The Perfect Frame

I have always said there is no 'perfect' frame for a piece of art. There are good frames and bad frames for a piece of art. There are frames that can make a piece 'knock your socks off', and there are frames that 'will work'. One aspect of our designer's jobs is to find the 'perfect' frame for each client, one that not only works with the art and budget, but with the client's style and wants.

Recently a client came to me with a charcoal drawing of a coffee cup that was going to hang in her kitchen. Now the 'rule' of adding mats around a piece of art is, "don't introduce a color that is not in the art itself", so when she said she wanted red, gasp, OK - She explained that her kitchen was red, and she didn't want it to look out of place. And they are fun people, so I knew she wanted a touch of whimsy. Makes sense to me.

So my challenge is getting this accomplished. How do I introduce red without it being the focal point? Answer? By adding a touch of red, so that it doesn't drown out the focal point, a white cup. I then came back to the 'rule', and added a sizable white mat around the thin red revel. How about that whimsy touch? A thin red lacquered molding (Bella, Calzini line) with a feathered (or steamy) finish on it should do it.


Candice Olson, Interior Designer extraordinaire, and of HGTV's Divine Design and Designer's Secrets says, "Good design is understanding the rules, but knowing when to break them."

Viola! I am so pleased with the results, but more importantly, my clients were happy!

If you would like the story of this piece of art, visit it on our website here!

~Pat~