CHI Good Questions: Lacquer Look for Less?

Ramsey is looking for suggestions: "I have a print to frame and fell in love with the 2" white bamboo Meurice frame from Jonathan Adler's Larson-Juhl collection (photo of frame attached). I had wandered into the frame shop to get ideas, but don't have a few hundred dollars to frame a $25 print! Any suggestions for how I can get this lacquered look for less?"

Any good sources for Ramsey? Let him know in the comments below...

Comments (11)

Hmmm.. this looks like something you'd find at Pier One.

I've seen more natural/gold bamboo frames at discount frame shops (like Cheap Pete's in the Bay Area.) Maybe someplace near you has something similar that you can just spray paint glossy white..?

Rustoleum makes a "lacquer" spray paint. I've used it a couple of times, and am not totally convinced it works -- lacquer to me always has a shell-like thickness to it which the spray paint doesn't quite achieve. But it would be a good choice for something you're not handling all the time, like a frame.

To get a real high gloss lacquered look I have used Fine paints of Europe "Hollandlac Brilliant" which is a high quality - high gloss oil based paint. The stuff is amazing to paint with and gives you a glass like finish.

Looks like something out of a Florida hotel room...........

"Looks like something out of a Florida hotel room..."

That's the whole idea.

I consider myself the queen of inexpensive framing. I would find a frame in the style you want and paint it white (if you use Krylon Fusion it doesn't matter what the raw material with) then do a coat or two of a Triple Thick Clear Glaze (Krylon and Crafts, Etc. both make one). Super easy!

I've mentioned Frames by Mail on this site before so I'm hesitant to do so again, but they have bamboo frames like this:
http://framesbymail.com/wood/Bamboo
The finish isn't the same but for the price I wouldn't feel bad about painting one.

Tiny, I'm glad you mentioned it again! That's a good source and I missed it the first time.

Although I can't offer a source for the frame (I'm going to check out the framesbymail source...thanks!) I do have input on the painting side of things...

I used Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace in semi-gloss (although you could do high gloss) as a beautiful white to paint old furniture with, and it gives a beautiful white, and lovely finish. And the same rule applies for furniture...prime, then paint. High quality paint is well worth it too....

I pick up frames from thrift stores for a couple of bucks and give them a coat of paint....I frequently find cheap or dated prints that are framed and matted beautifully, and I just take the old thing out and put my own print or photo in its place.