Category: Decorating

3 Ways to Hang Art above Your Sofa

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The space above your sofa is, more often than not, the focal point of your living room. To maximize this space, many people hang art above the couch to draw the eye in and create a warm, welcoming environment. When hanging your art, you can get quite creative with how you arrange your photos and art pieces. Below are three different ways to consider laying out your wall hangings.

Hang one large art piece for a stunning, classic look. A large scale painting or print centered over your sofa will make quite the statement. First, it will make the room appear larger, as it will draw the eye up over the couch and toward the ceiling. Additionally, it’ll provide the room with a quiet simplicity that can balance busier artwork. When hanging one large piece, it’s essential to make sure that it’s framed properly so that the frame style complements the look.
Create a collage or gallery wall over your couch. Many people with more eclectic styles love to hang artwork in groups, and you can get extremely creative with how you arrange the individual pieces. From one central painting with other pieces working outward to an off-set focal point, you can experiment with numerous configurations. The key here is to lay these out on the floor before hanging them to make sure you have the perfect arrangement prior to putting any nails in your walls.
Don’t hang your art at all! A simple, modern way to display art over the sofa is to put it on a shelf. The shelf should be positioned high enough so that people won’t hit their heads when sitting down, and once it’s in place you can style it with artwork, photographs, plants, and other décor.

Need frames for your art before you can start hanging it? Give the team at Frame Warehouse a call!

Classic Frame Color Combinations for a Gorgeous Gallery Wall

Gallery walls are a classic way to bring style, art, and photos into your home. Whether you’ve got a sophisticated style or are more eclectic in your tastes, you can create a gallery wall that reflects your personality and brings just the right atmosphere to the room. A wonderful way to set the tone for your gallery wall is to choose frame colors that fit your style.

Classic Black

Black frames are a gallery wall staple for good reason: they let your images shine. You can create a bolder or simpler look by choosing wider or thinner frames, but the overall aesthetic will remain timeless and classic if you stick with an all-black color scheme.

Black and Blush

Combining black and blush frames creates a softer, more feminine look without losing the elegance of the all-black color scheme.

One Solid Bright Hue

To make a really bold statement, choose one solid, bright color and stick with it throughout your entire gallery wall. Something like Frame Warehouse’s yellow frames would make quite the statement and bring a splash of color to your room.

Varying Shades of Natural Wood

Equal parts rustic and eclectic, using different shades and types of natural wood frames is a wonderful way to create warmth in the room. The wood will offer some interesting texture to the gallery wall, but the natural colors will allow your photos and art work to shine.

If you’re interested but not sure where to start, the Frame Warehouse team can provide personal framing that will help you create a stunning gallery wall. Give us a call!

3 Ways to Warm Up Your Waiting Room

Ask anyone who has ever sat in a waiting room at a doctor’s office, in a salon, or at the DMV, and they’ll tell you: waiting rooms can be quite uncomfortable. Whether you own a private practice or have opened a new spa, it’s important that your waiting room is comfortable and reflects your brand. This is, after all, the first impression that your patients or customers will have of your business. The following three tips will help you create a cozier, more welcoming environment.

Hang framed artwork.

Artwork can really warm up a space—even a waiting room—and the right artwork can reinforce your brand. For instance, you might frame and hang vintage technical medical drawings if you have your own medical practice. Or you might frame and hang professional photos of your work if you run a hair salon.

Invest in comfortable seating.

If your patients or customers are willing to wait for their appointment, you should be willing to provide them with comfortable furniture for their wait. Upholstered chairs are wonderful options for waiting rooms, as are couches and loveseats. Try matching the furniture’s fabric to your brand colors to create a warm space that feels welcoming and cohesive with other aspects of your business, such as your signage.

Use scents.

While you certainly don’t want to overpower your waiting room with a strong odor, you can use light scents to create a warm, welcoming space. Try choosing season-specific scents, such as citrus and floral scents in the spring and summer and spice scents in the fall and winter. Warmers that melt scented wax are perfect for waiting rooms, as they heat at a low, safe temperature and don’t have an open flame.

If you’re interested in using frames as part of your updated waiting room, contact the team at Frame Warehouse! We offer commercial framing tailored to your space’s needs.

Temperatures Are Dropping! Keep Your Home Warm with These 3 Decorating Tips

Fall is finally here! The windows are open, a nice crisp breeze is blowing, and it’s time to update your home’s décor for the season. As temperatures continue to drop, you’ll want to make sure your home is warm in every sense of the word. With these three tips, you can create a cozy, comfortable living environment that embraces and celebrates the season.

Add throws to your favorite rooms.

A throw blanket is a wonderful way to add color, texture, and warmth to a room. Additionally, adding a throw is a relatively inexpensive way to update a room—and the different it makes to the look of the space can be staggering. Try adding a throw to the back of the couch, across the side of your favorite chair, or at the foot of your bed.

Make your fireplace the focus of your living room by hanging framed artwork above it.

All too often, the television becomes the central focus of a living room, but during fall and winter you have the opportunity to direct all eyes to your gorgeous fireplace, as your family will spend many an evening gathered around it. Adding a framed piece of artwork to your mantle or hanging it above your fireplace will draw the eye to this part of the room.

Switch out family photos.

So many families get photos taken every year, yet leave the same ones up on their walls. While switching out family photos each year is a wonderful way to update your home’s décor, try using season-specific family photos to provide a warm reminder of the past Halloweens, Thanksgivings, and other holidays.

If you’re ready to update your home’s décor, let the professionals at Frame Warehouse help with your framing needs! Our team looks forward to providing the perfect frames for your artwork and photos.

3 Ways to Use Frames in Your Restaurant

As a restaurant owner, you want your décor to be as perfect as your chef’s risotto recipe. But how can you make that happen? Working with a professional designer is a wonderful option, but isn’t in the budget for every restauranteur. Fortunately, you can create a great space with some simple design choices—including the three below!

Frame artwork that reflects the theme of the restaurant or the style of the cuisine.

This tip can get kitschy fast, but if done right you can use artwork to create an inviting, interesting space. For instance, framed drawings of fruits and vegetables would be wonderful for a vegetarian restaurant. Likewise, an Italian restaurant may frame photos of the gorgeous Italian countryside.

Frame your menu.

For casual dining restaurants, using large frames to present the menu above the counter is a wonderful way to bring a bit of design into your space without distracting customers from their meal options. Just make sure that you remove the glass from the frame, as the glare could make the menu difficult to read. You can also remove the glass to frame trendy chalkboard menus.

Frame the Wi-Fi password in your waiting area.

If your restaurant often has a wait, it’s a wonderful idea to provide customers with Wi-Fi so they can stay occupied. If you do this, frame the Wi-Fi information (network name and password) and hang it in the waiting area so your customers can quickly and easily connect.

For more ideas on how you can use frames to decorate your restaurant, contact the Frame Warehouse team. Our framing services can provide you with the guidance and support you need to get your restaurant looking perfect.

Create the Perfect Nursery with these Sweet Frame Tips

Decorating a nursery is extremely exciting! The time you spend decorating this room is time that allows you to prepare for the growth of your family, to create a secure, comfortable space for your newborn, and for you and your spouse to bond while you get ready to become parents. Personalizing this space is important, and you can do just that with these three sweet ways to use frames.

Frame family photographs—especially maternity and newborn photos.

Whether this is your first child or your fourth, you’ll want the space to reflect the fact that your family has grown. What better way to do so than to hang framed maternity and newborn photos? You can also include photos of other family members. While your baby won’t be able to focus on these right away, as they grow they will love having friendly, loving faces shining down on them.

Frame your baby’s name

A fun trend in nursery decorating is to include the name of your baby somewhere in the room. While painting the name on the wall may look great, it’s not something that your child can cherish for years to come. Instead, have your baby’s name written by a professional calligrapher or hand letterer. Frame and hang it as you would a piece of art.

Frame the feeding schedule.

Having the feeding schedule handy at three o’clock in the morning can help tired parents keep on track—especially if you’re switching feedings with your significant other. Have the schedule typed in a font that matches the room’s décor, frame it, and either hang it by the rocker or place it on a side table for easy reference.

Frame Warehouse is excited to help you with your nursery framing needs! Our team can provide expert guidance on the best frame options to match your nursery’s theme.

Can Holiday Décor Be More Stylish than Kitschy?

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The holiday season is upon us! From Halloween to New Year’s Day, the holiday season offers a multitude of opportunities to gather with loved ones and celebrate. Naturally, you’ll want to decorate your home to get your family into the holiday spirit—but the line between tasteful holiday décor and kitschy mess is sometimes difficult to see. Below are a few ways to get your home ready for festivities without compromising your style.

Don’t replace everything in your home with holiday themed substitutes

The first rule of thumb is not to go overboard when decorating your home for the holidays. Staples, such as picture frames, should not be replaced with holiday-specific pieces. Instead, get picture frames that will match your holiday décor without detracting from it. Metallics are perfect for the holidays, as they’re both festive and versatile enough to fit your décor for the entire season. If you have a bolder style, try frames that offer a pop of color.

Keep the color palette simple

You can definitely use holiday-specific colors in your home, such as silver and blue for Hanukkah or red and green for Christmas, but make sure that you’re using a simple, refined color palette. An example of this is to hang family stockings that all match and are all in the same color family, rather than a hodgepodge of stockings that are each a different style and have widely varying hues.

Use natural décor where you can

Decorating during fall and winter is wonderful because you have so many great natural resources to pull from. For example, you can use pine tree clippings and gourds for centerpieces and pinecones to fill decorative bowls. Don’t forget about holiday scents, too. Instead of the heavy, sweet scents of desserts baking, try lighter scents of the season, such as pine or cinnamon.

Do you have any great holiday décor tips? Share with us over on Facebook!

3 Quick Ways to Spruce up Your Living Room

Do you ever have those days when you just aren’t feeling your living room’s décor? Maybe you still like the overall concept, but are just a bit tired of the style? We’ve all been there. Luckily, there are some easy, affordable ways to spruce up your living room without embarking on a complete redecorating project.

Replace your frames. Frames are not replaced nearly as often as they should be, and switching up even two or three frame styles in your living room can have a dramatic effect. If you want a subtle change, opt for new frames in the same color and style as your current ones. If you want to create a little more drama, go for frames in pops of color or metallics.
Get new throw pillows. Sometimes all you need to shake up your living room décor is a couple of new throw pillows. These are wonderful pieces that can be switched out seasonally, so don’t be afraid of season-specific colors and patterns.
Invest in a throw that has texture. Color seems to abound in many living rooms. From family photos to bold, bright color schemes to more subdued hues, living rooms almost always have a color theme. Texture, on the other hand, is often missing. A great way to breathe new life into your current living room décor is with a throw. Crocheted and knitted throws, especially, are made from fibers that bring a beautiful texture to the space.

Interested in learning more about how you can use frames to improve your living room décor? Give Frame Warehouse a call! You can also check out our Facebook page for design inspiration.

Should You Frame Photos for Your Clients?

As a photographer, you capture moments that your clients treasure for the rest of their lives. Whether you’re a wedding photographer or a portrait photographer or a fine art photographer, your work is cherished. But why not take your work one step further by forging a partnership with Frame Warehouse and providing your clients with expert framing after their photos are taken, edited, and printed?

Most clients need framing guidance

What shape frame would fit an image best? What style would best complement it? Should matting be added? These are just some of the questions that your clients may have while choosing the best frames for their photos. While you may not have the exact answers for them (because you may not know their décor style, where in their house they’ll be hanging the photos, etc.), you can provide them with the expertise of the team at Frame Warehouse to walk them through the answers to these questions and more.

Expanding your offerings can improve how clients perceive your services

Taking clients from photo shoot to gorgeous images hanging on their wall, frames and all? That’s the kind of complete service that a lot of today’s photography clients are looking for. If you choose to work with Frame Warehouse, you can determine the extent to which you’re involved in the framing process. Some photographers prefer to choose the frames when given the creative reigns by clients while others like to let the framing experts take it from there. It really just depends on your interest and relationship with your clientele.

Interested in learning more about how you can partner with Frame Warehouse? Give us a call or send us a message! We’re looking forward to working with you.

Ways to Warm Up Your Bathroom’s Décor

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Bathrooms, as a general rule, contain very white, very stark fixtures: a bathtub, a sink, a toilet. While you can certainly create a degree of warmth by choosing unexpected materials for these fixtures, such as a copper tub or nickel faucets, these upgrades can be extremely expensive. But fear not! You can create a warm, inviting bathroom with these three décor choices.

Create a feature wall using tiles. While this project will require more effort and resources than the other two on this list, it’s worth it. Creating a feature wall with tiles can result in a dramatic statement that is unique to your bathroom. Try choosing warm toned tiles in an array of hues and installing them from floor to ceiling on the far wall from the door. Simple tiles work perfectly, but feel free to explore different tile shapes to get just the right look.
Frame your favorite sayings. Most people get ready for the day in the bathroom, so it can be a wellspring of motivation if you choose to make it one. A great way to inspire yourself to reach your day’s goals is to frame your favorite quote and hang it in the bathroom. Even more fun? Have a few quotes hand lettered and switch them out every few weeks for renewed motivation and focus.
Make a one-of-a-kind shower curtain. While stores offer shower curtains in virtually every pattern and color, it can be a great design move to create your own. Not only is this a fun project, it’ll reflect your personality and brighten up your bathroom in a way that no store-bought curtain can. Experiment with fabric dyes and paints to get a feel for what you like best before designing and making your final curtain.

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