You might not realize it from the humble confines of Carter Avenue Frame Shop, but a significant portion of our business comes from commercial framing. Whether it’s framing a few award certificates or picking out and installing artwork for the new board room, our commercial framing division can help your business or organization. We have framed thousands of certificates and we have years of experience framing art for public areas and offices. Bring your project to the shop or call Tim for a consultation at your office (651) 645-7862. We specialize in solving your problems, making the process easy for you, and making you look good!

In September 2007, Carter Ave. Frame Shop was named one of the nation’s Top 100 Art & Framing Retailers for the fifth year in a row by Decor Magazine.  We’re proud to be part of this elite group of the “best and brightest” in the framing industry.  We’re especially proud to be one of only six frame shops named all five years this honor has been granted.  We pledge to keep working hard to earn your trust.

Yes, we can often order posters that you find on the Internet. We do not have access to absolutely everything that you can find online, but we do have access to thousands of images. The advantage to having us order your poster is that you don’t have to pay any postage or deal with any problems. In addition, you are always able to borrow images from our inventory to take home on approval before you buy them. Also, if you look at a printed image in our catalogs, the colors from our printed image are more similar to the poster colors than the image on your computer screen. If you want us to search for an image, get all the information that you can including the artist’s name, the title of the image, the size and the publisher and we will be able to tell you whether we can get that poster or not.

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Mat width is usually determined by a number of factors such as the size of the piece, the scale of the room where the piece will be hung, the graphic strength of the work, the mat colors, and the look desired. Standard mat width is getting wider generally. Exaggerating the mat dimensions is sometimes done for a gallery or fine art look. The mat serves as a buffer between the frame and the work of art. It is essentially a place for the work of art to be. It should relate to the work of art and enhance the work rather than distract from it. Generally, wider is better than narrower, within limits.

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Oftentimes, it is possible. We work with a local paper conservator, Allan Thenen, who offers many services to our customers. Alan can stabilize old paper documents that are falling apart, bleach paper that has yellowed or contains stains, remove or lessen mold and mildew growth (called “foxing”) on paper and help with many other paper related problems. His rates are quite reasonable and our customers have been quite satisfied with his work. If you have an old map or antique etching that has been damaged, please feel free to bring it by and we will have Allan take a look at it. He will be able to give you an idea about what he can and cannot do along with an estimate for his services.

This is probably a dangerous question to ask a picture framer, but the truth is the answer lies with you. As basic as it sounds, the main question to ask is: do you really like the picture? We can certainly update the framing for the picture that you framed in the “do-it-yourself” frame shop during college and transform your artwork into something that will look good in your house today. If you paid almost nothing for the picture, but you still love it, or even have some kind of nostalgic attachment to it, then it’s probably worth re-framing. Conversely, if a picture that you don’t like very much falls off the wall and breaks the glass, you might be better off to spend your money framing something that you love rather than putting that ho-hum piece back up on the wall. In any case, the opinion that matters most is yours. Saving good art from bad framing is one of the most valuable things a frame shop can do and we love to do it.

Contrary to what many people think, the designation “CPF” on our business cards does not mean that you want to bring your taxes to us. What it does mean is that all three of us have passed a written test administered by the Professional Picture Framers Association covering a wide range of topics from the names of moulding profiles to how to properly frame a painting that’s going to be hanging on a sailboat (that’s a real question).

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The answer is: it depends. Most posters, photos and inexpensive prints should be permanently dry mounted and shouldn’t be rippling. However, if you are framing an original or collectible piece of artwork, the proper mounting technique will not necessarily prevent rippling. In order to keep the artwork in its original condition, the framer doesn’t permanently adhere the artwork to its backing board. In most cases, the artwork is hinged to its mat or backing board with an acid-free paper and reversible adhesive with minimal contact to the artwork.

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The first thing you need to consider is what you are trying to do with your overall decorating. Consider how your piece relates to the other elements in your home - the doors, windows, furniture, etc. Ask someone to hold it up against the wall to see what placement looks best. As a rule of thumb, eye-level is best (keeping in mind that eye-level isn’t the same for everyone). Try it higher or lower, centered or off-center.

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Yes, we do. In fact we don’t even carry “regular” mats anymore. We use rag and alphacellulose mats exclusively because their surface papers hold their color longer and they don’t damage the art in any way. We use acid-free backing and ultraviolet light- blocking glass when appropriate to keep your valuable or irreplaceable art protected.