Making Floating Frames For My Abstract Paintings on Canvas

There’s something a bit magical about a floating frame. It’s the kind of simple touch that can take a canvas painting from nice to "wow, that belongs on a gallery wall!” Unlike a traditional frame that hugs the edges, a floating frame leaves a slim gap between the canvas and the frame itself, so the painting seems to hover - hence the name. It gives a piece breathing space, adds a polished, professional finish, and somehow makes the colours and textures pop even more.

Floating frames also make your paintings very versatile when it comes to display. Their clean lines work just as well in a cosy cottage kitchen as they do on the crisp white walls of a modern home. They don’t fight with your artwork or your décor - they quietly let the painting be the star of the show. I love how they can make even a small, cheerful floral piece feel important and gallery-ready, without feeling in any way stuffy or formal.

Making my own floating frames

Lucky for me, my partner is a keen woodworker, and has made some gorgeous boxes and tables. So he got involved in making me a floating frame for a commission I did. I was so pleased with the result that I persuaded him that we needed to make floating frames for all the canvases I was planning to display at the Herts Open Studios this month 😁

I did offer to help out, as I knew that it was quite a bit of work... However, some of my attempts at being helpful didn't go quite as smoothly as I’d imagined… 

The process

Step 1 - Get the wood

I wanted floating frames for stretched canvases as well as canvas boards, so we needed to get different widths of wood in the right sizes for each. I'd have been completely confused if my other half hadn't been there to supervise...

Step 2 - Glue the pieces together

We needed to glue the frame section to the back section, which involved a lot of glue and a LOT of clamps. Apparently you can never, ever have too many clamps for woodworking 😆

Step 3 - Measuring

This part was scary - if we got it wrong we'd saw the wrong sizes and waste the wood 😱

We had a process of one of us measuring and then the other one remeasuring to make sure we were in agreement!

Step 4  - Sawing

Eek! Another scary bit... I had invested in a mitre saw so we could get perfect 45 degree corners. My partner did most of the hard work here (it really IS hard work - my hands were aching and wobbly when I did help out), but I did try to do as much as I could.

This is where it started going a bit wrong... When I was sawing I somehow didn't get it quite right and the the parts I had sawed didn't meet up properly. We still don't know what I was doing wrong, but I got banned from doing the sawing after this... (I didn't do it on purpose to get out of it, I promise!)

Step 5 - More gluing

Once the pieces were sawn properly (and the ones I'd messed up re-sawn by my other half), we had to glue the four pieces together using a band clamp to hold them in place at 90 degree angles until the glue dried.

Step 6 - Filling

Turns out if there are any small gaps, they can be filled in with a mix of glue and fine sawdust.

Step 7 - Sanding

This took ages and left me covered in 'wood dust' but was quite satisfying. It's definitely an outside job! I must admit though, by the time I'd sanded the last frame I was completely over it...

Step 8 - Stapling

More scary stuff... using a staple gun over the joins at the back to make sure the frame is as solid as possible. We'd watched a girl die gorily at the hands of a nail gun in one of the Final Destination films the night before, so I was having visions of staples flying out and maiming me for life...

Step 9 - Painting

Ok, back to my comfort zone! This was done in front of the TV over several nights, as each frame needed at least 3 coats of white paint. 

Step 10 - Framing

At last! My lovely frames were ready to attach to the canvases. I also added D-rings and cord to the back, for hanging them up. 

I LOVE how my canvas paintings look in their new floating frames!!! You can see them  here on the wall at Southern Maltings in Ware, for the Herts Open Studios.