The unpleasant surprise in buying art prints is rarely the print. It is the quote from the framing counter — frequently three or four times what the poster cost, and occasionally more than the furniture underneath it.
Almost all of that expense is avoidable, and the decision that avoids it is made before you buy: choose a print in a size that ordinary frames already fit.
Why Standard Sizes Change Everything
Frames are mass produced in a fixed set of dimensions. Buy a print in one of them and you can walk into any large retailer and leave with a frame for $10 to $30. Buy a print at 50×70 cm, or at some proprietary ratio, and every frame becomes a bespoke object cut to order.
The sizes reliably stocked in the United States are 8×10", 11×14", 12×16", 16×20", 18×24" and 24×36". European sellers work in A-sizes and centimetre formats — A3, A2, 30×40 cm, 50×70 cm — which are excellent in Europe and a costly nuisance in an American living room.
This is why all four of our sizes come from the US list: 8×10", 12×16", 18×24" and 24×36".
How Mats Change the Number
A mat is the card border between the print and the frame. It is the cheapest way to make a print look considered rather than merely hung — it gives the image breathing room and reads as intent.
The catch is arithmetic: a mat means the frame must be larger than the print. The usual pairings are an 8×10" print in an 11×14" frame, a 12×16" print in a 16×20" frame, and an 18×24" print in a 24×30" frame. Many pre-made frames ship with a mat cut for exactly this, so check the frame’s stated artwork size rather than its outer dimension.
At 24×36" most people skip the mat. The image is already doing the work, and a matted 24×36" becomes a very large object.
What to Buy
For architectural work in black and white, three frame choices cover nearly every interior:
- Thin black metal or wood: disappears, lets the image carry the wall. The safest choice for monochrome photography and the best for gallery walls, where a consistent frame is what makes a mixed set read as one piece.
- Natural oak or light ash: warms a stark image and softens the contrast against a white wall. Works particularly well in bedrooms and in Scandinavian-leaning rooms.
- White: for dark, high-contrast prints, where a white frame extends the mat effect and lightens the whole composition.
Whatever you choose, stay consistent within a room. Mixed frame finishes on one wall is a look that requires far more confidence than it appears to.
Standard sizes are carried by IKEA, Target, Michaels, Walmart and the usual online retailers. Buying three or four at once from a single range is what keeps a gallery wall coherent — and stock in any given finish rotates, so buying piecemeal over months tends to end in near-misses.
Handling the Print
Most damage to art prints happens after delivery, at the framing stage. Four habits prevent nearly all of it.
Buy the frame first. Have it waiting when the print arrives so the paper spends minutes out of its packaging rather than weeks propped against a wall.
Never trim the print. If a print seems slightly too large for a frame, it is nearly always the frame that is wrong, and a trimmed print cannot be replaced under any damage policy — including ours.
Handle by the edges, on a clean flat surface. Fingerprints show on matte paper and cannot be cleaned off.
Keep the backing board. The rigid card a print ships against is the best thing to store or transport it on if you are not framing immediately.
Where Not to Economise
Two places. First, glazing: very cheap frames sometimes use a thin acetate that scratches and yellows — glass or acrylic is worth the small premium. Second, direct sunlight: no frame at this price point offers meaningful UV protection, so a print on a wall that takes full afternoon sun will fade in a few years regardless of what you spend. Hang it on the perpendicular wall instead. It is a free decision that doubles the life of the print.
Our Sizes, Framed
Every Maison Courel print is produced to order on 200g premium matte paper — a non-reflective surface that sits well behind glass and does not mirror the room back at you.
- 8×10" ($24.95) — frames as 8×10", or 11×14" with a mat.
- 12×16" ($34.95) — frames as 12×16", or 16×20" with a mat.
- 18×24" ($49.95) — frames as 18×24", or 24×30" with a mat.
- 24×36" ($69.95) — frames as 24×36", typically without a mat.
Not sure which to order? Start with the room-by-room sizing guide, then browse monument posters or plan a full arrangement in the Wall Art Builder. Free US shipping over $69.