Columns: My New Best Friend: Frame of Mine
At least my bedroom walls are painted a very pale grayish blue. Not like the bright studio-white in my open-plan downstairs. “You don’t want your house to look like a gallery,” Kevin says, “Titanium-bleach white makes artwork look darker than it is. If you have really good art and you want to show it off, use neutrals.”
As for the art, Kevin assures me I can work with what I have … provided I get everything—everything!—framed. He points to my pink-and-yellow-splashed print by Thom Lessner, featuring … Hall & Oates (I know, I know) … and says, “You wouldn’t put a purple mat around this. Or anything Baroque, or Rococo. Consider color, the tone and balance, and choose the frame accordingly.”
In other words, framing is hard. Luckily, he recommends locals for the job (see above). He also says you can’t go wrong with white metallic frames and white matting, or using different mats and the same frame in one room.
As for placing the art, Kevin makes it sound simple: Put it up, walk away, and have a look: “You want to see it from all angles. Don’t just stand 10 feet away. Sit down in a chair. Move furniture around.”
One cardinal rule: “Leave air space for anything: corners, ceiling, floor, furniture. It’s all about a rhythm and cadence.”
But what about those lovely salon-style montages that seem de rigueur among modern homeowners? Those, he says, are a bit more complicated. First, consider the space to determine the shape of the grouping: long and thin? Tall and wide? “I always lay everything out on the floor, push it all around, and see where I want it. Start with the bottom piece to determine where the rest needs to be. If, for example, you have a chair rail … ”
I nod dutifully, jotting down notes while imagining myself on the floor, balancing a triptych of Zoe Strauss prints with my grandparents’ silhouettes of George and Martha Washington. I write: “Get framed. Get Kevin to hang.”
Kevin Derrick can be found at Bahdeebahdu, 1522 North American Street, 215-627-5002, bahdeebahdu.com; kevinderrick.com.
