HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-10-20, Page 21THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011. PAGE 21.
When facing an empty room, there
are countless options for decorating.
After the standards, such as the
colour of paint that will define the
room and the flooring option
(whether it be hardwood flooring,
carpet or something else), it comes
down to more complex decisions,
like furniture and adorning the
walls.
That’s where it can get tricky.
There is no hard and fast rule to
decorating the walls, but there are
plenty of guidelines and strong
opinions out there.
Some people like a clean wall,
others prefer busy collections of
pictures and objects from ceiling to
floor.
One thing is for sure, framing has
evolved over the years.
“Framing isn’t like it used to be,”
says Janice Peters of The Gift
Cupboard in Blyth. “People change
what’s on their walls more
frequently. It’s cheaper to frame
items, so you can just change
something without feeling guilty.”
Peters says that years ago limited
edition prints were being framed
regularly. Now the trend has shifted
to the framing of memorabilia and
items, rather than pictures and art
prints, she says, at least in her
experiences.
“We get a lot of (sports) jerseys,
cross-stitching and shadowbox
requests,” she says. “And we do still
get prints, but not limited edition
prints like we used to.”
Peters says the requests she gets
are all different and because she
works in selling decorative items
and framing items, not interior
decorating, she can only help
customers create a piece they want
that will fit into their homes.
“There isn’t a book to go by,”
Peters says. “Every piece is so
unique and different.”
When a customer comes into the
store, Peters says, generally she
works with them as to what they
want to see in the frame and how
they want it to look, whether it’s an
art print, several photographs or
some sort of item the customer
wants preserved.
Peters admits that sometimes what
she thinks is ideal for a piece isn’t
what the customer had in mind, so
they start again from scratch,
together.
“Sometimes what we think isn’t
what the customer likes,” she says.
“We don’t see the person’s home
and it’s them who has to look at it all
day.”
It can be pretty difficult too, Peters
says, and that’s why she likes to
spend as much time with the
customer as she can planning the
piece out.
Peters uses an example of a
framed piece involving the pictures
of someone’s seven grandchildren.
The grandchildren had to be
organized according to age, but also
kept in their respective families.
Peters said it was a difficult task
that could have been approached
hundreds of different ways, so
getting the customer’s vision for the
piece before committing to anything
was key.
Generally, Peters says, the
decoration of a room starts with the
furniture. Once the furniture in a
room is set up where the customer
wants it to stay, then they can begin
to think about adding framed
pictures to the room to “help
accentuate the furniture”.
When it comes to adding framed
pictures to a room that’s already
furnished, Peters says a large frame
above something like a couch or a
television is the standard and is
never usually a bad idea, but an idea
that is emerging is a frame collage
over such pieces.
Peters says she can frame several
different pictures or pieces and work
with the customer on a grouping that
can be hung tightly together on a
wall.
“A good idea is to lay the grouping
out on the floor,” Peters says.
A similar concept can be achieved
with one large picture or art piece
and several smaller frames.
Peters says a larger picture could
be divided into several smaller
segments of the picture, framed on
their own and placed into a tight
grouping to recreate the picture in a
different and artistic way on a wall.
Another emerging trend is a kind
of anti-framing exercise with an art
print on canvas.
Peters says often when people
come back from a vacation, they
don’t have the luggage room for an
art print they’ve purchased in their
destination country. The solution is
to take the canvas off of the boards
and roll it up. Upon returning to
Canada, the canvas can be stretched
over a wooden internal frame to be
hung on its own without a frame,
giving the picture a minimalist look
NC – As the cold weather
approaches and the first snowflakes
begin to fall, it is important to ensure
your home is winter-ready. There are
plenty of simple ways to winterize
your home without breaking the
bank, with a positive effect on
lowering your heating bills.
Interior:First, inspect your
furnace and replace the filter. Stock
up on furnace filters and be sure to
change them every month.
Next, have your fireplace cleaned
so it will be ready for use. Screen the
top of your chimney to keep out
rodents and birds and store firewood
in a dry place away from the outside
Possibilities can be endless
when decorating with frames
Ready for winter?
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By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
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