How much does framing cost in London is an often-asked question.
A knee-jerk response could be “how long is a piece of string?” But we don’t do that here.
There are a number of factors that influence the cost of a picture frame. Some of those can be related to location. London is a busy city and rents are high, particularly in the West End where we are based. Taxes like business rates are also higher as they are based solely on property values rather than business profit. These two components do influence the cost of a picture frame, but it is not the full picture. Every picture framer, regardless of location, has material costs. For a company like ours, the location actually also helps lower these two fixed costs. This is because London is expensive because it is busier and being busy means more trade, which means more materials are needed and when that happens, we can mitigate the cost of high rents and business rates because we can buy our materials like glass and mount boards and wood etc at better prices than a framer in another location. This saving reduces the “rent and rates” mark-up. We also do other things to lower costs to our clients. One of those is asking them to pay via bank transfer, which has lower costs than using a credit and debit card terminal. This means that the “London” component of the question “how much does framing cost in London” is the same or almost the same as for any other location in the UK.
The most significant thing that influences picture frame costs is the quality of the actual frame. Most framers around the country use exclusively pre-made moulding lengths imported via suppliers from various factories mainly located in Italy and Germany (who in turn source materials and processes from other European and beyond countries). The quality versus cost equation is at best okay and often poor. Find a picture frame on the wall of an office, restaurant, home, and examine it. Look at the finish, the mitre joins at each corner. Are there gaps? Does it look “quality”? Then look at one of ours for example. The majority of the frames chosen by our clients are made from solid wood like walnut and oak. Often stained, sometimes gilded in 22k gold, sometimes custom carved or sprayed in a huge variety of colours and exotic finishes but some just elegantly plain. Our craftsmanship, attention to deal, guarantee and client service we like to think are excellent and we go above and beyond. This is reflected in price. But as mentioned, our follow up service often goes beyond any standard warranty issued by other companies. We have recently adjusted a frame free of charge for a client after 11 years! This wasn’t a workmanship issue, just that the frame was passed on down to the next generation and they wanted it hung on the wall rather than propped up against one in a French Chateau.
But now let’s really answer the question of how much does framing cost in London?
Here is a ballpark guide for a simple poster frame, standard glass, backing and hangings, on our usual max five-day turnaround (which is often quicker) for the following A-sizes. Frame is handmade, beautifully finished to exactly the same high standards as our exclusive custom carved frames and with the same guarantees and after care.
A4 £65
A3 £84
A2 £120
A1 £187
To get an idea of the real cost we would need to know several things.
1. Artwork size.
2. How you would like it framed. For example, straight to edge, window mounted, floated, shadow floated? Unsure of what these options mean? Then click HERE, scroll down to Step 2 and by clicking on each description you can see a visual of the selected framing style.
3. Once the framing style is decided then let us know how wide you would like the margins. This only applies to window mounted and floated styles. You must also tell us if the margin size you would like is visual or overall. We say this because approximately 6mm of the margin would be hidden by the frame lip or rebate.
4. Next is materials. Frame type. See these pages to look at the different possible options, Standard frame, luxury frame, painted frame, hand-finished or custom carved. All are possible and we can work with an extremely wide range of budgets. Then there is the glass, either standard or art glass, which is anti-reflective and has various levels of UV protection, or even acrylic, of which we offer many types.
5. When all these things are decided, we are in a position to calculate a cost.
We hope this guide on how much does framing cost in London? is helpful. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact us HERE.