Measuring Your Art Space For Installation

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I was walking around an art supply store last week and I saw a sign that said, “Measuring Your Art Space For Installation,” and I thought, “Oh — that’s me!”

Really though, how many people know how to correctly measure their art space for installation? Or even what that means? If you’re anything like I was prior to this experience it means nothing and you’re clueless about measuring anything for that matter.

The first thing I did when I had a new piece of art was find the frame in the size that fit my space. Once I found it, if it was a little bit short or long or too wide or too narrow (all of which happened with me), then I would have to look for another frame–a process that took quite awhile. Not only does it take time but you also have to be aware of your budget because frames can get pricey.

What’s worse is all the wasted time looking for something that might not even exist because most frames are custom made, meaning they didn’t have the exact measurements you needed. Finding an exact match was like finding a needle in a haystack.

I’d like to share with you some tips on how to properly measure your art space so you can avoid the pitfalls that happened to

You have great art your friend wants to display in their home. You want them to display it in their home. But you don’t know how to help them do this.

This is not a problem you need to worry about anymore! This article will help you determine what sort of frame best suits your art and will also educate you on how to measure the size of the space available for that frame.

To begin, you’ll need a ruler, a pencil and some paper. Write down the dimensions of the art work’s container. This includes the height, width and depth of the frame (please note I said frame and not canvas).

Next, write down the dimensions of the space that you want to display your art in (height, width, depth). It is helpful if both spaces are measured in inches or centimeters so that you can compare measurements easily. It’s also useful if both spaces are measured with the same units so that one can be converted into another for an accurate comparison (1inch = 2.54 centimeters).

Now that you have all of measurements needed, take a look at the chart below:

Result:  The chart shows us that there is no exact match between our art space and our art container. To aid us in finding a

Art installations are a great way to make your home come alive. If you are lucky enough to purchase a piece of art, get ready for a little work. You need to measure the space where the art will be mounted and consider if you want to add a new frame or just leave it as is.

To measure your space, get out a measuring tape. Place one end at the top left corner of the frame, if there is only one place where you plan to hang the artwork, and start wrapping around, making sure that you have at least an inch between each side of the tape. If you have multiple places where you may hang the artwork, wrap around more than once so that you can see exactly how much space it will take up in order to have an accurate cut.

When you are done measuring the space, let’s talk about the frame. Most art these days comes with a gold frame. This is fine, but it can make your art look like it belongs in another era. Consider adding some color to your picture instead of keeping everything one color scheme.

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The size of the art and how it is framed will determine how you hang the art, what size frames to use, and whether the art will be hung with nails or cleats.

4. Determine the size of the frame. This will determine what size of canvas or board you need to buy as well as whether your art can fit into the available space. You can either measure the existing piece (if you already have art) or measure a print that is already in a frame.*

All frames are not created equal. In a perfect world, full of beautiful, well-made art, every piece would fit in the frame it was made for. Alas, we do not live in that world. And when you go to a lot of galleries and a lot of shows, you will see lots of art that is the wrong size for the frame it’s in. The problem with this is that it can look really bad!

The standard advice given by the framers I know is this: Measure your art space before you bring your work in to be framed. I don’t mean your wall space—I mean your art space. There are three components to this:

1) The thickness and depth of the mat (the visible part of the frame)

2) The width of the depth of the frame (not all frames are “depth” frames)

3) The distance between the inner edge of one side and the other side’s inner edge.

The best thing to do is measure these outside your work’s current matting and frame, or if you can’t do that, measure them on your artwork itself. But if you can’t do either one of those things, there are other ways to estimate them. You just want to make sure

The next thing you will need to know is what size of frame you need. Use this handy calculator to figure that out.

If you are going to have pictures framed in a store, they can measure the art for you there. However, if you are doing it yourself, I have some tips.

The first thing to remember is that your framed art needs to be measured not just for the outer dimensions, but also for the depth of the frame. The depth of the frame is usually referred to as the “Outside Mount dimension”. This measurement includes not only the actual space occupied by the art and matting, but also the thickness of the frame itself. This measurement is found on the outside of your frame when you examine it. It will look something like this:

Outside Mount Depth [in inches]: 1 5/8″ (42mm)

This will give you an idea how much space your art needs if you want it framed in a store. If you are framing your own art, then here is how to measure for your frame:

Place a piece of paper over your artwork and trace around it. Remember to include any visible mats or glass as part of your tracing! Then add 1/4″ (about 6mm) or so to that measurement

Art is such a matter of taste, and so subjective. You like what you like and that’s fine. If a piece of art has real value, it will hold its own over time. The price of the art may go down or up based on the economy, but the quality will always be in demand. There are plenty of artists whose work you might not like, but their work will still be worth money because it has a huge draw for certain groups or is representative of an era that many people collect.

The best way to determine if your art is valuable is to find out if it is considered a collectible piece by industry professionals. If so, you can assume that your art will hold its value over time. Not all art that’s considered a collectible will increase in value, but any good investment should do well over time.

Artwork that can appreciate in value also has resale value. That means someone else might pay more for the artwork than what you paid for it initially. And this could be very helpful if you’re going to sell it at some point in the future, especially since artwork is not always easy to sell (and especially if you’re trying to sell it quickly).

The question then is how do we decide which pieces of artwork

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