When to Go Frameless

The edge of the art canvas is usually framed.

At least, it used to be. But now, I'm seeing more and more unframed art. 

And I'm not talking about art students who don't have the cash to frame what they've painted.

I'm taking about giant canvases hung over drop-dead-gorgeous stone fireplaces in second homes featured in Traditional Home Magazine. So it's not about frugality or speed. 

It's about style. And I rather fancy it. It's a contemporary look that fits into almost any decor style.

The frameless look certainly makes DIY decorating a bit easier. Happily, it updates a home that looks stuck in an earlier era.

Imagine the room on the left, and how old school and it would look with a old fashioned frame surrounding that painting of loopy circles.

But the edge of an unframed painting still has to look finished. It should be clean and free of paint drips and stains.

If you stretch a piece of decorative fabric that you've purchased around wooden stretchers, then the design will wrap around the stretchers. But generally, a painting ends at the edge of the front surface. A painting that wraps around the stretchers is often a painting was printed in a factory and then stapled onto stretchers. Not exactly one-of-a kind art.
    

Buying your canvas stretched and ready to go is the simple solution if you want to do your own artwork for staging, but you can't prop up or hang a piece of unframed thin-style canvas board. Your canvas has to have that boxed edge that stretchers provide.

There is an answer to the question, when is it a good idea to skip the frame? The answer is, "Almost anytime!" Most house styles can support this kind of look. It's casual and creates an approachable atmosphere.

Are you working on a redesign of your rooms? Don't leave here without downloading my furniture arranging eBook!