The Art of Frugality

Try as I might, I'm a horrid picture hanger. I often finish my projects with pencil marks all over my walls, many nail holes and pictures hanging in a crooked fashion. Hanging multiple frames in a horizonal line? Forget about it. That is when I discovered frame clustering. It's easy to do and can be used as an inexpensive design element to your home. You can hang similar frames with black and white photos, or incorporate a more eclectic feel with varying frames styles. Here are some ideas you can use to create a mixed cluster.

Fabric
This can be relatively cheap and easy to do. Check out JoAnn’s or Beverley’s for clearance fabric; usually there are some really great patterns out there that would make a god-awful Mumu but an excellent piece of work. You can typically pick up fabric for as low as $3.99 a yard. Cut the fabric and staple to a piece of cardboard for a tight appearance (don’t glue it or it may bubble) and frame. Voila! A fine piece of art for under $10.

Empty Frames
I wouldn’t recommend an entire wall dedicated to this particular element, but hanging a few empty frames among a cluster can help simplify a design technique that can be overwhelming
to the eye. An ornate frame works best for this since it is, in and of itself, aesthetically pleasing to look at.

I have a printer that has photo pronting capabilities. Usually I take the photos I have on my computer and, using a photo editing function, make black and white pictures. Once i've compeleted editing (taked all of 5 minutes) I print these photos out on bargain photo paper; I've picked up photo paper at the dollar store and have also spotted generic paper for as low as $5 for 100 sheets. The reason I choose black and white for most of my photos is so the graniness and poor resolution that can often result from using cheap paper, is far less noticable. I find it to average out less per photo than going to CVS or Walgreens, and it's easier too!