Framed!

By Marni Elyse Katz
March 26, 2010

Earlier this month, we talked to interior designers who opted to use every day objects as D.I.Y. wall art. They hung everything from rolling pins to tennis rackets in order to add interest to a rooms’ otherwise bare walls. This week, we approach a similar theme—decorating with everyday items—but with a look at things that are best displayed in a frame. Adding a border around pretty much anything creates instant artwork. You can use a collection that’s been sitting in a shoebox (my son’s bottle cap collection would look great mounted in a box frame) or bits of bark and bird feathers you picked up on your last nature walk. I once saw a grouping of confiscated prison weapons framed and on display in a Martha’s Vineyard powder room. The fact is, everything looks better framed (especially a child’s artwork).

When interior designer Adrian Sims Truluck of Parker-Sims Interiors in Charleston, South Carolina wanted to find something out of the ordinary to do with the bulletin boards in her studio, she decided to frame them in reclaimed vintage window frames that she found at her favorite architectural salvage store. She says, “We had a local craftsman attach cork board to the backs. They make an interesting twist to what would have been just a typical bulletin board.”

Adrian Sims Truluck of Parker Sims' window frame bulletin board, framed boarding passes designed by Kara Butterfield

When faced with a client who had a huge collection of boarding passes saved from many years of overseas travel, interior stylist Kara Butterfield decided to turn them into art. She enlarged pages from the client’s passport to use as the background, and attached the boarding stubs to it with colored pushpins. Butterfield essentially turned her client’s memories into a display for a large, empty wall.

Manhattan designer Amanda Nisbet has also used box frames to create visual displays. For a funky bathroom she designed, she decided to frame “decorative doo dads” that she had painted white and mounted on hot pink paper. When we asked about them, Nisbet told us, “I specially hunted for these as I thought backing them the way I did would make fun, easy, bold, and unique art.”

(painted doodads in box frames designed by Amanda Nisbet)

If collecting and arranging is too much trouble, you can simply re-purpose a larger poster-type specimen. In their Los Angeles shop, Nickey Kehoe, design duo Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe sell vintage shooting targets that they had custom framed in classic black frames. They tell us,  “These targets have been hugely popular among our design clientele as well as our shop clientele. They are priced very well too.” Similarly, Jane Miller, proprietor of Boston home furnishings boutique J.E.M., currently has old academic marine biology charts for sale. She says, “I framed them in a deep window-box type frame in which the scroll is mounted so it looks like it’s floating. I especially love that you can see the linen backing.”

Get the Look!

eBay provides no shortage of unique reclaimed (and new) items that would look amazing in a frame. And you know what? You can find the frames there too!

NAUTICAL FLAGS

Nautical flags provide pops of color and an interesting geometry that work well framed (or not), or even strung together. Perfect for a little boy’s room or beach house.

1. Vintage Cotton Red & White “X” Nautical Signal Flag (starting bid, $9.99) 2. Vintage Cotton Red & Yellow Nautical Signal Flag (starting bid, $9.99) 3. Vintage Cotton Blue & Yellow Nautical Signal Flag (starting bid, $9.99) 4. New Handmade Nautical Diver Signal Flags – Any 10 (starting bid, $60) 5. New Handmade Nautical Signal Diver Down Flag (buy it now price, $14)

TARGETS

From macho hostage setups to kitschy deer and child-friendly critters, we’re loving the idea of framing these unconventional and very inexpensive poster size pieces.

1. New 50 Black Bird Crow Gun Rifle Shooting Targets (buy it now price, $7.99) 2. New 25 Blue Jack Rabbit Gun Rifle Shooting Targets (buy it now price, $6.50) 3. New 45 Hostage Shooting Targets (buy it now price, $29.74) 4. New 50 Silhouette Pistol Rifle Shooting Targets (buy it now price, $29.99) 5. New 30 Police Shooting Targets in Yellow (buy it now price, $11.70) 6. New 100 Police Silhouette Pistol Rifle Shooting Targets (buy it now price, $49.99)

PICTURE FRAMES

No picture needed; just hang ‘em.

1. Shabby Chic Old French Blue Wood Frame 12”x24” (buy it now price, $190) 2. Pair of Antique Wood Picture Gold/Brown Portrait Frames (buy it now price, $149.99) 3. Set of 3 8x10 Gold Plein Air Picture Frames (buy it now price, $175) 4. Black Forest Picture Frame for 2 Oval Photos (buy it now price, $109.99)

MILITARY BADGES

Military memorabilia, especially badges, make great collections for kids and grown-up history buffs. When you get enough, put them in a box frame and decorate the wall.