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Congratulations! Your just experienced the unfettered joy of opening your mailbox or front door to find the artwork you recently purchased and have been anxiously awaiting. I know the feeling. It's like Christmas morning. Chances are you have been thinking about your purchase for a while and have decided what art you want and where it will hang. What most people forget to consider is the next question: how will you display your beautiful new painting or print?

Sometimes, as with most of my originals on canvas, a painting will arrive ready to hang so long as you can hammer a nail into a wall. If that's your current situation, feel free to scroll down to the "Framing Stretched Canvas" or "How to Hang Your Artwork" sections.

As with just about anything in life, there are a million ways to do anything, and if you're looking for creative ways to frame your artwork and have to budget for custom framing, I highly recommend seeking it out! Framing is an art in and of itself and your local frame shop probably has a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

However, if you are looking to affordably frame your art in a simple, timeless style, here's a simple guide explaining how to frame and hang your new art.

One of my favorite ways to elevate your painting or print is to mat your artwork. Trust me on this Matting creates a sense of visual weight that immediately makes your artwork feel more special. The negative space between the art and the outer frame creates a spotlight effect, setting your art apart from the wall and giving it some room to breathe. Not to mention, adding a custom mat is a very inexpensive way to tend to make your frame look 10x more expensive. I should also note - while this is how I recommend froming paper art and prints, you can absolutely frame your borderless canvas prints using the exact same method!

When ordering a mat, be sure to match the outer dimensions of your mat to the dimensions of your frame. The inner opening should be 1/2" smaller than your artwork’s dimensions so that the mat overlaps your artwork by 1/4" on each side.

For example, If you order a 8x10 inch print and want to frame it in a 16x20 inch frame, your mat would provide a 4 inch border all around, and should have the outer dimensions of 16x20 inches and inner dimensions of 9.5 x 7.5 inches.

Things you'll need:

Mat + backing board

Frame

Corners

When you order a canvas print, you have the option to add on a 2 inch border. Adding this border allows you to wrap (or stretch) your print around a wooden frame called "stretcher bars" to give your canvas depth. Once stretched, you have the option to frame your canvas in a floater frame to further elevate the display.