Gorgeous Double Mat DIY Picture Frames

It feels like it has been a long time since I was making progress on finishing my living room or since I have shared anything with you. Recently, I’ve started making progress again and I’m loving the results. Today I wanted to show you the picture frames that finally got finished and up on the walls.

There is nothing like having pictures or art on the walls when they have been blank for a year! About a year ago, we took down the chair rail in our living room, painted the fireplace and started on our makeover. In the process, I made some fun state and letter wall art as well as freshened up the lamps and got a new entertainment center. Progress was happening. Then the holidays happened and all progress stopped.

I won these Cut It Out Frames probably 1 and a 1/2 years ago…maybe 2 years ago. I love them and I have always wanted some of these frames. I swear I entered every giveaway for them that I saw. It paid off! I won a $75 credit to purchase frames. I selected 3 double mat frames and they arrived at my home. They sat for a really long time. In September last year, I began painting them. The holidays hit and they sat until March of this year. I finally got them done!

Let me show you what I did, what worked, and what was a fail for me. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and make your own diy picture frames a bit easier. 

The double mat Cut It Out frames come as two separate frames. They do that so that you can finish them any way you want and it won’t be a problem.

I love the scallop look of these frames. They are the Brooklyn Frames.

In September last year I painted the frames. The directions that come with the frames say to use acrylic craft paint or water-based, all-purpose enamel or oil based paints. I honestly have no idea what I painted them with last year. I’m guessing it was a Martha Stewart Acrylic paint in a white.

I wanted to add another finish to the frames to give some interest and try something new.

I bought a glazing liquid from Lowe’s and mixed it with the gray paint I used on the walls of our living room. I had not ever worked with glaze. I wanted to get a slightly antiqued kind of look…probably more toward a shabby chic type of look.

I mixed the glaze and the paint. 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint. I brushed the glaze/paint mixture onto the edges of the frame.

I then used a rag to wipe the glaze off and just leave a small amount of the color. I let the frames dry.

I hated how it looked. It just looked dirty. Never having tried this technique before, I wasn’t fully certain what it would look like.

At that point, I thought about you guys. What? Well I knew I was making a blog post about these frames and I thought to myself, “They aren’t going to want to read a post about frames that I painted and that is it.” I thought I needed to do something else to the frames so you guys would be interested. Then I thought about what I wanted and what I thought would look good in my living room. I decided to just paint the frames white again because that is what I decided I thought would look best in my living room.

I disliked the frames with the gray glaze so much and just wanted this project done that I didn’t take any pictures of how they looked with the glaze on them. I just wanted them done. It had been over a year and a half of wanting these frames on my walls. I was done being patient. I grab the closest white paint available, which was our white trim paint. Just a traditional paint for walls. Painted one coat over my disaster of an attempt at antiquing the frames and decided to call them done.

They still have a slight bit of that glaze showing through if you know it was there or are looking for it. I’m OK with that. The frames now look white and not like I don’t know how to clean. Seriously…I looked at the frames when they had the glaze on them and thought I would always be trying to wipe them clean, but that was the way the gray glaze just looked. Uuugh! Anyway, now they are white. Yay!

To attach your double mat frames together all you need is wood glue (affiliate link). It is crazy easy to do this process.

Run a line of wood glue (affiliate link) around the inside of your frame on the back. This is what my line looked like. This should be on the smaller frame or the frame that will be the front of the two frames.

Place the larger, or back frame, on top of the smaller frame (the one you just put the glue on) and line the inside part of the frames up. I just used my hands to make sure all four sides were totally lined up. If you don’t line them up, you won’t be able to easily put a picture into your frame.

Lastly, just add your picture or art and hang your frames.

I placed two of the frames above the couch in my living room along with the family sign that you see (which is not done and I will have a post about that coming up soon).

I debated about centering them over my couch or centering them on the wall. I went for centering them on the wall, because I am prone to rearranging often and possibly this will keep me from needing to move the frames as well.

I’ve always dreamed of having my own photography on the walls of my house. With these new diy picture frames, I am doing just that.

I’ve also always dreamed of changing the photography out to match the season. I’m going to need to get busy taking some pictures to fulfill that part of my dream. For now, I filled the frames with a few of our favorite shots from the road trip(part 1 and part 2) my daughters and I took last summer as well as a recent family picture.

In the end, I can’t show you a new technique you could try on your own pretty frames. What I can show you is how to follow your own gut about what will look good in your home as well as how to put this type of frame together. I love the crisp white of the frames on my gray walls. I think it looks great and I’m super happy with this new addition to my living room. The picture in this frame is from the Painted Dessert. It was a spot that my girls and I loved on our journey last summer. Now we get to be reminded of the beauty and the amazing trip we took on a daily basis. In my book, you just can’t beat that! I will take the glazing mishaps to have gotten to what I did and to have one more chance to listen to my instincts. I always need practice at that. How about you?

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