There are few things I love more in life than a wide mat for picture frames. Okay, so maybe I love puppies more, but the point is, I believe that an “oversized” mat can work wonders in elevating the look of your photos and art (we all need a little negative space here and there – make of that what you will).
We have a large wall at the back of our long and semi-narrow living room that needed some lovin’, and I wanted to do something with a bit more of a statement. But, custom framing is expensive, and since I needed three of them to fill out the wall, I also needed to find a more budget-friendly way of going about it.
I’ve heard lots of good things about the custom-framing online store, FrameBridge, which will run you about $179 for just the frame on a 20×30 print (I believe that doesn’t include the mat, but someone correct me if I’m wrong). While that’s not bad in the world of custom framing, I pared the budget down even more by using the following:
MCS Industries 20×30 2-Pack Frame ($49.04/$24.52 each): These come in several different wood finishes and you save more by buying a two pack than an individual frame ($31.94). If you need three like I did, I would buy a 2-pack and an individual, which breaks down to about $26.99 per frame. *Please note that I used another website for the frames pictured, but did not like the quality of the frames and found these Amazon versions to be much better (and shipped faster!)
Shutterfly 12×12 Photo Prints ($6.29/each): Affordable and easy way to print anything you want up to 20×30 sizing
Matboard & More ($29.48/each): I love this site and all the custom mat options available. See the below screenshot for what measurements I used to achieve the offset top-centered look:
OPTIONAL
Frame Destination Non-Glare Acrylic ($41.51): This is not entirely necessary, but I replaced the acrylic that the frames came with. They had too much glare in them due to one of my windows placed directly opposite the art, so I bought the 20×30 non-glare acrylic. If your art isn’t directly facing a window, you can probably get away without this.
And that’s it! It’ll run you $62.76 for each “custom” frame without the non-glare acrylic, or $104.27 with the acrylic.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the photos (from left to right) are from our favorites places: Cape Cod (shoutout to my boyfriend’s mother for taking this one!), Chester County, PA, and Stowe, VT.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope this shows that by getting a little creative, you can still achieve gallery-like framing on a budget.
“Necessity and desperation birth resourcefulness” – Ron Suskind
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