Getting interior displays ready for the summer holidays
Lambs gamboling over warmer sunny paddocks herald the arrival of spring. Year-end festivities and memories-in-the-making are just around the corner. Now is a good time to make sure your interior displays are in good order to best reflect your style and personality when friends and family visit.
Following are things to consider during your spring clean for the upcoming holiday season:
Keep your home displays in top shape.
Investigate the condition of your artwork and decor. Interior temperatures fluctuate frequently in winter. This can cause condensation which is ideal for growth of mildew and water staining. Paper behind glass works are most susceptible. Here are suggestions for care:
- Check for mildew and staining on the mat and on the artwork or photo.
- Damaged paper artwork can be scanned, restored and archivally printed using our Epsom Series Pro wide-format with UltraChrome K3 ink. Your new print is fade free for over 70 years. It can be refit into the original frame, if there’s no mildew. Otherwise, let us design you a fresh new framing scheme.
- Reframe and remat damaged originals to celebrate the ‘life’ of the work, or let us create a framing and matting design to minimise the marks. Specialist paper restorers in New Zealand can restore originals. Normally contracted by museums to restore valuable documents, expect them to be costly.
- If the artwork is fine but is simply due for an update, consider a remat in a fresh, new colour. This works best if there is no mildew in the existing frame. If there is mildew on the frame, invest in completely reframing your piece.
- For beloved artwork placed against the glass, let us create a spacer to keep your work away from the glass, lessening the chance of damage.
Review your artworks and prints on your wall.
Do you still love them? Are they in keeping with your current style or a new one you are wanting to create?
- If you love your work and it is in good repair, great. Give it a good dusting and cleaning. Dust ornate frames with a soft brush to clean the crevices. Make sure the picture hook is in good nick and remains strongly attached to the wall. Wipe glass with window cleaner sprayed onto a soft cloth. Do not spray directly onto the glass to avoid wicking onto the surround or the print. Acrylic and oil works on canvas can be lightly cleaned with a soft cloth lightly misted with distilled water. Remove fly specs with saliva on a cotton bud as done by restorers globally.
- If you find the artwork no longer fits your style, but you have an emotional attachment to the piece, we can help. Great picture framing can fit any painting or artwork into any setting. Bring it in for a free consultation where you can virtually see your option on our computer screen.
- Something as simple as a different mat colour can be transforming. Consider using one of the 2017 Pantone colours of spring. The colour greenery is a strong contender in nearly all sectors of interior decor, including mouldings and mats.
- Faded-to-blue old prints and posters, victims of the intense New Zealand sun, come in almost weekly. UV glass blocks out 97% of fading UV rays. UV Reflection Control may help you see your cherished work more easily without glare.
Think ahead for gift giving.
- Go on a treasure hunt through your collection of family and heirloom photos. Spring and summer gatherings with family and friends are great opportunities to reminisce and identify people in photos. Write down memories and names associated with the photos.
- Turn those photos into Christmas, birthday and anniversary gifts. They are perfect for those who “already have everything they need”. We can scan, restore, print, and frame your treasured images.
- Baby and childhood photo collages are great for 21st Birthdays and graduation parties. Let us help you create one for you.
- Family military photos, medals and records make handsome framed displays of honour. We create hinged frames for medals. A special clip allows for easy removal and wearing for ANZAC day. Then simply return to the framed display.
- Gorgeous travel shots can be used to create a beautiful archival paper print or custom canvas print in any shape and size. We are happy to help you edit the images to create works to transform your interiors or give as gifts.
- A Claridge & Brodrick Gift Certificate makes a great gift for Christmas and upcoming weddings.
Bring in your projects soon so we have plenty of time to get them ready for you to beautify your home in time for summer.
What rituals are part of your getting ready for summer? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments section.