Bedroom or Living Room: Why Your Frames Should Differ

A customer I remember well came in with a photo on her phone. It was a beautiful gold Louis frame she had just hung in her bedroom. I asked how it was going.

She said simply, I cannot sleep well. I smiled, because I understood. The problem was not the picture or the room, it was the energy of the frame she had chosen.

Why Louis frames feel energizing

Louis frames were designed for the French court of Louis the Fourteenth, who reigned from 1643 to 1715 and wanted everything around him to express power and grandeur. Their dense carving, C scrolls, S curves, shells and cartouches, keep the eye moving constantly. That is wonderful in a hall, but it is the last thing you want in a bedroom built for rest.

The bedroom: frames that help you rest

A bedroom wants frames the eye can pass over without stopping. Designers call this visual rest. Choose plain or barely patterned frames, thin aluminium or pale unstained wood, with calm images like nature, the sea or soft black and white. Match the frame tone to the room so nothing jumps out before sleep.

The living room: give the home a memorable character

The living room is the opposite. Here you want a clear focal point and a strong personality. Louis frames, dark solid wood and frames slightly larger than feels safe all work well, because a room guests visit rewards boldness more than caution.

Matching wall tone to frame material

Warm rooms in beige, brown or soft red suit gold, warm wood and copper frames. Cool rooms in white, grey or mint suit black, silver, aluminium and pale unstained oak. A gold frame looks odd in a cool grey room, and silver looks wrong in a warm brown one. Harmony always beats a frame that is pretty on its own.

Want help matching frames to your room? Send a photo over LINE and I will tell you straight which style fits.