I went to the local frame place this morning and started working with a guy to pick out the things I needed to reframe the wedding scroll that hangs above the fireplace.
I explained what I was hoping to do, and he pulled out a couple dozen mats to figure out what two I wanted. I finally settled on a nice chocolate brown interior with a dark yellow for the outer mat. Then he brought out a dozen frames for me to pick from and I found one that I absolutely ADORED it was silver with a bit of antique cream tone in it (making it almost look like gold). It was about four inches thick and was really ornate – it even had little red flecks in the design. It was PERFECT.
He then quoted me $387 (and that included my $40 coupon) if we used new glass to make the scroll a bit larger (which is what I wanted). Ouch! I called Denis and he (rightly) said, “No way!” Using my glass the price would go down to $327, but I knew that was still too expensive. We tried a few other antique silver frames and just couldn’t find anything I liked, so we switched to a gold frame and eventually found one. It’s not as thick (only 2″) and not as ornate, but it brought the price, using my glass, down to $237. We switched out the dark yellow mat for one slightly lighter and called it a day.
It’ll be lovely – but not as lovely as the grouping we originally came up with. I told the guy that the scroll lived in it’s current iteration for ten years, and that maybe in another ten years I’ll come in and get the frame that I *really* wanted. 🙂
So I put a 50% deposit down and it’ll be ready for pickup on February 28. I could have had it sooner, but since I get paid on Feb. 28 I can pay cash for the remainder of the job.
I learned the hard way also how expensive custom framing is. It’s too late now, but if you have a Michael’s there, they do a nice job on custom framing and run coupons for some percentage off in the Sunday sales supplements.
Bev – I’ll consider that if ever another project comes up.
Yes, Michaels does a great job (if you can find an artist working behind the frame counter). They’re still not cheap, but consider it part of the art (or wedding) and it’s worth the investment to have what you want. The thing I always ask myself is, will I care how much it cost in a year? Probably not. But you’ll always regret it if you end up not liking the way it looks.