Category: DIY

Make a Family Schedule with a Frame

No matter how large or small your family, it’s important to stay organized when schedules get busy—and this is definitely the case if you have kids who are wrapping up the school year. From digital calendars to paper planners, you have a plethora of organizational methods to choose from, but why not set up a schedule that’s both functional and a pretty part of your home’s décor? This DIY framed calendar will allow you to keep tabs on all of your family’s activities while adding a bit of style to your living space.

Step 1: Choose your frame

The first (and most exciting) step in this DIY project is to pick the perfect frame for your calendar. The team at Frame Warehouse can help you identify which frame will best complement your home’s décor while offering enough space to keep up with your family’s schedule.

Step 2: Glue in the cork or whiteboard

Remove the backing and the glass from your frame. Next, lay the frame face-down on a flat surface and place a sheet of cork or a whiteboard over the top of it. Cut the cork to match the dimensions of the frame (if you choose to use a whiteboard, make sure that the board you purchase matches the dimensions you need so that you don’t have to cut it). Finally, glue the cork or whiteboard to the back of the frame so that you can’t see the edges when it’s hung.

Step 3: Create your calendar

Using ribbons, markers, pins, and other fun materials, mark off the lines of your calendar. If you have a smaller frame, you may want to stick to a weekly calendar instead of a monthly one. Once your days are marked, go ahead and fill in your family’s activities.

Interested in learning about more DIY projects you can do with frames? Follow Frame Warehouse on Facebook!

3 Things to Frame to Get Your Home Ready for Summer

Updating your home’s décor from one season to the next is a great way to enjoy your living space throughout the year. This may seem like a large undertaking, but don’t worry! You can make small changes that have a major impact. One such change is to switch out the photos and artwork you have framed around your house. Below are three things that you can frame this summer to keep your living space feeling warm and vibrant.

Vintage beach photos: Vintage photos of the beach can bring a lot of style to your living space—and can get your family excited for the trip to the coast you’ll be taking later in the season! Try looking for an assortment of photos from different countries to hang in a cluster.
Photos from family vacation: If your family takes summer vacations, relive your favorite moments each season by framing your photos. Over the years, your summer photo collection will grow and, eventually, you’ll have enough to create a gallery wall for the season!
Art with a summer theme: When you think summer, you probably think sunshine and bright colors—and these are great themes for art to hang during this season. But if that just doesn’t fit your style, try looking for black and white photographs taken at a beach.

Looking for a little guidance when framing your photos or art? Give the team at Frame Warehouse a call! We can assist with everything from helping you choose the perfect frames to providing our personal framing services.

Can’t Find the Perfect Serving Tray? Make One with a Frame!

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Serving trays are the perfect accessories for decluttering your living room, kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, but finding the perfect tray for your space may be a challenge. Instead of combing the shelves of store after store, why not make a tray that brings the exact character and personality you’re looking for to your space? All you need is a frame, some fabric, and a few beads.

Choose your frame

Before you go shopping, you’ll want to have a certain size tray in mind. If you’re making your tray for your living room, a larger size frame that matches the scale of the space will work best. For your bedroom or bathroom, try a smaller frame that will fit better on a nightstand or countertop. The team at Frame Warehouse can help you find the perfect one.

Choose your fabric

The fabric will go under the glass of the frame, so it will sit along the bottom of the tray. You’ll want your fabric to complement the frame you’ve chosen, and this is a great time to get creative! From textured solids to colorful patterns, pick a fabric that will bring warmth and personality into your living space.

Choose your beads

The beads will go along the bottom of the tray to provide it with a little height. You can choose a lower profile look with smaller beads the same color as your frame, or you can opt for a bolder look with brightly colored or patterned beads.

Assemble your tray

First, lay the frame face down and remove the back. Wrap the fabric around the inside of the frame’s back, making sure that the edges spill over so that the fabric wraps around. Reassemble the frame and trim away any excess fabric, leaving about a quarter inch around the sides so that it doesn’t slip out. As a last step, glue the beads to the back of the frame (which should still be lying face down). Let the glue dry for about 30 minutes and voilà, your tray is complete!

Interested in more DIY projects? Follow Frame Warehouse on Facebook!

Use Frames to Create Geometric Art for Your Home

Creating a focal point on the largest wall in your living room is a wonderful way to draw in the eye and create a warm space. While hanging a large piece of art may be ideal, it’s not always financially feasible. If you’re on a budget but want a unique, eye-catching feature for your living room, try this geometric art project using nothing but frames!

Step One: Gather Your Frames

The wonderful thing about using frames as art is that you can create virtually any style with them, as they come in so many different shapes, colors, textures, and sizes. Get a sense of how large you want your whole art piece to be and put some thought into the kind of style you’d like to create. Once you’ve decided on these two things, head over to Frame Warehouse. We’ll help you pick out the perfect collection of frames for your feature wall.

If you’re going to take the DIY route to picking out frames, keep these things in mind:

Frames similar in color and texture can create a sleeker, more polished look
Frames that complement one another in color and have different textures can create a sophisticated yet eclectic look

Step Two: Lay Out Your Design

To avoid putting too many holes in your wall, it’s a good idea to lay out your design on the floor or kitchen table before you start hanging your frames. Start with your larger frames first, then create clusters of your smaller frames around and within the larger ones. Remember to be creative—there’s no right or wrong way to do this! Try overlapping frames and grouping different colors and textures until you get a layout that you’re happy with.

Step Three: Hang Your Frames

When hanging your frames, start with the middle of your design and work your way out. This will ensure that your art is centered on your wall. Don’t forget to use a level!

Want help picking out frames for your geometric art piece? Stop into Frame Warehouse!

DIY: Create a Unique “Wreath” with Frames

Putting up a new wreath is a fun and festive way to mark each season—but it can become expensive and difficult to maintain, especially if you’re using plants or foliage. Instead, why not try this DIY version? Cost-effective and fun to make, this will allow you to celebrate each season while decorating your home in a way that reflects your personal style.

DIY Frame Wreath Step 1: Gather Your Materials

One medium to large sized frame (depending upon the size of your door)
Paint (optional)
Ribbon, yarn, or twine, depending on your style preference
Seasonal items to hang from your wreath (ornaments, wooden letters, bells, etc.)
Stapler
Over-the-door wreath holder

DIY Frame Wreath Step 2: Assemble Your Wreath

First, decide whether or not to paint your frame. A great way to skip this step is to visit us at Frame Warehouse and choose a frame that’s already the color and style that you want. If you are painting, make sure you sand the frame first if necessary.

Next, cut strips of your ribbon, yarn, or twine to different lengths. You’ll want one strip per ornament that you’re going to hang. Once they are cut, go ahead and attach the ornaments to the bottoms of the strips.

Once your ornaments are attached, place your frame on a table so that the back is facing up. Use your stapler to attach the tops of the strips to the top of the frame. This way you’ll be able to see the strips coming down from behind the top of the frame when you have it hanging.

If you like the look of your wreath at this point, go ahead and hang it by a loop of ribbon, yarn, or twine on the over-the-door wreath holder. But don’t stop here if you want to add more decoration! Get creative and use the rest of your materials to further decorate your wreath.

Want help picking the perfect frame for this project? Stop by Frame Warehouse!

3 Fun Ways to Add a Bit of Style to Your Retail Store

When decorating your retail store, you certainly want the quality of your goods to speak for itself; however, it’s critical to your brand and to creating a welcoming, warm space that you design your shop in a way that supports the aesthetic of your goods. Below are three fun ways that you can add some style to your shop without distracting from the items you’re selling.

Hang artwork. Art quickly and effectively communicates certain feelings and emotions with people, making it the ideal way to silently communicate with your customers. Frame and hang whatever best fits your brand, such as art by local artists, modern prints, etc. Make sure you have each piece professionally framed to allow it to best tell your shop’s story.
Merchandize your heart out. How you present your items will impact whether or not customers can envision them in their homes. Group like items and colors, and try to showcase them in a way that invites the customer to touch them. For instance, you’ll want customers to pick up a teapot that you have on sale in order to feel its balance and experience the joy they’ll feel every day if they purchase it.
Don’t forget about your floors. All too often, the floors in a retail space are neglected. Warm up your shop’s look and bring a bit of style to the space by laying rugs over hardwoods or concrete floors, layering rugs of different shapes, colors, and styles, and exploring other fun flooring options.

Frame Warehouse would love to help you frame artwork for your retail space. Give us a call and we’ll help you determine the best services for your store’s needs.

3 Types of Art Perfect for Triptychs

As a concept, a triptych is quite simple: it is a series of three pieces of artwork hung side by side. Sometimes the pieces of art are connected, as if they had been painted on one large canvas and cut apart, and other times they are three separate pieces that share a similar color palette, subject, or theme. They are nearly always the same size and shape, and they are always wonderful focal points in a room. When creating a triptych in your home, get creative with the type of art you use to achieve a look that’s unique.

One large image. Crafting a triptych from one large image, whether it is a painting, a photograph, or a collage, is a great way to create a modern feel. To make the piece even more impactful, use a large scale and hang it over your sofa or fireplace.
A series of portraits. During family photo shoots, your photographer will take several portraits of your family and, if you ask them to, your individual family members. Choose your three favorite to frame side by side.
A collection of special ticket stubs. This is a wonderful triptych idea for a young couple! Frame three important ticket stubs that tell the story of your relationship—maybe from movies you’ve seen together or shows you’ve been to.

The finishing touch of any triptych is the perfect set of frames. The team at Frame Warehouse would love to help you choose the right frames for your piece of art. Give us a call

3 Framed Gifts from the Heart this Holiday Season

Finding the perfect gift for someone can put a lot of pressure on you—especially if you don’t typically exchange gifts. When deciding what to give, keep in mind that the best gifts are those that come from the heart. No matter how much it costs, a heartfelt gift will be cherished for years to come. Below are three framed gifts that your friends and family will love.

Gift 1: A framed family photo

Whether your friend or family member has already had photos taken or you are surprising them with a family photo session, providing a framed image that they can hang is a wonderful way to celebrate the spirit of the holidays. This is also an incredibly moving and thoughtful gift to give after a loved one has passed, as the photo of your friend or family member with their loved one will be cherished for years to come.

Gift 2: A framed ticket from a shared event

Lots of people keep tickets to movies, football games, hockey games, and other events, but these memories often go left unseen in a drawer. For a heartfelt gift, frame a ticket to a meaningful event. Perhaps a movie ticket from your first date with your spouse, or a ticket to your child’s first professional football game.

Gift 3: A framed photo representing a promise

Frames are wonderful for preserving memories, but they can also be used to promise the creation of future memories! For example, you could frame a print or other piece of art made in the next country that you and your spouse are going to explore together.

The team at Frame Warehouse is ready to help you pick out the perfect frames for your gifts. Give us a call or check out our online shop today!

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!

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.