Project Quarantine: You Should Finally Frame and Hang That Art You've Got Lying Around

Or, how to never get screwed on custom framing again

April 3, 2020 9:00 am
Framebridge
framebridge

Welcome to Project Quarantine, an ongoing column dedicated to helping you utilize your “confined to the domicile” time to accomplish those home tasks we’ve all been putting off for ages.

Pretty much everyone I know has at least one piece of art lying around the house that he/she has been meaning to get framed and put up but just hasn’t gotten around to it. Why? Because framing things is expensive. And a pain in the ass. I should know better than anyone.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m perhaps a little obsessed with framing stuff. Thanks to an open floorplan and high ceilings, the apartment I share (and now spend 99.5% of my time in) with my lovely wife features a gallery wall with around 40 works of varying sizes and mediums.

Anyone who has ever visited a traditional frame shop will tell you that this is approximately $348,496 worth of custom framing. Lucky for me, a friend had turned me onto Framebridge, an online concern promising to put an end to frame-store screwjobs and get that art up on your wall where it belongs.


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Framebridge has a surprising number of frame choices and two logistical options for framing your artwork: upload a digital file or mail in a physical piece. I tried both.

For the digital file, I sent a hi-res snap by the supremely talented Emily Winiker and maxed out Framebridge’s standard dimensions of 32″ x 40″ — a steal at $199, especially considering the price includes the print itself. A week later, a big ol’ box showed up with the beautifully framed (and expertly printed, it bears noting) piece tucked neatly inside.

For the physical piece, I decided to really put Framebridge’s skills to the test — I mailed in a tube (Framebridge provides a shipping label) containing a massive vintage linen poster for the excellent 1966 Antonioni film Blow-Up. And damned if it didn’t come back gallery-ready, albeit in a crudely Frankensteined amalgam of two of Framebridge’s biggest boxes.

Best part: Framebridge puts WallBuddies on the back of your piece — for anyone unfamiliar, this is a handy system that makes it truly idiot-proof to hang any framed picture level and withou putting a bunch of uncecessary holes in your wall. Gamechanger.

Now all you need is a nice piece of art.

Nota bene: If you buy through these links, InsideHook may earn a small share of the profits. This article was originally published on September 7, 2017.

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