Black frames. An asymmetrical matte. Super chic. You have probably seen this look across your Instagram feed and Pinterest boards. Our apartment is long and narrow, with the rooms stacked in a line one after the other, with a long hallway that takes up most of the length. It has felt empty, so I wanted to add some art to warm up the space and make it feel connected to the rest of the house, not just a means of getting to each room.
Large black frames with bottom-weighted matte lining the hallway was the perfect touch the space needed. If you follow any home styling or interior designer these days you may have already seen these kinds of matted frames. I was inspired by Studio McGee’s Modern Mountain home (also the featured image!) where she used black frames down the hallway. At first I wanted to just use a framing service for this project, Framebridge has a beautiful option that would not take any work other than sending in your pictures, but this option was out of our budget. So DIY it was! See below the steps we took to get the look!
Get the look!
- Plan, picture and purchase frames
The first step in any framing project is figuring out the appropriate size frame for the space. I like to first measure and get an estimated width and height of a good size frame for the space. Then, I research at my favorite places what size frames are offered closest to that measurement that fit in our budget. I love Target, HomeGoods, Amazon and IKEA for budget-friendly frames.
Once I have some size options for frame, I tape off the sizes of the frames on the wall with painters tape to see what the best size would be then purchase!
A Hewitt Home’s Choice: We went with 5 IKEA Ribba Frames (19 3/4 x 27 1/2 in). - Decide on art sizing
The IKEA Ribba frames come with matting but not with the matte size option I wanted, so I needed to figure out dimensions of the new matting. We knew we wanted photos displayed in the frame, so once I purchased the frames, I cut out various size pieces of paper (in standard photo print sizes) and placed them on the frame to see what I liked.
A Hewitt Home’s Choice: We went with 8×10 in. window for art. - Pick out and purchase your art
If you already have your art, then skip this step! If you don’t we have some options for you. My husband and I love to travel, so we picked out personal photos (both my husband and I took) when we were in some of our favorite places to put in the frames. It is literally a trip down memory lane walking down the hallway! If you don’t have your own photos or art, Etsy and Artfully has some amazing artists that offer digital purchases of their art or photography. Family photos are also a great option to frame in these too!
Once you decide on what you want, order your art or photos in the size you want for the frame. We ordered our black and white photos from Amazon, but you can also use Walgreens, Shutterfly, Target or any other kind of printing option. For art pieces, we have had great experience with FedEx Printing.
A Hewitt Home’s Choice: Travel photos, printed landscape-style in black & white - Purchase your matte
Hobby Lobby has a whole matting service, so I took my frame in with the photo to have them size the correct matting. Ours came out to be Top, Left and Right 5 inches then bottom is 14.5 inches. This will give you that chic bottom-matte look! It took some convincing for the Hobby Lobby matte expert to believe this is how I wanted it matte but trust me, this is how to get it!
A Hewitt Home’s Choice: 5 matte pieces measuring 5″ on the Top, Left and Right then 14.5″ for the bottom. - Assemble and hang your art
The matte took about two weeks for them to complete at Hobby Lobby and the photos took two days to receive the prints. We actually used these 3M black hanging strips to hand our art since we rent. I cut the strips in hlaf length-wise so it would fit on the frame and put two on a right angle (one on the top then on on the side) in the four corners of the frame. It has been one year since doing this and they have held up beautifully!
A Hewitt Home’s Choice: Hang with 3M strips in black. - Enjoy your art! Happy art hanging!
Featured image on homepage is Studio McGee’s Mountain Home.
