interior talk: finding a trusty framer

I mentioned that I was working on a gallery wall for our HUGE living room wall. In order to keep it within my budget, I went to Ikea to find frames and I also used many pictures from my coffee table books. Brillant, right? While I didn't use custom frames for each picture, I would need custom mats in order to fit the pictures in my pre-made frames.

pictures from Kate Spade, Hermes, Penguin

My secret? I do not head to Michaels to make it happen, I have found it to be severely overpriced (I mean how else can they have 80% off coupons) and don't always have the customer in mind. I found a small local frame shop owned by a military wife (support local businesses ) and had the best experience. The owner was SO knowledgeable about framing and worked with me for over a hour to make the pictures look custom, while keeping my budget in mind.

making sure they look good on the wall together
vintage poster found at my great aunt's house

Some of her tips? Use Black Core Matting, when it is cut on an angle it makes the picture look double matted without the double matting price. Keep in mind that small pops of color in matting are good but bigger, more expensive pictures should be matted in classic colors so it grows with you and your room. and lastly, mats should be at least 1 inch on all sides. 

I am so excited to get my pictures back (which bless her, she is placing each one in their respective frames AND reinforcing my flimsy ikea frames for no extra cost) and start hanging my gallery wall! I am also patiently waiting the arrival of the rest of my art in the mail. Have you hung a gallery wall? Any tips or etsy artists I need to check out?