So you’re new to custom framing?

Custom Framing can be an overwhelming experience if you don’t know what to expect. Something we strive to prevent in the shop is “Decision Fatigue.” There are so many options to choose from; there’s a potential that some customers could get burnt out without guidance. Luckily, our skilled staff is there to help you narrow selections and make the best choices to suit your needs and enhance your artwork. Before coming in to see us, essential things to consider are color, style, size, and price.

We also need you to bring the piece into the shop for us to work with you. Visualizing framing and making selections is significantly easier when we can all see what we are framing.

At Irving Park Art & Frame, we do not accept any orders without first measuring the piece ourselves. Even one-sixteenth of an inch is important to our measurements. Framers use a special measurement called “United Inches,” so one inch to you might be one and one-eighth to us.

At Irving Park Art & Frame we are proud to say we do not use any plastic or foam frames. We focus on quality materials of a higher grade than you can find at any big box store. All of our frames are made from solid wood or in some rare situations, metal. Frames can range in price from budget at $8 a foot to the highly ornate at over $100 a foot. For this reason, it is difficult to give quotes without having you in the shop picking options with us.

We offer thousands of moulding options from traditional, contemporary, transitional, rustic, and ornate, to every other style you can imagine. We have a huge selection of colors and finishes to suit any space and style.

All of our framing comes with professional-grade mounting hardware and sturdy picture wire so you can trust it will not fall and break. We strongly discourage the use of command strips or anything similar to hang your piece at home.

Matting is an essential part of design in custom framing, with the added benefit of protecting your artwork from humidity and other forms of damage.

We offer thousands of color and material options and can combine colors and accents with multiple mats to create a double or even triple mat. The possibilities are limitless. In addition to standard acid-free mats, we have linen options, suede, color-core, museum rag mats, and even funky textured options like leather or golf ball.

After we custom-cut a mat, it has to be placed on top of the artwork itself. Usually, this means about a quarter of an inch of the artwork will be covered up on all sides. This is unavoidable and we ask that you please keep this in mind when making or printing your work.

All of our materials are acid-free and conservation grade, so you can rest assured that your work will have a long and beautiful life.

One of the most critical and often overlooked elements of custom framing is glass. Not only is the glass integral to protecting some works, but it can also make viewing them much more enjoyable.

Typically we offer:

- Regular glass, which is our most affordable option.

- Conservation glass looks like regular glass but offers 99% UV protection. We recommend this option on just about every piece.

- Museum Glass, offers 99% UV protection with an additional anti-glare coating that makes viewing your artwork sublime.

- Plexiglass and conservation plexiglass, which we must upgrade to when the artwork is too large for our standard glass.

As framers, we feel that it’s an essential responsibility to honor and preserve the life of your art and treasured memories. With 99% UV filtering conservation glass, we can prevent irreversible light damage to your piece. It’s important to note that even if the piece is not displayed in direct sunlight, all forms of visible light, including fluorescent lights, will cause UV damage to a piece over time. Upgrading to UV filtering conservation glass is a small price for preserving your items forever.