People spend carefully on a piece of art and then spend badly on the frame, usually by choosing whatever the shop suggested. Framing is a bigger decision than it looks, and the first question is whether to do it at all.
When not to frame
Canvas pieces frequently look better unframed, and framing one can actively make it worse.
A gallery wrapped canvas, where the image continues around the sides, is designed to be hung as it is. The wrap is the edge, and putting a frame around it hides the very thing that finishes the piece.
Textured pieces are the other case. A surface finish that catches light, such as the sand finish on our gold sand finish and grey sand finish pieces, works because the surface is open to the light in the room. Put it behind glass and the texture disappears, which is the whole point gone.
So the first honest answer for a great many pieces is to hang it as it came.
Float frames, the middle option
If a canvas needs framing, a float frame is usually the right answer. It surrounds the canvas with a small gap rather than overlapping the front, so the piece appears to sit within the frame rather than behind it.
It adds definition and finish without hiding any of the image, and it suits a room where other pictures are framed and an unframed canvas would look out of place.
Mount colour, and why white is often wrong
For anything on paper, the mount does more than the frame.
Bright white is the default and it is frequently the wrong choice. A pure white mount against a warm toned image or a warm wall reads as harsh, and it draws attention to itself rather than to the artwork.
Off white, cream and warm greys sit better with most Buddhist imagery, which tends toward warm golds, ochres and earth tones. A very dark mount, near black or deep grey, can look striking with a strong graphic image such as a mandala, though it is a bolder choice.
The reliable approach is to pick a mid or muted tone from within the image itself rather than defaulting to white.
Mount width
Wider than instinct suggests. A narrow mount looks mean and makes a piece feel cramped; a generous mount gives the image room and signals that the work matters.
The traditional guidance is that the mount should be wider than the frame, and that a slightly deeper margin at the bottom than the top corrects an optical illusion that otherwise makes a piece look as though it is sliding down.
Glazing, and British light
Glass or acrylic, and the choice matters more here than in sunnier countries for a specific reason.
British light comes from a low angle for much of the year, which means reflections in glazing are worse here in winter than they are in a Mediterranean climate. Standard glass in a room with a window opposite will show that window for a good part of every day.
Non reflective or museum glass genuinely solves this and it costs considerably more. Acrylic is lighter, safer and less prone to shattering, which matters for large pieces and in homes with children, though it scratches more easily.
If a piece needs glazing and the wall faces a window, non reflective glazing is the one upgrade genuinely worth paying for.
Frame material and the room
Natural wood frames suit carved and textured pieces, and they sit comfortably in British interiors alongside the wooden furniture most of us own.
Black frames are graphic and contemporary and work well with mandalas and strong compositions. Gold frames can work with Buddhist imagery and tip easily into ornate, so a matt or antiqued gold is safer than a bright one.
The general rule is that the frame should relate to the room rather than to the image, since the image already has its own character and does not need the frame to repeat it.
Hanging hardware
Worth checking rather than assuming. Many canvases arrive with a fitting already attached, and it is worth confirming it is a proper D ring or hanging wire rather than a sawtooth hanger, which is fine for small light pieces and poor for anything substantial.
For heavier framed pieces, two fixings rather than one keeps a picture level and reduces the chance of it working loose.
What framing is worth paying for
Honestly: non reflective glazing on anything opposite a window, a generous mount on anything on paper, and a professional job on anything genuinely valuable. Everything else can be done adequately at modest cost.
What is not worth paying for is an elaborate frame on an inexpensive print, which spends more on the surround than the contents and rarely looks the way it was meant to.
Our Buddha wall art range is canvas, most of which hangs well unframed, and our guide to hanging heights for British rooms covers what happens after framing.
Questions people ask
Should I frame a canvas print?
Often not. Gallery wrapped canvases are designed to hang as they are, and framing hides the wrapped edge that finishes the piece. Textured finishes lose their effect behind glass.
What colour mount should I use?
Rarely bright white, which reads harsh against warm imagery. Off white, cream or warm grey usually sits better, and picking a muted tone from within the image itself is the reliable approach.
How wide should a mount be?
Wider than instinct suggests, and traditionally wider than the frame. A slightly deeper margin at the bottom than the top corrects an optical illusion that makes a piece look as though it is sliding down.
Is non reflective glass worth it?
On anything hung opposite a window, yes. British light comes from a low angle for much of the year, which makes reflections in standard glass worse here than in sunnier climates.
What frame suits Buddhist imagery?
Natural wood for carved and textured pieces, black for graphic compositions such as mandalas. Matt or antiqued gold is safer than bright gold, which tips easily into ornate.
