It’s so nice to display photos and art in frames around your home, it really makes the space so much more personalised! I also like the finished look a good mount gives, but getting it done professionally can be a bit pricey. Especially for a gal like me who likes to switch things up on regular basis.. In fact we got it done for half the price for this project.
Before Mr Harlow came along I used do a quick ‘n’ dirty job of just cutting thick card with scissors, but as Mr Harlow has learnt the skill of mounting I have gotten a nice upgrade on displaying photos, prints and his original artwork. I asked if he could share his secrets so you can upgrade yours too with a little time and investment.
We bought “Double Elvis” poster by Andy Warhol and then created a simple poster in Photoshop to pair it with. We chose the words “love me tender” to inspire us to do just that every day. 🙂 We got it printed in a local printshop for less than a tenner. We liked the look of Ikea Strömby frames and got two of those. Sadly it seems they are now no longer in stock, but I have linked similar ones in the “Feel inspired?” list of this post. We liked that they are aluminium and glass and they feel very sturdy indeed. Then we also grabbed some mounting board as well from a local art shop.
We already had a cutter that does a damn fine job of cutting straight lines and has actually been such a good investment especially when we were making invitations and other stationery for our wedding. If you don’t have a cutter or don’t want to invest in one as they can be a little bulky to store, you can use an x-acto knife and a metallic ruler. Just remember to do it on a surface that won’t get ruined! You won’t be able to do bevelled cut on the mounting with x-acto knife though, still you should be able to achieve a nice result.
Start with cutting the mounting board to the size of the frame. Easiest way is to take the backing off the frame and use it as a template. The result on cutting these don’t really need to be super fancy as they generally are hidden behind the actual frame. Call it your test run if you will.
Once you have the outside size cut out then it’s time to do the inside. If you have a cutter you can then adjust the blade to either bevelled or straight depending on your taste. I personally prefer bevelled as I think it just gives that more of a finished look. The most important thing is to ensure your blade is sharp as otherwise it will tear the surface of the mounting board and your result will be more rubbish rustic then you’d like..
Before cutting, measure out how big of a hole you need to cut. This depends on how much you would like to display of the picture and how it visually looks on the frame. Draw the lines you want to cut with a pencil. It’s quite useful to use the backing of the frame as your ruler as most rulers are not long enough for the bigger jobs.
Then cut away! Our cutter has a helpful line so it’s easy to see when to stop. If yours doesn’t then just be eagle eyed not to go too far.
And that is it apart from assembling it all on the frame and hanging. It’s really quite simple, but gives a really nice finish to the frame creating a better backdrop for the photos or artwork to shine!
You also can save quite a lot of money compared to getting it professionally framed. As we had the cutter already, getting these two prints framed cost us only around £60 (excluding prints) and by our calculations it would have cost us £60 more to have these two beauties done professionally, so definitely worth it. 🙂
I have also linked a newer version of our cutter and similar frames (just check sizes). Our particular cutter is a bit pricey if you are not planning to do lots and lots mounting, but I have also linked some cheaper options too.
If you have any questions then please ask in the comments! 🙂
House of Harlow 