Rachael And Restoration: Gilded Framed Collection

I’ve always loved the art collections at Restoration Hardware. They seem to have the right balance of being interesting, but neutral enough to blend into a variety of styles of decor. Unfortunately I don’t love the price.

{Restoration Hardware}

At $199 EACH, these antique gold framed manuscript pages were way out of my budget. But when I found a collection of prints at an estate sale for $10, I knew the perfect way to hang them. The prints are Remington, Russell, and Schreyvogel, all the same size and landscape orientation. I really wanted to put them up in a group in matching frames, but frames can be so expensive-especially metallic ones!

But I was determined to create the RH look, so I trolled Michael’s and A.C. Moore for options. I found these cheap-o black frames for $7.99/2 pack.

I bought 3 packs, and 6 plain white 8×10 mats to fit inside ($3/ea). I bought 2 little bottles of champagne gold craft paint as well.

Now I wasn’t completely sure this would work, the frames are SUPER slick. I recommend sanding lightly first and/or priming but I didn’t. It took a long time and lots of coats to get a reasonable finish with the gold paint.

Then I added some burnt umber paint to the gold and antiqued the finish. I just brushed it on, and wiped it off with a rag. You’ll definitely want to finish with a spray poly or wax.

I decided to hang them above the Union Jack dresser in Ryan’s room (which is soon to be a guest room, as my brother is getting is own place next month). I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos, it was rainy and cloudy out and the glass from the frames reflects everything!

It’s hard to capture the true texture on camera, but trust me they look better in person. I love them! And I love the price I bought all the frames with 40% off coupons (over the course of 3 days). So here’s how the pricing breaks down:

Frames- $4.79 x 3= $14.37

Mattes- $3 x 6 =$18

Pictures- $1/each ($10 for my collection included 10 prints total, so I have 4 left)= $6

Craft paint- $1.23 x 2=$2.46

Total: $40.83 or just $6.81 per piece!

I think that’s a wee bit better than $199, don’t you?