Professional Canvas Frame

Piece of Meesh
by Piece of Meesh
4 Materials
$25
1 Hour
Easy

The best part about this professional looking frame, is that there are no power tools required! I’ve been scouring the internet for a canvas print for my living room for months. Of course the ones I liked, were close to $600 (or more)! Well...on an impromptu trip to Macy’s, I found these two 27x27 canvas prints for only $35 each and they matched my living room decor perfectly. The only thing I had to do was add a frame for a more expensive or professional look...and I did it for less than $25! For more DIY, follow on Instagram.



This is the canvas I picked up. Let's get to how to frame canvas art!

Measure

Measure each side to determine how many inches of 1x2 you’ll need to buy. Mine was 27.6”. Multiply that X4 (for each side) and I needed 108”. You should add about 8” to what you need since we are going to be cutting at angle to get that professional look. You’ll see below.

First cut

You are going to start by cutting a 45° angle on one end of your board. The miter box is labeled for you.

Your hand saw should look like this. Try to find your rhythm so you get as clean a cut as possible. It took me less than a minute.

You’ve now created your first miter cut.

Measure and repeat

This is important and why you needed to add a few inches.


Place the board against the canvas and draw a pencil mark where you need to cut. You can see my pencil mark to the right of the canvas. Remember, we are cutting angles and my pencil mark reflects that. The angles must meet at the corners to form 90° so they should be cut in opposite directions at each end (this will make sense later...keep going).

Cutting your second angle

If you look closely, you can see that I am not cutting directly on the line I created. The blade itself measures approximately 1/8” so you must account for that. Simply, put the blade slightly to the left or right of the cut line you drew.

Glue up

So remember I just said you have to cut the angles in different directions? I hope it makes more sense now. This is how the boards will meet at the corners to give you that professional look. I used my favorite wood glue for this and secured with my brad nailer because I didn’t want to hold it in place while it dries. Wood glue by itself will not require any nailing for this project because it’s so strong! You do not need a brad nailer. You can certainly use a different type of glue, particularly one that dries fast. There are glue accelerators that you can use to speed up the dry process. If you plan to stain your project, wipe off as much glue as possible or your stain will be a different color on your the spot.

Fill any imperfections

I used my woodfiller to fill any areas that had divots or small gaps.

How to apply

You do not have to do this neatly. Of course, the neater you do it means easier cleanup. This will dry a natural wood color. Once it does, you’re ready to sand it smooth.

Time to sand

I used 150 grit. I don’t recommend using a grit with a lower number. For an even finer finish, you can go higher, but isn't necessary.

This is what it looks like sanded down.

Spray paint

Wipe all the saw dust off. I use a tack cloth but you can use a cotton shirt. Do not use anything that may leave residue, such as a paper towel. Now you spray paint!

Frame is complete

Once your paint has dried, you can put it around your canvas and it should fit snuggly. Sit back and pat yourself on the back because you just created a professional canvas frame.

The mitered corners really give this a professional look. Happy DIYing. I’d love to see your frames.


Make sure to check out my instagram DIY projects from painting to building cool furniture 😉

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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Jill Jill on Apr 10, 2020

    Truly genius! Any thoughts on how to make a mat? Poster board is too thick.

    Thx!


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