How to Make Custom Picture Frames from Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed oak picture frames, 16" x 20".

We love artwork.

Particularly vintage travel posters. We often buy these posters cheap, but buying prints is the only easy part of the process. After you have a nice print, then it must be framed and matted (at least in our house).

$50-$200 dollars later, you have a nice piece ready to hang on your wall and an empty wallet.

Over time, I have realized we can't frame our art as fast as we buy it. It's just expensive enough to keep us from doing it often. We are left with rolled up artwork in our closets, only hoping to be hung some day.

Then the lightbulb.

Why buy $50 picture frames when you can make them practically for free?

In 2010, I removed fourteen 8"x 36" x 1" solid oak treads from our stairwell. I'm not really a pack rat, but knowing how much oak costs, I figured I would discover a way to revitalize them for later use.

The beauty of wood is that, when kept dry and indoors, it can last forever. It may look old and dirty, but if you take sawblade and sandpaper to its surface, it magically transforms before your eyes to something new and usable.

How You Do It:

Wood ripped to 1.75" x .75" sections via table saw. Make sure to remove any nails or other metal embedded in the wood before running through table saw.

Notch frame profile to allow for glass and art to rest on an inner corner

16" and 20" sections with mitered corners. Use a jig for consistent lengths.

Glue frames tight and square with ratcheting nylon strap. Clamp down frame faces to table.

Sand and finish with gel stain for smooth, dark walnut finish (or whatever you like)

Total cost: $25 (four glass panels).

Estimated cost at store: $160

Time: 4-8 hours (depending on finish style and quantity)

Gushy Design Footnote

If you have romantic notions towards oldness and history, then you probably "get" old homes and their allure. They have a story, a past, and the marks to show for it if you look close enough.

For this project, I left the old nail holes from the stairs visible on the new frames. Visible proof of their previous purpose and a new side note for home tours.

Restoration Hardware has mastered the shabby chic style with their furniture. I often visit their store for woodworking inspiration.

Now that blade and sandpaper has transformed these old steps to usable art boxes, they can once again reside in our stair well. This time a little lighter and a little taller.

Visible nail holes tell the story. Glass ordered and cut at Waldo hardware.