BFF and I have been doing studio art that is appealing to both of us. A few pieces are worthy of hanging in our homes, but framing is just so darn expensive! After reading somewhere about slat framing, we decided to give it a go. Each frame, at most, cost $12, though it did require a little crapsmanship to make it happen.

We bought cheap slats at Lowes (4′ long for under $3) and painted them with some matte black house paint we had on hand. Then we hand-sawed two slat pieces that were the length of the horizontal sides of our art. Using a small drill bit to make a pilot hole, we then nailed the slat pieces to the top and bottom of the canvas frame. (NOTE: This only works on canvases with a built-in wooden armature.)

Then we sawed two pieces for the verticals, making sure the vertical slats overlapped the already-installed horizontal slats. We again nailed each slat into place. (That’s BFF and Dan the Man working on my art piece.)

When the frame was installed, we had a few touch-ups to do with the black paint. Here’s BFF’s finished piece hanging in her living room.

And here’s mine hanging in the master bedroom. The frames add a finished touch that classes them up, and it was certainly a cheap enough project. We’re thinking of getting a chop saw now to make it easier, since we plan to make many, many more slat frames!