Choosing the right frame is the difference between a print that looks like wall art and a print that looks like a poster blu-tacked above a desk. The good news: there are only four decisions to make — size, colour, mount, and glazing — and once you understand each one, the choice becomes obvious for every print you own.
Match the frame to the print, not the room
The most common mistake is picking a frame to match your furniture. Frames are part of the artwork, not the décor. A walnut frame on a stark black-and-white photograph will fight the print every time, no matter how nicely it ties to the sideboard underneath. Start with the print: what's the dominant tone, and what's the mood? Then pick a frame that supports both.
Size: the art of leaving space
For a clean, minimal look, the frame should sit roughly 2–4cm wider than the print on every side. Anything tighter feels cramped; anything wider and the frame starts to dominate.
If you want the print to feel like proper gallery art, leave a generous mount board around the print and let the frame breathe. A 30×40cm print floating inside a 50×70cm frame with a deep mount reads as art. The same print in a tight 30×40cm frame reads as decoration.
Rule of thumb
- A4 prints — frame at A3 with a mount, or A4 with no mount for a tight modern look.
- A3 prints — frame at A2 with a mount.
- A2 and larger — almost always benefit from a mount.
Colour: three choices that cover everything
Black, oak, and walnut handle 95% of prints between them.
Black sharpens bold graphics, photography, and high-contrast prints. It disappears against dark walls and frames the print like a window.
Oak warms up muted, pastel, and illustration-style prints. It softens the edge between print and wall, which is exactly what you want for something delicate.
Walnut deepens vintage prints, earthy palettes, and anything with brown, ochre, or warm grey tones. It also reads as more "expensive" than the other two, which matters for hero pieces.
White frames are tricky. They work brilliantly in heavily monochrome rooms and on bright, graphic prints — but on a photograph, white frames often look cheap. If in doubt, skip white.
Mount board: the step everyone skips
A mount board (a thick paper border between the print and the frame) does three things: it lifts the print visually, gives the eye breathing room, and keeps the print from touching the glass. The last point matters — direct contact with glass can stick over time, especially in humid rooms.
For A4 and larger, leave at least a 5cm mount on all sides. The only time you'd skip a mount is if the print is designed to fill the frame edge-to-edge — typically posters, type-led prints, or anything where bleeding off the edge is part of the design.
Glazing: glass or acrylic?
Glass is heavier, scratches less, and has slightly better clarity. Use it for hero pieces and anywhere height isn't a concern.
Acrylic is lighter, shatterproof, and safer above sofas, beds, and in homes with children. The clarity difference is genuinely tiny on modern acrylic — don't let purists tell you otherwise.
If you live in a sunny room, ask for UV-filtered glazing. Cheap glazing will fade a print in two or three summers; UV-filtered will hold colour for a decade or more.
Material: wood or metal
The fifth decision people skip is material. Both look great — they just do different jobs.
Wood mouldings warm a print and feel like furniture. Oak, walnut and black-stained wood all carry texture and grain you can see up close — choose wood when you want the frame to feel handmade, lived-in, or paired with natural materials elsewhere in the room. Browse our solid wood picture frames for the full range.
Metal frames sit flatter and read more modern. Real brushed aluminium picture frames in matt black, brushed gold and brushed copper weigh roughly half what a wood moulding does, which makes them the easier choice for larger prints, gallery walls and plasterboard. The thin profile keeps the focus entirely on the artwork — ideal for minimalist posters, monochrome photography and modern prints.
Quick rule: warm, traditional or characterful prints lean wood; minimal, graphic, photography-led prints lean metal.
Quick decision flow
Still unsure? Run through these questions in order:
- Photographic or graphic? If photographic, lean black or walnut. If graphic, oak is usually safer.
- Bold or muted? Bold prints can take any frame. Muted prints want oak.
- Hero piece or gallery wall? Hero pieces get the deeper mount. Gallery walls work better with tighter frames so the prints relate to each other.
- Above a sofa or bed? Acrylic, no exceptions.
Get those four right and the frame stops being a decision — it becomes the obvious next step after picking the print.