Giving life to old frames

Have you ever found a beautiful frame at a thrift shop or pulled one out of the attic and wished that what was in the frame was nearly as beautiful? Framed art is fabulous, offering a way to quickly dress up even the simplest of images and add value and décor to any space. You can use frames for a wide range of items, from canvas prints to personalized photos. Reuse old or vintage frames to add elegance, sophistication, a bit of goth charm, or even a splash of modernism to the space.

That is quite a bit to get from a simple frame. Yet, in home decorating, many people fail to realize that the frame's details – from the color and ornate elements to the simplistic cut of the wood- all enhance the space around them. Frames can be so much more than just holders of art. They can be an artistic statement themselves, even design inspiration for the entire room.

The Power of a Fresh Image

Replacing old images in frames with new photos or prints can revitalize them, giving them a brand-new function in your home. You can place your custom artwork in them, use a print that you picked out and that you love, or transform the current image with a bit of crafty skill.

When you love the frame, take out the image that no longer matches the interior design that you love or follows the interior décor trends you want to capture. Instead, replace them with new, more meaningful, interesting, or styled images that seem to work better for you.

This simple change can make a space feel renewed. It does not have to be a specific photo you put within it. The combination of the new photo and the elements of the frame creates a brand-new piece of art you can use wherever you see fit.

Perhaps you have a large frame on a wall over your living room couch. The image is no longer you. You want unique wall art that offers more color or style. By switching out the image, you suddenly get a brand new look with the same (often high-value) frame. That is one of the easiest ways to transform the design of any room. Without any significant upgrade to your home (no messy renovations needed), you can use a frame like this to make the space communicate in a very different style.

Breathing New Life Into Vintage Finds

While that beautiful frame trick may sound ideal, you may not have a frame that can work for you in this way. Don’t worry. To capitalize on this home decoration strategy, you do not necessarily have to spend a lot of money on a new frame.

There is something special about finding an old, perhaps even antique frame tucked into the back of a thrift store or donated at a local resale shop. Perhaps you are out at a local flea market or spent some time exploring estate sales. These are all fantastic places to find stunning pieces that you can turn into personalized art.

What if you have a modern space, though? The juxtaposition of an old frame to a bright, bold, and modern image can be a fabulous talking point in your room. It is art as a statement piece. Head out on a missing to find the perfect frame for you. Once you find it, you can update it, such as cleaning it up, polishing it, and perhaps even upgrading the color. Or, leave it worn and with scuff marks to allow its age to shine through.

Mixing and Matching for Maximum Impact

One fabulous reason to take on this project is that it offers such a wide range of versatile outcomes. For example, you can take an old metal frame and add a photo to it that brings out the details of the iron or chrome. You suddenly have a piece of metal artwork.

As you consider these steps and opportunities, don’t be afraid to mix and match. Try different sizes of images on a single wall to create a gallery display. If you want wall art ideas for various areas of your home, use different types or styles of old frames to capture unique moments in your life through prints.

A gallery wall can be a fantastic way to balance various colors, styles, themes, and overall looks with various types and sizes of frames. It allows you to combine odds and ends to create a cohesive look. You cannot go wrong with this look.

Another option could be to use frames of different sizes and shapes along a hallway, perhaps telling a story as they go of your child growing up or your history of where you were to where you are. Look at some images on social media to help you get some unique layout designs or themes that work for your space.

Personalizing Your Space

As you create designs within your home, take a step back for a moment and consider your needs and goals. You don’t just want to fill a wall with bright images and hope it makes the room look fabulous. Instead, choose every component of this room based on:

• The way they make you feel.
• What they represent to you.
• How each piece is unique and still very much something you love.

Design inspiration can come from anywhere, from an old frame from your parent’s home attic to the local thrift shop. What you do with it from there really makes the difference in how well it will work in your home.

With your frames in line, consider a few helpful steps and tips to choose the right images for them. Choose images that have some type of value to you. For example, you may want to place those personalized art pieces that were created for you in a frame. Another option is to look for inspirational messages or beautiful paintings that add visual interest to your space.

You can have canvas prints developed of your loved ones to place within your frame. It may be time to upgrade the family photo to create something fabulous and brand new. Take your travel photos and use them to fill the frame with beauty. You can also use famous photo prints that you love. There is no limit to what you do here.

Framing anything that is valuable to you can be well worth it. The key is to find the best combination of images that fits the way you want that specific area of your home to feel. Don’t overlook the fun that comes from mixing old and new frames within the same area. It can produce the type of character that’s quite eclectic, and that may be what you love very much.

Try out a few different images together. Don’t be afraid to be bold with your choices. Consider the color and composition of each image and how well they blend together. There are few rules to follow here except that you want to make these personalized living spaces using the images you love in frames that help dress those pictures up and make them much more special.

Finding the Right Balance with an Old Frame

You picked up a fabulous old frame at a garage sale. You love it, but you still are not sure how to use it in your home. Work through a few steps to make this a type of unique wall art that you add to your home. Clean up the frame, and then seek out your favorite photo of your family. Consider having it reprinted in black and white for that old, classic frame. Alternatively, you can take modern art that you love and frame it with a simple yet elegant frame. Doing that allows you to create something fabulously beautiful and more modern.

With all of these ideas and opportunities, it sure can be overwhelming to decorate your walls with frames. Yet, when you take old frames and mesh them with new images, prints, paintings, or other forms of art, you give that frame new life. It can transform the space you are in, too, helping you to make it far more memorable and meaningful to you.

As you take the time to explore all of these fabulous frame makeover ideas, start looking at your walls. Canvaspop can help you with our high-quality prints that are perfect for placing them into newly revitalized frames.

Getting started is as easy as digging through that old box or in your database of digital photographs to find the perfect photo for your space. Then, head out to find a frame that is going to give it new meaning and life. This could be an ongoing project, and you are sure to turn heads whenever someone visits. Now, your first task is to go find that fantastic old frame, the perfect one that deserves a refresh.