Mat It!

tianafordelight
Sep 14, 2020
2 min read

Blog 2: Mat It!

In my 80’s Devo Song Voice:

“If a picture comes along, you must mat it!

If you have a single frame, you must mat it!

Now mat it!

Mat it good!”

When you’re touring a model home and everything is so beautiful and cohesive - there’s a themed color scheme, furniture that fits just right (they measured; remember the last blog post), awesome custom details, and lastly some amazing artwork.

Well, on that beautiful artwork there’s either matching custom frames or there’s pictures or artwork that is matted.

What is a mat you ask? Wikipedia actually did a great job of describing it:

“In the picture framing industry, a mat (or matte, or mount in British English) is a thin, flat piece of paper-based material included within a picture frame, which serves as additional decoration and to perform several other, more practical functions, such as separating the art from the glass. Putting mats in a frame is called matting, a term which can also usually be used interchangeably with mat.”

Why mat? Because it can make a regular picture look custom, and it gives your home a “model home look” or chic vibe.

Matting is also important because it draws your attention to the actual art work or picture you’re highlighting. Some artists even incorporate the mat with the artwork. It gives the piece its moment.

If you’ve looked at any design pictures, HGTV shows, browse the Houzz app, or any other design modes, magazines or pieces within the last three years, you have seen a gallery wall. If you haven’t seen one, you’ve been hiding under a design rock. lol

Here’s a gallery wall from Lennar Homes on Instagram:

A gallery wall is a wall dedicated to artwork or family photos that is displayed in a systematic or cool way. The key to doing this right is to measure, plan your wall, know your frames and don’t forget your mats.

You can achieve the matting process by either keeping everything linear and in a blocking formation like in the picture below: