Recently I had a somewhat awkward experience with trying to get a print framed for my bedroom. There's this semi-large, ugly, fuse box on the wall next to my bed, and it's a bit of an eyesore. (Why they couldn't just put it in the closet is beyond me.) Me, being of the thrifty sort, measured it and found this frame from IKEA would cover it nicely top-to-bottom, and still have enough room on the sides so that I could still attach it to the drywall. Better yet, it has plexiglass instead of glass, and for clumsy me (who routinely drops/breaks things), it was perfect.
Once I found the frame, I had to find the print. The not-so-nice thing about large IKEA frames is that they're measured metrically and don't jive with the good ol' Imperial system. This one was a balanced 60x80cm, which translates to 23 ½ and 31 1/2 inches. (Actually, I think it was even worse than that – like 23 2/5ths, but the IKEA site is deceiving.) The good news is that I found a print I liked that I could mat it so it'd fill out the frame. My mom does matting all the time – "It's not rocket science," she says, and supposedly local art stores usually cut down mats for people.
Nope. Apparently NOT down here in my city. I called at least 4 different stores, and no one just cuts mats. Michaels tricked me and said they cut mats, but when I went there, the guy behind the counter said, "Sure, we cut them... but only the outside. It'll cost $80 cut a window on the inside." WTF!
Finally I found a store that's actually a kind of a do-it-yourself shop, where they'll show you how to cut your own mat and mount it to a frame. However, first and foremost, they're a custom frame shop, which is obviously how they make their money. So I show up in the evening, expecting they'll help me cut down a mat in 20 minutes and I'd be on my merry way. Nope. Long story short, the lady behind the counter would cut the mat for me the next day, and the next evening I'd come back to mount it there in the shop. All this for only $38.
This is where it gets embarrassing. I was kind of hoping I could just take the mat home and do it all myself so I didn't have to come back and have them show me basically how to use scotch tape. But since the service included a "how to," I had to do it all in front of them with this cheap ass IKEA picture frame. And, like anything from IKEA, it requires some sort of assembly. We had to wrestle with the frame to get everything all snugged up and in place, and it because glaringly obvious that bringing a $20 frame to a custom frame-making place is like bringing Two Buck Chuck to a cocktail-attire champagne & cheese party.
Anyway, we finally get everything settled in, and I do my best to book it out of there once it's wrapped up. As I thanked them and went out the door, the woman calls out, "Pleasure doing business! Next time we'll have to make you a frame." As if I weren't embarrassed enough that I brought a particleboard and plastic picture frame to this shop, I get a guilt trip as I'm leaving. Gee, thanks guys.
Next time I'm just going to buy a mat cutter and try to do the damn thing myself. ;)
Post title song reference: "O.P.P" - Naughty by Nature
Forgive me, but this made me laugh a little, but only because this is totally something that would happen to me. :) Glad you got it taken care of!
ReplyDeleteA lot of places sell good frames that come with a mat. Check photo stores and stuff like that or *gasp* Target or Walmart.
ReplyDeleteBtw....being Canadian, your struggle with metric makes me giggle. I feel the same when when trying to convert kilometers to miles.