Marc Lizer
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
The Framing Room
I dare say many of my readers have no framing rooms in their establishments; they probably show their mouldings and frames right m the store with the framed and unframed pictures, or else devote some small counter in a dark corner of the store to show what should be a very important element of their business. Now my advice to those of you who have no separate room devoted to the framing part of your business is to spend some dull summer months arranging one, so you can have one.
A place separated from the rest of your establishment which is devoted to frames and framing only. It is so much more convenient to have such a room to exhibit your samples and frames in apart from the work room and store proper, and is very much more businesslike, to say nothing of giving the privacy and dignity necessary to such an important branch of your business.
If you do not wish to use partitions or have walls to divide off such a room, use drapery, but by all means the former, if you can, they are much more referable. Once having your room, the next thing in order is to have as good light as you can, a skylight is the very best for your purpose.
Then your walls are to be considered next; let them be of some soft neutral color and either of ingrain paper or burlap painted), upon which all styles of frames will show to good advantage, like a dark soft color of green or maroon.
Then have a counter made large and broad enough to show your frames upon comfortably, so that when you have a customer who has several pictures to frame at one time, and it is necessary, therefore, to have a number of frames and moulding samples upon the counter, you are not so crowded that you cannot show any one thing to good advantage.
This counter should also be made high enough so that you can have a number of drawers that can easily be pulled out , and that range in height and width according to what you wish to show iin them. The inside of these drawers can be easily fitted with narrow horizontal strips as far apart as you wish, and thus you could show your finished cabinet frames and all delicately finished samples of mouldings, such as gold, green and gold, old ivory, etc., without moving them too much by the jar of opening the drawer. Thus you can not only save room , but you can keep your samples and small frames in better order , and protect them from the dust and dirt which so easily rums all these nice finished frames and samples, to say nothing of not being obliged to handle them all each time, for you can simply Pull out each drawer in succession, show your customer your stock and need only handle those you actually use.
This means short lengths for samples to be sure and that is all that is necessary, except in cases where you wish to show a particular finish for a corner or for the wide large mouldings, where the corners have some special finish or ornament that the length cannot show. Where you have walls, and therefore enough it is well to have wooden pegs, about a foot space, long at regular intervals, fastened in them, upon which you can hang your pattern ovals circles and fancy designed frames of regular sizes, so as to have them not only upon exhibit, but right within your reach when you want to use them.
Another scheme is to have small oblique shaped -shelves slanting towards the floor and wide enough to hold an ordinary width of sample) running along the side of the walls to about two feet from the floor on which to show the larger and heavier samples. Put a narrow moulding on the edge, so as to prevent your samples from slipping. The above scheme is also very convenient to hold your remnant samples on for when each is marked with the number of feet the remnant contains, as is done in every orderly establishment this keeps them close at hand and right where you can use them when necessary and thus work off what, if accumulated becomes dead and worthless stock. To the room add a nice soft neutral colored rug whose general color scheme shall harmonize with your walls, a couple of artistic shaped chairs upon which your customers can rest while you are showing or figuring up frames for them, and you have all the requirements necessary for any framing room.
Allow me also to suggest that you keep all frames and samples looking fresh and new in spite of all the handling which they must receive and this is specially said for gold samples, _ even if you have to do them over often but it will be the means of selling all of that particular moulding you have in stock, and keep the finished-frames looking attractive enough that they cannot become store keepers. Dingy samples and frames are the result of hundreds of feet of unsold moulding being left in the dealer's hands, while the style of stock upon frames also changing so rapidly leaves him with these hanging on his walls, good reminders, I take it, of neglected duty and lost profits.
All these dark frames have been such an excellent outlet as it were for doing over gold and other kinds of finished-frames. As suggested before do them over in dead black or green if you do not wish to go to the expense of gold; only, whatever else you economize on, keep Your stock looking perfectly- fresh and you will sell your goods every time.
You should also have all your mouldings graded as to widths and kinds that is to say, all the gold ones of one width together and separated somehow from those of the next width, and -so right through even to the wood samples; and for sorting them in this wise nothing could be more convenient than the drawers suggested in the counter you use in this room and of which I poke at the beginning of this article.
I know one man who always had several of his most attractive medium-sized frames on the counter of his framing room on small easels or else hung up in some conspicuous part of it, and that not only was the means of selling duplicate frames but very often both picture and frame, for pictures isolated in that fashion from the rest of the stock calls particular attention to them and shows at the same time several of your newest and best designs just designs just where they do the most good.
I dare say many of my readers have no framing rooms in their establishments; they probably show their mouldings and frames right m the store with the framed and unframed pictures, or else devote some small counter in a dark corner of the store to show what should be a very important element of their business. Now my advice to those of you who have no separate room devoted to the framing part of your business is to spend some dull summer months arranging one, so you can have one.
A place separated from the rest of your establishment which is devoted to frames and framing only. It is so much more convenient to have such a room to exhibit your samples and frames in apart from the work room and store proper, and is very much more businesslike, to say nothing of giving the privacy and dignity necessary to such an important branch of your business.
If you do not wish to use partitions or have walls to divide off such a room, use drapery, but by all means the former, if you can, they are much more referable. Once having your room, the next thing in order is to have as good light as you can, a skylight is the very best for your purpose.
Then your walls are to be considered next; let them be of some soft neutral color and either of ingrain paper or burlap painted), upon which all styles of frames will show to good advantage, like a dark soft color of green or maroon.
Then have a counter made large and broad enough to show your frames upon comfortably, so that when you have a customer who has several pictures to frame at one time, and it is necessary, therefore, to have a number of frames and moulding samples upon the counter, you are not so crowded that you cannot show any one thing to good advantage.
This counter should also be made high enough so that you can have a number of drawers that can easily be pulled out , and that range in height and width according to what you wish to show iin them. The inside of these drawers can be easily fitted with narrow horizontal strips as far apart as you wish, and thus you could show your finished cabinet frames and all delicately finished samples of mouldings, such as gold, green and gold, old ivory, etc., without moving them too much by the jar of opening the drawer. Thus you can not only save room , but you can keep your samples and small frames in better order , and protect them from the dust and dirt which so easily rums all these nice finished frames and samples, to say nothing of not being obliged to handle them all each time, for you can simply Pull out each drawer in succession, show your customer your stock and need only handle those you actually use.
This means short lengths for samples to be sure and that is all that is necessary, except in cases where you wish to show a particular finish for a corner or for the wide large mouldings, where the corners have some special finish or ornament that the length cannot show. Where you have walls, and therefore enough it is well to have wooden pegs, about a foot space, long at regular intervals, fastened in them, upon which you can hang your pattern ovals circles and fancy designed frames of regular sizes, so as to have them not only upon exhibit, but right within your reach when you want to use them.
Another scheme is to have small oblique shaped -shelves slanting towards the floor and wide enough to hold an ordinary width of sample) running along the side of the walls to about two feet from the floor on which to show the larger and heavier samples. Put a narrow moulding on the edge, so as to prevent your samples from slipping. The above scheme is also very convenient to hold your remnant samples on for when each is marked with the number of feet the remnant contains, as is done in every orderly establishment this keeps them close at hand and right where you can use them when necessary and thus work off what, if accumulated becomes dead and worthless stock. To the room add a nice soft neutral colored rug whose general color scheme shall harmonize with your walls, a couple of artistic shaped chairs upon which your customers can rest while you are showing or figuring up frames for them, and you have all the requirements necessary for any framing room.
Allow me also to suggest that you keep all frames and samples looking fresh and new in spite of all the handling which they must receive and this is specially said for gold samples, _ even if you have to do them over often but it will be the means of selling all of that particular moulding you have in stock, and keep the finished-frames looking attractive enough that they cannot become store keepers. Dingy samples and frames are the result of hundreds of feet of unsold moulding being left in the dealer's hands, while the style of stock upon frames also changing so rapidly leaves him with these hanging on his walls, good reminders, I take it, of neglected duty and lost profits.
All these dark frames have been such an excellent outlet as it were for doing over gold and other kinds of finished-frames. As suggested before do them over in dead black or green if you do not wish to go to the expense of gold; only, whatever else you economize on, keep Your stock looking perfectly- fresh and you will sell your goods every time.
You should also have all your mouldings graded as to widths and kinds that is to say, all the gold ones of one width together and separated somehow from those of the next width, and -so right through even to the wood samples; and for sorting them in this wise nothing could be more convenient than the drawers suggested in the counter you use in this room and of which I poke at the beginning of this article.
I know one man who always had several of his most attractive medium-sized frames on the counter of his framing room on small easels or else hung up in some conspicuous part of it, and that not only was the means of selling duplicate frames but very often both picture and frame, for pictures isolated in that fashion from the rest of the stock calls particular attention to them and shows at the same time several of your newest and best designs just designs just where they do the most good.