Framing In Your Home at the VanArtHub gallery in Vancouver

Framing in your home

The frame, the room, and getting it on the wall

Choosing a frame for the room it will hang in, what framing costs, how long it takes, and how to hang it safely once it arrives.

10% off custom framing at our shop, 1242 Davie Street. Get your code

A frame is chosen for a wall, not for a catalogue

A moulding that looked right in a shop can look completely wrong at home, and it is usually the light that did it. North-facing rooms are cool and flatten warm woods. Rooms with a lot of afternoon sun push everything warmer. A frame chosen under shop lighting has been chosen under conditions that exist nowhere in your house.

This hub covers the practical end: which frame for which room, what the whole thing costs, how long it takes, and how to get a heavy framed painting onto a wall without it coming off again.

Sawtooth hanger Under 2 kg Small work only. One fixing point. D-rings + wire 2 to 9 kg The common set-up. Wire is the weak link. Two D-rings on hooks 9 to 20 kg No wire. Sits flat and stays level. French cleat Over 20 kg A rail on the wall. Spreads the whole load. Drywall alone holds very little. Over about 9 kg, find a stud or use a cleat. Hang from two points, never one.
Hardware is chosen by weight and by what is behind the drywall. Anything over about 9 kg should reach a stud or use a French cleat, which spreads the load along a rail instead of hanging it from two points. Wire is convenient and is the first thing to fail on a heavy piece.

Black, white, and the two in between

  • Matte black Holds a busy or high-contrast image. Disappears against a dark wall.
  • Satin white Recedes on a white wall. Lets a pale, quiet work stay pale and quiet.
  • Warm grey The compromise when black is too hard and white too weak.
  • Charcoal Almost black, but it keeps a little softness at the corner.

Colour and relative width only. These are drawn, not photographed, so they share one light source and can be compared against each other. Real grain varies piece to piece, and we will show you the actual moulding before anything is cut.

Every guide in this hub

Framing In Your Home

Choosing a frame

By interior style

Where it hangs

Buying

Common questions

Questions about framing at home

How high should a framed painting hang?

Centre of the picture at about 145 to 150 cm from the floor, which puts it at eye level for most people standing. Over a sofa or a console, hang it lower so there is a hand's width or so between the furniture and the bottom of the frame.

What hardware do I need?

It depends on the finished weight and on what is behind the drywall. Under about 9 kg, two D-rings and a wire on two hooks is fine. Over that, find a stud or use a French cleat. Never hang a heavy piece from a single point.

Can I hang a framed painting in a bathroom?

With the right framing, yes. The problem is not the steam itself but the swing between wet and dry, which drives moist air in and out of an unsealed frame. A sealed package with a spacer handles it. An unsealed one grows a bloom on the inside of the glass.

Will you hang it for me?

In the Vancouver area we deliver and install, including for whole properties through our art for business service. Further afield the piece ships framed, packed, and ready, with the hardware already fitted.

How much does custom framing cost?

It depends on size, moulding, and glazing, which is why we quote each job to the actual piece rather than a flat rate. A small floater-framed canvas costs far less than a large work on paper with UV and anti-glare glass. See custom framing cost.

How long does framing take, and how does a framed piece ship?

Turnaround depends on the size of the piece and whether the moulding is in stock. Once finished, framed originals ship to Canada and the USA with free insured shipping, packed and crated for the trip so nothing shifts along the way. See framing turnaround and shipping.

Is it worth reframing an old or inherited painting?

Often yes, especially if it has not been opened in twenty years or more. The frame itself is usually fine; what is behind it, acidic board and old glue among the common finds, is where the damage happens, and it is invisible until someone opens the frame. See reframing an old or inherited painting.

What does ready to hang actually include?

Hardware fitted and rated for the finished weight, so no separate trip to a framer is needed before the piece goes on the wall. It does not always include a frame, since a gallery-wrapped canvas can ship ready to hang with no frame at all. See ready to hang, explained.

Keep going

The other framing hubs

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In-shop offer · 1242 Davie Street, Vancouver

10% off your custom framing when you show this code at our shop

We frame, stretch canvas and reframe by hand, in our own workshop inside the gallery at 1242 Davie Street. Enter your email and your code appears right here. Show it at the counter and we take 10% off the job. The code does not expire.

How the offer works

Your code appears on this page as soon as you send the form.

Framed by us

Rather just ask someone who does this every day?

We frame original paintings in-house, at our gallery on Davie Street. Send the measurements and a photograph and we will tell you what the piece needs, including when the answer is that it needs nothing.

Ask about framing Browse original paintings