Bargain! Custom Picture Frames At Ikea Prices

One of my picture walls. The poor man hanging them for me nearly had a nervous breakdown.

I have an utterly crippling framing addiction. In the last two years I have easily spent hundreds of pounds having beloved pieces of art (and, cough, a menu signed by Jilly Cooper) sympathetically framed in bespoke fashion.

The past master is of course Kevin Phillips of Phillips Framing on Lower Marsh, near Waterloo. I have turned up several times giving vague ideas like "I think I want GOLD, Kevin," or "I want it to look louche," only for that marvellous man to whip out a dozen frames and mounts and make something special, while talking me down from having every single thing in my flat framed like Dracula's family album. (For that, I make my own.)

Recently however I've had a couple of fairly trickily-sized things that I couldn't spend a vast sum of money getting done in a shop. For that, my absolute obsession is the terribly-named, but brilliant, eFRAME.

I could play with the design a frame feature for hours (in fact, I have). Just pop in your picture's measurements, border sizes and so on, and then choose your frame, mount and whether you want glass or plastic, and any accessories. They whack on VAT at check-out, rather than as you go, which is a bit annoying, but you still end up with a perfect custom frame for around £20. For £8 more, eFRAME will pop the  picture in for you, but unless you've got a seriously special piece of art (in which case, take it to Kevin, you cheapskate!) it's dead easy to do yourself.

So the next time you've got something that is a really awkward size, or clearly won't suit an Ikea number, you know where to go. Sorted!