Paper as Art: logistics and more ideas

A loyal reader (okay, it's my mom) went out and bought some hand-made paper to hang in her vacation house in Arizona, but wanted to know how, exactly, I handled the framing of mine, in my dining room. Oh, details.

I bought these Ikea Ribba frames for $25 a piece. They happen to be the perfect size and proportion for the large-scale paper I bought.

I took the backs off the frames and put the mattes, front side up, on a large surface. I centered the paper ON TOP of the mattes to float them--losing the uneven edges would lose the hand-made quality to the paper, which would be a shame.

I attached the paper with double-sided tape at the four corners and in the middle of each side. The paper is uneven and doesn't lie 100% flat, but I liked the slight rippled effect and just used small pieces of tape so I wouldn't fight the natural edge.

When you go to put the frames back together, two things to note:

-- the plexi has a thin coating, kind of like saran wrap, on BOTH sides. You can pull it up from a corner, but you definitely need to remove both sides.

-- these frames are cheap for a reason. There are teeny tiny little screws that come with the wire kit, and you MUST use these in the little metal brackets on each side of the frame. Otherwise, when you go to hang them, the plexi will pop out of the frame. No good.

Want some more ideas? Here are some other paper options.


This type is smaller, comes in many colors this red was my favorite, but the peacock blue was not far behind), and I love the very fine quality of the line. I would use this somewhere more intimate, a smaller space like a bathroom, and frame just one of them in gold with black mattes. A single one would feel like something special brought back from a trip overseas.


These gold chrysanthemums would have strength in numbers. Like, six of them in a grid. The pattern and the line is very delicate, and because it repeats (unlike the red one, which has a centered motif), the more, the better. Frames could be natural, gold bamboo, or a Chinese red lacquer, depending on the decor. I would do these in a big hallway.



Finally, this sculptural white one might be my favorite. In fact, I find myself tempted to go back and get it! I would do this in a white shadowbox frame with an ivory linen matte, with the paper floating inside the matte. It would be gorgeous over a console in an entryway, particularly on a wall with some soft color.

If you have created art from paper in your home, send me a picture!

Hope you're enjoying the weekend,