AboutSara Tro Expertise I am a professional custom picture framer and designer. I have experience in all areas of
picture framing, and own my own custom framing shop. I can answer questions relating
to the design of a piece, the preservation of the artwork, color theory, photograph
restoration, decor, art placement, room balancing and installation questions.
Experience I have owned my own retail custom frame shop for 5 years, and managed a high-end shop before that for 5.5 years. I worked for a professional restorer and archivist for 8 months prior to the management position. I am also a fine artist myself, with a BFA in Photography and Printmaking, and have been framing my own work for years and years.
Education/Credentials BFA Fine Arts, NYSCC at Alfred University, NY
Expert: Sara Tro Date: 1/4/2008 Subject: Stairway gallery framing
Question QUESTION: My question is can I mix types of frames in the same color family. For instance, I sticking to black, but some are the shiny gallery frames like in pottery barn and others are distressed. The wall is painted rainwashed from Sherwin Williams - sort of an aqua blue. I trying to get a modern look and not so symmetrical. Any tips would be appreciated.
K McCabe
ANSWER: Hi K,
Thanks for the question! Installation dilemas are tough, but the struggle is really worthwhile once you get through it!
So, I think you're on a great track, in terms of mixing the styles and finishes of your frames. It does depend on what you're framing, and how many pieces you have to hang, but for the most part I advise people to mix it up a bit to add texture and interest.
The exception to that theory would be if you had a few larger pieces.
If you have a series of pieces, in any medium and theme, maybe 5 or 6 pieces, let's say, and the pieces are clearly a series, (by the same artist, etc.), then I may say that's an exception and the frames should be the same. Only because if the images all share the same tones and subtleties, it'll look forced to frame them in 6 different ways, especially if the pieces would all look best in one specific frame.
A great collection to hang in the "less symetrical and slightly modern" look is a collection of vintage photographs of family. You can also work with modern photographs, but make sure all the tones are similar, and stick with black and white or sepia toned prints.. (You can easily take your favorite color prints and turn them into vintage looking black and whites). (I recommend this because color photographs can look too pedestrian for a wall arrangement.. not always, but usually). If you have many pieces (like 20 or more), you can frame them all in very different frames that share a color or finish, and add personality to each one with some subtle matting techniques. A cluster of many small pieces is kept from becoming a giant "block" on the wall by differences in texture and variation in size of the frames and matts.
In this (cluster) installation situation, I usually advise clients to mix frame styles, frame widths, matt widths and frame finishes (in the same color palette, like all silvers, or all blacks and browns), while keeping unity with the items framed. If you mix the subject matter, color palette and frames, it can look disconnected. You want the final result to look "planned but unplanned", and if it's well installed, it'll look very elegantly casual. With the cluster, you want the framed pieces to not line up too much. I usually start by laying the pieces out on the floor to get the best color and frame balance, and then begin hanging in the center and work my way down and up from there, using a horozontal diamond as a basic guide.. (meaning the whole cluster would taper to fewer pieces at the ends, and has a larger amount in the center. Being that the collection will travel up a diagonal makes this harder, but still an overall good base).
With the larger framed series of fewer pieces, you want them to be hung at regular intervals, and the same distance from the step below.. you want to create a very classy, simple look, and in this case the pieces actually act as "punctuation", drawing the eye from one floor to the next. (It can be very strong, so make sure there's something up above on the second floor to draw the eye to, even if it's just an accent wall color, or a simple textile or tapestry.)
So, that's the long answer to your short question!
The basic answer is you can mix finishes of frames, as long as you have a large enough number of pieces, and they're fairly small. The fewer pieces you have, the less wiggle room you have with that. (Sometimes a little variation can look good, just make sure that the frames are really similar looking from a distance).
if you have any more info, or more specific questions, please don't hestitate to write again..
Best of luck, and happy new year!
Sara
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QUESTION: Thanks Sara that is certainly helpful. I'm hearing you say to use maybe all B&W or sepia maybe vs. color. I was wondering about the use of color. It does seem disjointed, but does that mean don't use any color. I'm framing family pictures. Most of it will be candids, but some shots are professional. I'm still gathering photos and buying frames, so I don't have a definite set of pictures or frames yet. I'm just trying to achieve the look as well as personalize. On the size, how big is too big?? Would a 16x20 be too big? Lastly, should I anchor the design with large frames and fill in with smaller frames?
ANSWER: Hi K,
Thanks for the follow up!
All great questions!
As for the use of color, (and as a framer AND a professional photographer), I would avoid the use of color photos in the wall arrangement. It may seem a little severe to say that, but I think color photos just look a little "snap-shotish" when mingled with black and whites. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, (there really are no rules.. just general guidelines, I guess), so you could use some of your higher quality color photos in another area, like in a cluster of standing, tabletop frames on a side table near the other wall. I think it's mostly disruptive to mingle a few color photos in with B&W and sepia ones, as I think the eye is drawn to the color and it can make the whole collection look off balance.
I think your question about anchoring the layout with bigger frames and then filling in with smaller ones is a very good thought. If you have several similar and same-sized pieces that you could frame a little larger, (16 x 20 might be a little too big, depending on the size of the others..), you could use them to create balance within a cluster. If you did that, I'd hang them at regular intervals, going up the stairs, and use an odd number of larger pieces. Then keep the other pieces at a good proportionate size to the others, so they don't really stand out too much.. Like adding in some 8x10's and 11x14's (or anywhere around there..) to the mix, with some smaller ones as well.
Are you collecting frames from antique stores, or are you shopping for good deals at frame shops around your town? Sometimes frame shops will have what they call a "bone yard", (or basically a collection of extra, damaged or frames that were a mistake for some reason), and they sell them for about 1/2 off the retail price. If you can find small profiles, you can buy them and have them resized down to fit your needs. If you have set aside a good budget for this project, you might save some time and hassle by just taking the whole collection to a reputable framer in your area, but it would be an investment if you have many pieces, so if you want to save some money, there are many ways to do your own leg work. Be leary of frames that you can get at big-box stores for reasonable prices.. they can be made of very cheap "wood pulp" type materials, that are bad for your art and your home, and they usually fall apart in not too many years, or after a move.
Last year, I framed and installed a collection of vintage photos in a clients home. We wound up selecting photos that we could frame as pairs, trios and singles, even a series of 12 very tiny old photos that we put in one frame. We used all dark brown and black frames of different textures, patterns and finishes. We had several pieces that were a little larger than the others, but mostly we varied the size of the matting to create a lot of different overall sizes of the finished pieces. What that did for the final result was to let the viewers eye move all over the whole collection, so that at a glance it became a very personal but interesting wall. Then, in the event someone wanted to really check out all the photos, they could and they were all different and interesting. It really worked well. I think she had about 40 total, ranging from 6x6 to 15x12 or so.
I hope this extra info helps a little more, and of course, feel free to write again..
And, also, best of luck in this task!
It'll look great and personalize your home beautifully!
Best,
Sara
www.trofeo.biz
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QUESTION: Thanks again Sara for such a thorough answer. I think this task is larger than I thought. I've been buying some frames at Michaels craft store. I hadn't thought much about the matting aspect. So, I'm hearing you say mixing B&W with sepia is ok. I'm somewhere in between wanting this to be special and last, but not go crazy from a budget perspective. Were the last clients pictures all professional, amateur or a mixture of both? Do you happen to have any pictures of things you've done or seen elsewhere?
Answer Hi K,
Yes, for sure I think you can combine b&w and sepia toned photos, as well as black frames and brown wood tone frames. I think both of those slight subtle vaiations could make the collection more interesting if i's a large collection of small photos.
I know the size of this task can seem very daunting sometimes.. most of the big collection projects I've done have seemed that way! (I'll see if I have some photos of any of the installs I've done recently.. I know I took some at the last one).
So, if this project were mine, I would try to keep it as simple as possible. I'd probably start with a vision... what do you hope to achieve, what do you want the final result to look like? If you know where it's going to hang in your home, (the stairwell), I'd stand and look at the spot and what's around it.. squint at it and see if the space calls for a large collection of several photos, or if it calls for a very orderly, repetitious series. Is there anything large and dark, (a doorway, a closet or hallway nearby?) that will be balanced by the collection? I'd guess if the space is very spare, modern and "craftsman simple" in feeling, (lots of clean wood lines and edging, trim, etc), I'd opt for a more orderly series, maybe the pro photos in larger frames?. A randomly placed collection, (like a "cloud" formation, amorphous), can look great and very unique and ineresting, bringing warmth and intimacy to a home, but if the rest of the entry or downstairs space has no other areas for your eye to rest, (like other table top collections, or small grouping of pottery pieces etc..nearby), then the cluster may look out of place, like an area of static, or an electric quitar in an orchestra. In this case, the intimate family photos can look great at the very top of a stairwell (on a hallway wall, for example), so they're the first thing you see when you go upstairs.
My last big project like this was a client who had a HUGE collection of vintage photos from her parents, and she wanted to preserve them (they were in a box) and display them, and also mingle some more modern photos of her kids as children and milestones in their lives as a family. We went through the vintage ones and chose photos that either conjured up a distinct memory for her or her husband, or ones that had a great "look" to them. We also made little vinyets(?) of life, for example, we combined a collection of tiny photos of her fathers cars over the years into one frame, or a photo of her family when she as 10 and also her husbands when he was 10 into the same frame.. we drew connections between a few photos to make multiple-photo pieces so we could vary the size and visual interest of the finished pieces. I think every photo we used was taken by a family member, but we framed each of them professionally. What created the most intimate feeling, and helped fit the pieces into the rigid lines of her crafstman home, was that the photos all looked vintage.. (the few modern photos we added we turned from color to sepia, and then I aged them using Photoshop and tea, actually!), and also the randomness of the installation. The photos didn't have any severity to them, so the collection became soft and rigid together.. (the photos became the softness and the frames were the rigidity, nicely balanced and a refined but casual look).
While it was a cool look, this last project, and a nice collection, but it was also a serious investment on her part. I think if you're looking to use this collection as part of your wall decor, but not spend too much, you're on a good track in getting some of your frames at discount or big-box stores. Also, think about the fact that you can take frames to frame shops and have them cut down if they're too big, and they usually don't charge too much for that service. I also think a good antique store in your area, and even ebay, can also serve you well in finding some odd shaped frames, which actually add to the "randomness" necessary for making a cluster effective.
If you choose to go with the standard sized, less expensive frames only, (which is totally fine and smart, budget-wise), then I'd make sure to add some matting of slightly different tones, and use both vertical and horozontal orientations allowed by the frames. With your aqua blue wall, I'd stay within the off-whites and barely greys/taupes, and stay away from really creamy, yellowy colored matts. With the black/brown frames and blue wall, a cleaner, cooler palette with the matts will look best, in my opinion.
You have a few professional photos to hang as well, right? I think you could use the professional photos you have and mix them with the vintage/amateur photos if you keep the collection small.. like 7 or 9 pieces. Frame the pro shots larger, all the same size in the same frame or close, and then hang them intermitently up the steps with a smaller, vintage shot between and one at each end... So, you'd have an 11x14 matted print at the beginning, then a larger pro photo, then an 11x14, then a pro.. on and on til the end where you end with another small shot. (I think in a major cluster the pro shots will stand out strangely.. the look is just too refined usually, and much sharper than vintage, funky blurry shots). This look would combine the two styles, adding intimacy and order all at once, and won't break the bank. Get the matts done professionally, and buy your frames the way you have been, at Michaels etc. If you have vintage pieces you're incorporating, and you have no negetive, you may want to record who's in the photo, maybe make a copy of it, or take a digital photo of the original photo for safe keeping.. It looks cool sometimes to write the names of the people in the photos on the matts, or at least on the backs of the frames...
If you want me to email you a copy of the photo of the last install I did, I can try to find one and would need your email address.. I'm not sure how to add an attachment here?..
So, again, this is a big undertaking, a project like this, but not impossible. You can always start small and add more. You could start working with the pro shots, (providing you like them a lot!), and hang those. If it feels forced or less fun and "you" than you wanted, add more until it feels like a good sized collection. you can always take the pro shots away if they don't work with the rest and move them together somewhere else..
I do think you can mix the sepia and b&w no problem, and I would stay with frames that are about the same width, (that is, in a large cluster..)
In a smaller collection of pro shots, I'd keep them all b&w or all sepia, but not a mix, in most cases.
If you want me to work with your actual space more, you can email me a photo of your home at
trofeoseattle@gmail.com
I hope this isn't TOO much info, and that I didn't make it worse!
Best of luck, and let me know how it all goes!
Sara
