Design of the Week

First floating frame in the new shop!

A client came in with an adorable small square still life by a local artist and requested a white floating frame.  He had a similar one already, and showed me a photo of it on his smartphone.  Very prepared!  I had just the style to coordinate with his existing piece.

Floating frames are for canvases or other types of art that don't require glazing.  They are great in that they allow every bit of the canvas to be seen.  In more tradional frame styles, the edges of the canvas would be covered by the rabbet of the frame by 1/8" or so.

And floating frames are versatile in that there are are a variety of positions in which the canvas can be placed. If the sides of the canvas are unfinished, the canvas can be placed flush against the floating frame so those edges don't show.  Like so:

If the canvas is gallery wrapped, and you can allow the finished edges to show, you can decide on how much space there should be between the canvas and the floating frame.  Below is the standard 1/4" margin.

But this client was bold!  and he went the full 1" out.  This is the max the moulding would allow and gives a really dramatic effect on this small piece.  It is very much in keeping with the clean white-on-white look that is so crisp in galleries or modern designed homes.

the completed project

I have a variety of floating frames from which to choose:  in wood tones, gallery black or white, or even gilded styles.  They come in different depths and face widths, and some with contrasting colors on the inside.  And they can even be stacked!  Any traditional rabbeted moulding can be cut to fit the outside, making the possibilities endless.