Before anything else: check whether you need to frame it at all.
If you painted a framed kit, the canvas is already stretched on a wooden frame and it can go on the wall as it is. That is what the framed sizes are for, and adding a second frame around one usually looks worse rather than better.
Everything below is for an unframed canvas, or for someone who wants a finished frame around a stretched one.
Canvas is not paper, and most framing advice is written for paper
This is the thing to get straight first, because the standard advice will send you wrong.
A canvas painting does not want a mat. Mats exist to hold a work on paper away from the glass. A canvas is not going behind glass, so there is nothing for a mat to do, and a matted canvas reads as a poster in a frame.
A canvas painting does not want glass either. Varnish and the paint film do the protecting. Glass over acrylic traps moisture, can stick to the paint surface in a warm room, and adds reflections to something that had none. Framers do not glaze canvas paintings and neither should you.
What canvas wants is a frame that holds the edges and gets out of the way.
The four options that actually work
1. No frame at all
A stretched canvas hung as it is. This is the standard way canvas paintings are shown, it costs nothing, and it suits a modern room. If the sides of the stretched canvas are painted or neutral, it looks finished rather than unfinished.
2. A float frame
The best-looking option for a stretched canvas, and the one most people have not heard of. The canvas sits inside a shallow frame with a narrow gap all the way round, so it appears to float. No mat, no glass, nothing overlapping the painted surface, and the whole edge of your work stays visible.
They are made specifically for canvas depths and are sold by size, so a 16x20 float frame fits a 16x20 canvas without adjustment.
3. A conventional frame, no glass
A standard wooden or metal frame with the backing and glass removed, holding the canvas by its edges. Cheapest route to a traditional look, and the right choice for a landscape or a floral where a plain modern edge would feel wrong.
Check the frame's rebate depth against the depth of your canvas. A shallow frame will not take a deep stretched canvas.
4. Mounted to a board, then framed
For a canvas that is not stretched, or one trimmed too close to the edge to stretch. Mount it to acid-free foam board or hardboard with archival tape or adhesive, then put the board into an ordinary frame. Flat, cheap and stable.
Your sizes are standard, which makes this easy
12x16, 16x20 and 18x24 are all standard US frame sizes. That means off-the-shelf frames from any frame shop, craft store or hardware store will fit, and you are not paying for custom work.
This is worth knowing before you buy a kit from anywhere. An unusual canvas size means a custom frame, and a custom frame for a large canvas can cost more than the kit did.
Preparing the canvas
Dust it with a soft dry cloth or a clean dry brush. No water, no cleaning products, nothing damp. Acrylic is not a washable surface.
Flatten it if it has a crease. Lay it flat under a stack of books for a day or two, which is the safest method. If you use an iron, iron the back only, on low, with a cloth between the iron and the canvas, keeping it moving. Never put an iron on the painted face.
Varnish it, or decide not to. If you are going to varnish, do it before framing, lying flat, and let it cure. It also evens out the patchy sheen that numbered canvases often dry with, which is the most visible improvement available for the effort. Our guide to choosing a varnish covers what to use and how long to wait.
Make sure it is fully cured before it goes against anything. Acrylic keeps hardening for weeks, and a painting pressed against a backing board too early can stick to it.
For the mechanics of getting a canvas onto a frame, including what to do when there is not enough margin, see our detailed guides to framing a paint by number canvas and stretching a canvas onto a frame.
Hanging it, which is where most people go wrong
A well-framed painting hung badly looks worse than a plain one hung well. Four numbers cover almost every situation.
- Center at 57 to 60 inches from the floor. This is the museum standard, set at average eye level. Most people hang art too high — the instinct is to center it on the wall, which puts it above where anyone actually looks.
- Above furniture, 6 to 8 inches above the back. A gap much larger than that and the painting stops reading as belonging with the sofa or the sideboard and starts floating on its own.
- Roughly two-thirds the width of the furniture below it. A 16x20 over a three-seat sofa looks lost. Over a chair, a console table or in a hallway, it is exactly right. This is the argument for hanging a single 16x20 somewhere it fits rather than over the biggest piece of furniture in the house.
- 2 to 3 inches between frames in a group, kept consistent.
Where the eye-level rule breaks: over a stair, where you follow the line of the stairs; and in a room where everyone is seated, such as a dining room, where a few inches lower reads better.
Where to put it
Two practical constraints that matter more than which room.
Keep it out of direct sunlight. Acrylic pigments are reasonably lightfast but sunlight will fade any painting over years, and it is the one kind of damage you cannot undo. A wall that gets direct sun for part of the day is the wall to avoid.
Avoid bathrooms and the wall directly above a radiator or a stove. Humidity slackens a stretched canvas and heat is hard on the paint film.
Beyond that: hallways are underrated, because you pass through them at close range and see the painting properly. A bedroom or a home office gives a single canvas somewhere to be the only thing on the wall, which suits one 16x20 better than a large living room does.
Building up a group
If you have painted several, a group works better than spreading them around the house.
Frame them the same. Consistent frames let you hang mismatched subjects together. Mismatched frames need matched subjects, which is harder.
Lay it out on the floor first. Trace each frame on paper, tape the paper to the wall and live with it for a day before making any holes.
Anchor to a line. Either a common top edge, a common bottom edge, or a common horizontal center running through the group. A grid of same-size frames needs none of this and always works.
Since our stock designs come in three sizes and share a visual family — wildlife, cabins, vintage scenes and florals — two or three of them in matching frames hang together well without looking like a set.
Common questions
Do I need glass over my painting?
No. Canvas paintings are not glazed. Varnish is the protection.
Should I use a mat?
Not on canvas. Mats are for works on paper.
My canvas is unframed and trimmed right to the edge. What now?
Mount it to a board and frame the board, or float it inside a frame with a visible margin. Our unframed canvases are trimmed close to the print and cannot be stretched over a frame, so plan for one of those two routes. The display options beyond framing are worth a look if neither route appeals.
How do I hang a heavy frame?
A stretched canvas is light, a couple of pounds even at 24x36. Weight comes from the frame and the glass, and since you are not using glass, a single hook into a stud or a properly rated wall anchor is plenty. Two hooks spaced apart keep it level better than one.
Is it worth paying a professional framer?
For a standard size, no — off-the-shelf float frames are cheap and easy. For an odd size, a damaged canvas, or one that needs strip-lining before it can be stretched, yes.
Can I frame a custom painting of a photo the same way?
Yes, and the 18x24 custom size is also a standard frame size. A float frame suits a portrait or a family photo subject particularly well, since nothing crops into the image.
