special posters by keeping them safely displayed in frames. They’ll appreciate it so much when they’re older.
  • As their interests evolve, they’ll be able to add new posters to their frames.

 

Check out one of our sixteen Frame Warehouse locations for great deals on framing options for any room! Order in bulk online to get all of your children’s posters in great, quality frames.

 

Frame Your Studio

If you are working in a studio of any type, chances are you’re a creative being. You care about art of all forms. You appreciate participating in art and expressing yourself through it. Now is a great time to transform your studio. Make it even more of a creative haven by displaying art that is important to you. Use frames to keep your artwork safely and chicly displayed.

 

Decide the tone of your studio.

  • If you appreciate artistic chaos, you probably have a studio with piles of stuff, all organized in their own unique ways. This style of studio is in need of a variety of different frames. Consider frames in varying sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. Hanging these frames on the wall of your studio will add an allure of organized chaos. It feels modern, but still true to your artistic approach.
  • You may be the artistic, minimalist type, meaning you like white space, clean lines, and a clear focal point. Following a rule of three is an excellent approach for framing in a minimalistic studio. Print your favorite work of art over three oversized poster canvases, frame them, and hang them evenly on a blank wall. It will add personality to the room, but still leave you satisfied with its clean aesthetic quality.
  • For music lovers, your options for framing are limitless! Frame vinyl, band posters, photos of your favorite musicians, etc. Set the tone of your studio to the genre of music you record and you’ll be set.

 

What do you want to frame?

  • Frame your inspiration
    • Design and print quotes that have motivated you in moments of lost creativity.
    • Frame your muse. Who inspires you? Is it your spouse, your family, a long lost love? Frame a photo of the person that keeps you motivated in pursuing your art.
    • Frame artwork from artists that have had the most influence on your work.
    • Frame your reasons for pursuing your creative dreams.
    • Frame art that completes the vision for your studio. It doesn’t have to have a profound meaning. Sometimes, working in an environment that feels finished and put together will be enough to help motivate you to complete your own art.
  • Frame your music inspiration.
    • Frame your favorite vinyl and album covers.
    • Frame sheets of music that have inspired your musical talents and your pursuit in the music industry.
    • Frame signed posters of your favorite bands or artists.
    • Keeping musical inspiration on your walls help fuel your journey toward success.

 

Frame Warehouse can help get your studio walls designed to help you feel creative in your own space. Check out over 80 frames online to see what would look best in your studio! Visit one of our sixteen location for specific advice from our knowledgeable staff.