Modern picture frame in white or black, made to measure

A modern picture frame, made to measure, in white or black. The section is a plain box 33 mm across the face, and everything about it is meant to stay out of the way of the picture: one flat plane, one colour, one clean edge. I cut and build each frame to the dimensions of the work itself, so the fit is exact rather than approximate, and I paint it after the corners are closed so that nothing interrupts the surface.

The moulding profile

At the artwork the moulding presents a flat face 33 mm across, running level all the way to the outer edge, where the side turns square and carries the same paint. The section measures 33 mm wide by 27 mm from face to back.

Specification

• Style: modern frame, square box section
• Finish: sprayed paint in white or black, satin sheen
• Moulding width: 33 mm
• Moulding thickness, face to back: 27 mm
• Rebate: 7 mm wide × 20 mm deep
• Material: low-tannin timber of the kind used in museum work and art conservation
• Corners: mitred at 45° and reinforced with wooden splines, joined before painting
• Glass, mounts and backing: available to order, at extra cost
• Mounting and hanging: spring clips as standard, picture wire, portrait or landscape
• Suits: oil and acrylic on stretched canvas, painting panels, photographs, prints and works on paper

Every frame is made to the measurements of one particular work. Enter the width and height of the artwork itself into the calculator: I build the frame 2–3 mm larger than the figures you give, so the piece seats without forcing, and the moulding then covers roughly 4–5 mm of the edge of the work all round.

Which works and interiors it suits

A 33 mm face is wide enough to give a picture a definite border and narrow enough to leave a small work alone. In white it sits well with watercolour, photography, botanical and architectural prints and pale contemporary painting. In black it holds strong graphic work, monochrome photography and oil on canvas where the paint itself carries the drama. Both colours belong in rooms with plain walls, and both hang well in groups: a run of identical plain frames reads as one wall rather than as a set of competing borders.

If you want the same idea on a narrower section, I make a slimmer painted box frame at 20 mm across the face. The rest of the painted range sits under white picture frames and black frames.

Making and finishing

Each length is cut from a low-tannin timber of the kind used in museum work and art conservation, chosen because it stays still: it moves very little with changes in humidity and it takes paint cleanly. The profile is milled, so the face runs true along its whole length.

The corners are mitred at 45° and reinforced with wooden splines, and the frame is assembled, filled and sanded before any paint is applied. That order is the whole point. A factory moulding is finished first and cut afterwards, which is why the joint line at each corner stays visible for the life of the frame. Here the paint goes on over a closed, sanded corner, so the four sides read as one piece.

The colour is sprayed rather than brushed, which is what gives a broad flat face an even surface, and it is left with a satin sheen.

How it differs from a mass produced frame

A shop-bought frame comes in fixed sizes and expects the picture to fit it. This one works the other way round: the sizes come from the work. Beyond that, the differences are the ones you see at close range – a corner with no joint showing, a face with an even sprayed surface, and a section cut from timber rather than from extruded polystyrene or foil-wrapped board. On a plain frame those are the only places where quality can show, which is exactly why they are worth getting right. I have written more about the type in my guide to modern picture frames.

Function

The rebate is 7 mm wide and 20 mm deep, which takes a standard stretched canvas or a painting panel with room for a backing board behind it. The frame is supplied without glass, as a setting for a painting; glass, mounts and archival backing are added to order.

The same section can be made as a floating frame, without a rebate, so that the canvas sits inside the frame with a visible gap around it. Tell me when you order and I will build it that way.

Complete framing – additional options

Every frame I make can be completed with full archival and museum-quality framing: anti-reflective UV-filtering glass (four classes to choose from), acid-free museum mat board, spacers wrapped in acid-free paper and a Dibond backing. This kind of mounting protects the work from light, acids and distortion. I set out the full glass and material specification on a separate page: archival and museum framing for paintings and photographs. All components are available at extra cost, as an individual quote on request.

Mounting and hanging

Spring clips are fitted as standard, installed in the workshop and rotated aside to seat or swap the painting without dismantling the frame. Brass plates with screws are available on request, supplied loose with the screws included, for you to fit once the work is in place; this is the permanent retention used in exhibition mounting.

Hanging orientation, portrait or landscape, is selected from the order menu, and the frame is fitted only in the chosen orientation. Picture wire is standard; a single D-ring hanger is available on request.

Ordering to measure

Measure the width and height of the painting to within a millimetre and enter those dimensions into the calculator on this page. The frame is made 2–3 mm larger than the figures you give, so the work seats cleanly. Then select the hanging orientation and add the frame to your basket. The online calculator supports artwork up to 120 by 80 cm; larger formats are made to individual order.

The base price shown is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of the painting is not the whole length the frame needs: corners cut at 45 degrees consume additional length, and the wider the moulding, the more each corner takes. The calculator accounts for the full consumption including corners and any add-ons you select.

Lead time: 20–30 working days from confirmation of the order.