FAQ

Monday – Friday

10:00am to 7:00pm

Saturday/Sunday

10:00am – 6:00pm

**In home/office consultations available by appointment.**

The matting and backing materials should be preservation-grade & acid-free. In general, the best mat border width is determined by a number of factors, including the overall size of the piece, the width of the molding, and the particular hue and value of the mats and the art. In general, the goal is to attempt to give the art enough “space” inside the frame to allow the eye to rest upon the art without being distracted or crowded in by the framing. Feel free to bring your piece in to our custom frame consultant — FrameStore can help. The best designs are created based on your tastes, the hanging location, and the aesthetics of the item itself. This way, the framing is customized for your piece, rather than being a standard design.

There is no charge for design consultation, and our design professional will be able to show you samples and ideas, at FrameStore we provide individual advice and a custom quote.

We do not. The knowledge and craftsmanship that we bring to our custom frames thrive on personal dialogue with our customers. Come on down and see us in one of our seven stores throughout the Los Angeles area, or schedule an appointment at your own home or business.

Yes, we highly recommend it. If a piece of art is worth framing at all, it is worth framing with UV protection. At FrameStore, our framing glass incorporates museum-grade UV blocking, which offers 97% opacity in the ultraviolet waveband and near-100% transparency in the visible light waveband, so that the protection does not hamper you from having a clear view of your art.

All artworks, photographs, and other memorabilia will fade over time due to exposure to light. They may also experience yellowing and warping, and become brittle. There are two main causes of this damage:

Photodegradation is when the energy from light causes chemical reactions that transform the molecules that give an object its color.

Radiant heating is when light produces heat, and this heat causes chemical reactions that transform the molecules that give an object its color.

In both cases, the biggest threat to your artwork is sunlight. This is because sunlight carries far more energy than anything else your artwork is likely to come into contact with.

Indoor lighting will also damage your artwork, albeit much more slowly than the sun. Artificial lights still contain enough energy to cause noticeable damage over the years. Bright lights are more damaging than dim ones.

The best thing you can do to preserve your art is to avoid shining bright lights directly on your artwork. Many people like to highlight their art with track lights in the ceiling, but these should be avoided (except for brief viewing periods, if you wish). A better choice is to arrange lights so they do not have a direct line of sight with the artwork.

All types of light bulbs are hazardous to artwork: incandescent lights (including halogen bulbs), LED bulbs, and particularly fluorescent bulbs (as they produce more UV than the others).

No. With both sunlight and indoor lighting, the UV protection in our framing glass will block UV light. UV light is the more harmful light for your artworks, so this protection is very substantial. However, it is not absolute. There is no protection from wavelengths above 400 nanometers (i.e., visible and infrared light).

There’s no need to go overboard and live in the dark, but we do recommend that you:

1. Keep your artworks out of direct sunlight at all times.
2. Keep the lights near your artwork turned down or off when you don’t need them.

Always use picture hangers for strength and security and maintaining straight placement. When hanging art above furniture the general rule is between 6 and 8 inches. If your art is not going to be above furniture, hang your pictures at average eye-level.

To hang the piece at your chosen height you will need to measure how far from the top of the picture the hanging wire will hit when hanging on a nail. If the top of your picture should hang 72″ from the floor, and the hanging wire hits 4 inches below, your nail will have to be 68″ from the floor centered with your picture. (Use a light pencil mark on your wall.)

For artwork up to 150 lbs., our FrameStore professionals recommend using 2 hangers (75 lb.) on the wall. Two strap hangers (or “D- Rings”) should be attached to the artwork with no wire. Strap-hangers hook directly onto hangers in the wall and be sure weight is evenly distributed between the hangers

**Picture hangers that use multiple, smaller nails rather than a single large nail or wall anchors generally leave less damage and are easier to fill and touch up later.**

For multi-dimensional pieces, we at FrameStore typically use a very deep frame called a shadow box.

At FrameStore, we can frame most things, including but not limited to: photographs, fine art, certificates, canvas art, needle craft and cross-stitch, fabric artwork, sports jerseys, memorabilia and collectibles, multi-dimensional objects, posters, and more.

It varies, depending on the size of the piece to be framed and the materials you choose. Larger works of art and more ornate frames and mats will be more expensive, while smaller things, posters, and simple frames will be less expensive.

Due to various custom framing options, it is best to pinpoint a price by bringing the artwork in the shop and picking out a frame, and we’ll happily give you a free estimate when you bring it in.

Once you place your order, it should take us 7 days to two weeks to build it. This is considerably faster than the industry average of three weeks. If we have the materials in stock, we could possibly complete your frame even sooner.

We also offer a rush service, with turnaround in as little as 3 to 5 days.

That’s why we’re here! Our custom framing design specialists help you find the color, texture, and style of framing, matting, and type of glass that best enhances the artwork.