For my new place, I have some great black & white photos of OKC I want to hang on my walls.

The plan is to have them printed in large format by an internet company -- there are many that do this sort of thing pretty reasonably.

I have researched having them mounted and framed and that's a bit more problematic due to shipping costs of such large items. Also, I prefer to see the frame and mats in person before committing to a big expense.

I know custom framing -- especially large items -- can be very expensive.


Any suggestions for local businesses that do a good job and don't charge an arm and a leg?

Hobby Lobby.

you might check out pirate's alley on 23rd... -M

I have used "Framed, in the Village" for several items, including a very large one with multiple items included in one frame and both front and back had glass. That one was $200 in 1999. I don't know if that was expensive or not, but it was a very good job so I went back and had a few more items done for my wife. Stop by and get an estimate. They always have items on display that they have done.
C. T.
This is their web page. http://www.frameitright.com/

I've used Pirate's Alley, on Britton though... wasn't aware of the one on 23rd.

. . .also might try Denton's on Classen about NW 31st. Pirates Alley is a "keep it local" member. . .nice discount!!

Pirate's on 23rd, yup

Ya they are all expensive when it comes to custom. Michaels on May Ave is another option but the Keep it Local discount at Pirates Alley is a good start.

Thanks for all the input.

I'll price out a few of the suggested places and report back.

I'll considering just having them mounted and not framed or matted; I'll price both ways.

Or, might just have them mounted now and do the framing later, depending on the cost.

don't know the look you're going for, but i've had some things done as stretched canvas without a frame and they look pretty good... and it's pretty economical. -M

I have had archival quality framing done for an organization that houses historical items here in town with Affordable Art and Frame (NW Expy and Rockwell). They are used by one of the top interior designers in the city for all of her framing for clients. I can tell you, they do an incredible job.

I had a giant print matted and framed by Hobby Lobby and they did a great job for about $80. To give you reference it is about 6 foot by 4 foot.

The only problem is it was too large to fit in an SUV, so I literally had to borrow a pickup truck to go get the finished picture, Hobby Lobby was more than accommodating in holding the print for me for a couple days.

This isn't what you asked Pete but I wanted to pass along something my wife recently did that turned out GREAT. She took a trip to Cuba and came back with some really good pics. We decided to do some canvas type prints and after some research used Canvas on Demand online and got about 6 done for a wall grouping. They turned out really good and it was pretty darn cheap after their discounts and all. Anyway, if anyone wants anything like that done it's worth considering. :ot:

I figured with all of the downtown/midtown/automobile alley nuthuggers around here, that someone would have recommended "Case of Champions."

These guys have been framing stuff for me for many years. Absolute BEST quality, craftsmanship, and customer service for the same kind of money that a Hobby Lobby would charge. They also do all of the custom framing for The University of Oklahoma, and the OKC Thunder.....so, there's always a ton of eye candy in the store if your into that sports memorabilia kind of thing. Seriously, one of my favorite local businesses in OKC!



Case of Champions-
1106 N Broadway Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73103
(405) 236-2273

I do tend to forget about those guys even though I go by it all the time, but I'll try to remember!

I've been following okctalk for a while now, here's my first post. If you catch Hobby lobby at the right time they run 40-50% custom framing about every three months, I bet if you called them they could tell you when the next sale is.

Really appreciate all the suggestions and info. Very helpful.

I looked at the stretched canvass option but even with discounts, large sizes are very expensive. I want to one that is 5 feet by 4 feet and the best deal I can find is around $300, all in.

That's actually not bad but for that price I could probably just have a print/poster printed then have it custom matted and framed locally.

I use Framed in the Village for all my framing, but they are expensive. However, I've never gotten anything back from them and been sorry I spent the money.

I use Framed in the Village for all my framing, but they are expensive. However, I've never gotten anything back from them and been sorry I spent the money.

Hah. I had to read this a few times. I kept registering it as you saying you've never received anything back from them that you had sent them. :)

I have my prints framed by Michaels:

https://www.facebook.com/woodyrr/media_set?set=a.988339427860868.1073741829.1000005 44591306&type=3

I have had archival quality framing done for an organization that houses historical items here in town with Affordable Art and Frame (NW Expy and Rockwell). They are used by one of the top interior designers in the city for all of her framing for clients. I can tell you, they do an incredible job.

Upvote for them. Best price when I did comparisons minus the occasional 60% + 20% off at Michael's and appreciated the local expertise.

Google Maps - Affordable Art & Frame (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Affordable+Art+%26+Frame/@35.5715577,-97.6395294,14z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1sframing!3m1!1s0x00000000000000 00:0xabe2243da60f3b7d)

We have had at least six very large prints mounted and framed by Framed in the Village. Their work has always been stellar. If we had anything of value to be framed, we would definitely go there. Hobby Lobby and Michael's (on N. May) have done some of our things as well, but I would only take things of less value to them. Some of the employees are very conscientious; others, not so much. Tried a couple of other places over the years (one in downtown Edmond, can't remember the name), but weren't as happy with anyone else as much as FITV.

I am now leaning towards the stretched canvass idea (thanks Martin!) because I found decent prices when using discount codes on canvassondemand.com (http://www.canvassondemand.com).

I can do 3 quite large pieces fully mounted with think, black edges for about $700, including shipping.

I may have them do one and see how I like it before I order all 3.

$700 is still a lot of money but that's probably as good as I'm going to do in order to get a quality product that will satisfy me.

I'll post the results.


Really appreciate all the feedback! So many ways to go with this and I've learned a lot.

Pete:

If you haven't puller the trigger yet....give me a call. I have some places I use for my art shows where I get professional discount

John

Thanks jeep!

I decided to use Canvass on Demand for the 4' x 5' print as they had a 50% coupon deal.

Once I get that, I'll decide what I want to do with the other two. May end up having them framed so I may take you up on that discount down the road.

I use Framed in the Village for all my framing, but they are expensive. However, I've never gotten anything back from them and been sorry I spent the money.

Yes, they are top-notch. Excellent shop. Expensive, but you get what you pay for. I agree, they've never returned anything to me that couldn't be put in the finest of museums.

I decided to just do one large stretched canvas print for now, and this is the result.

I caught a sale at canvassondemand.com and got this done -- including shipping -- for about $220. The dimensions are about 5 feet x 4 feet.

I chose this image because it's high-res and from 1967, a time when I was a kid and used to ride with my dad down to Citizen's Bank in the Gold Dome. It's fun to look at in person in such a large size because you can make out many details, many building have changed or are gone altogether.

May still do a 2-3 more of these at some point, but not as large. I have several black & white images of OKC that I'm holding in reserve.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/heights111815a.jpg

that turned out really nice... perfect scale for the room.

I have a great B&W image of Plaza Court I will likely do on stretched canvass and place it over the black entry table on the left side of that photo.

And one more of the land run that would go on the opposite wall.

Need to wait for another good sale and wanted to test out this company and method first. I was pleased all the way around and I hope to get the other two done for a good price.

Nice décor!

Don't know if anyone mentioned affordable frames. But they do really good work for fair prices. Over the years I've built up enough trust with them to unfold, mount, and frame some rare old 40x60" lithography movie posters.