So I have a huge print/poster that’s 46" x 34" - BIG. I really want to get it up on the wall, but it’s clearly too big and heavy to frame. I really want to avoid any feeling of “dorm room” with it, so stuff like poster putty just seems lame and bad. I don’t want it to look, well, like a big poster up on the wall. What do I do?
I don’t think it’s too big to frame.
Get a sectional frame kit and some plex from Lowes (they’ll even cut it for you) and you’re set. I’ve been hanging lots of artwork lately at my house and it’ll be lighter than you think if you go with the plexiglas.
Doing yourself is much cheaper than getting the professionals to do it - if you want something without a mat, it’s pretty easy to do yourself.
Have it mounted on black-core Gatorboard, then “float” it on a frame of 1x2 wood that’s been painted black and set back about 2 inches from the edge.
Here’s an example of how it looks.
I’ve got a David Bowie poster that’s 55"x40." I used tape.
I have art pieces that are bigger than that which I framed with no problem - I’m not sure why you think that would be an issue.
That’s really the best way to prevent the ‘dorm room’ look.
This can be mounted on Gatorboard most easily using spray adhesive or Sobo glue. Make sure to cut the Gatorboard exactly straight and perfectly vertically, otherwise it’ll look silly on the edges. If you’re really serious about getting the edges to look professional, you want to glue the entire thing to the Gatorboard and then cut just a smidgen of the print off, so that you have a perfect edge. This last is really critical and totally worth it, especially if you’ve got a little bit of margin on the print anyway.
-appleciders, theatrical set design student and therefore chronic foam-core-with-paper-glued-to-it user.
I posted asking about this a month or two ago. I had a 64"x48" print that I wanted to hang. It wasn’t cheap, but I ended up getting it mounted by ProLam, and it turned out beautifully.
If you’re worried about weight, just try to make sure you hit a stud when you hang it.
/hijack/ I have a poster of that size that I got framed back when I knew someone at a frame shop and could get a discount. Since then, a domestic disturbance has broken the plexiglass, but left the frame and poster intact. It would be way too expensive to get it reframed - any suggestions on where to get decent but inexpensive replacement plexiglass? Will I be able to put it back in the frame myself or is this a difficult procedure?
Home Depot and Lowes both carry sheets of plexiglass, have you looked there?
Freejooky, how about painting a large square on the wall behind the poster?