Challenge: Part 4 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible

Hanging artwork on the wall without a frame is evil. It’s like arranging roses in a vase without water.

This is something I’ve just recently come to understand. For the longest time, I’ve treated my art work (and walls!) as most students do - a poster here, a photo there…hmmm… some more there… some bits of tape, perhaps some glue and voila! Nice. Now let’s hit the pub.

A fraction of my unframed photography, previously taped to the wall...

I love photography and having amassed a large collection of photos through the past few years,  I’m always on the look out for frames. Empty frames. Frames with pictures, paintings. Frames of all sizes and shapes. Old frames, new frames. Great frames can be as interesting and decorative as the artwork itself!

Buying new frames get expensive real fast, though.  Ikea is an option  - but are their frames really that exciting? Some even use plastic instead of glass… hmm. And they break, sooner or later.

So I look for frames in charity stores. I find all kinds of frames here, from the most unusual to the elegant. Sometimes they already contain photos or art that the previous owner  has stuck in there, but don’t let that stop you! Just rip the badness out.

To illustrate my point - here’s a large, solid wooden double frame I found at Oxfam for £10:

Frame from Oxfam

Still a bit expensive… (I didn’t have the heart to try to bargain with a charity store…). However, it’s a solid frame that will look great on the wall. I decided to replace the cheesy Paris photography with some of my own. (Not saying mine is better - just more personal!)

First, I opened up the back by cutting through the tape to remove the photos. Be careful when you do this so you don’t cut through the little metal benders that hold the cartoon.

Then I played around with a few combinations of my own photography side by side.

Version 1 - Nature abstracts

Version 2 - Boat & Church tower

Version 3 - Poetic abstracts!

Version 4 - Red...

Well, now you know why I’m always looking for frames. I’ve got more photos than I can ever hope to frame…

Here’s the final, framed version:

Version 5 - Autumn leaves (that's a violin on the left..)

And here’s how it looks on the wall:

Thrifty frame on the wall

Now, while I like the sturdy, simple look, what you really want, is to be utterly radical when you decorate your walls..

Every house needs a “curiosity wall” - and I’ve just began to put together mine. Here’s a collection of other frames I’ve found across different charity stores in London:

Curiosity wall in the makings...

I found the frame with the dog painting in a second hand store in Wimbledon a few years back - for £9. That’s a bargain! Not everybody’s cup of tea, I know. But it fits perfectly as the center point in my emerging curiosity wall, as my theme is Dogs, Women & Vintage.

The dachshund photo is mine. I found the frame (sans glass) for only £3 together with the dog frame.  It’s got a few cracks here and there but this only adds a bit of old school charm, don’t you think?  The little girl in the oval frame is my grandmother, and I got the vintage photo of the other little girl with a parasol for £0.50 in the antique store in Wimbledon village. The handbag frame, another Oxfam treasure, is one of my favorites… a find at only £4!

I’ve collected these over years. It’s not a speedy process, but try to imagine this wall full of interesting photos…

I’m not going to add the price of the smaller frames to this challenge’s savings since I already had them. Total savings for this challenge is:

Typical cost of large double frame: £40

My cost: £10

Total saved: £30