When I was going to art school, one thing that was often stressed was to stay away from square format art. It’s very difficult to make a successfully balanced composition in a square format, while rectangular images can easily be off center and still retain equilibrium. Think the “fibonacci sequence” or “Rule of Thirds”. But rules are meant to be broken and I’ve long been pulled towards the square format. Along comes the Ikea Ribba frames in 9×9″ square and my heart sang. Add in the supreme quality, basic style (not to distract from the artwork you are framing) and very inexpensive price tag and you have a product made in heaven. I can’t say I was alone in this because if you have spent a moment on any home decor website, or visited any craft or art shows you will have seen these frames EVERYWHERE.
I’ve personally based so much of my own artwork to be formatted to these frames, as seen above. It wasn’t unusual for me to make an Ikea run and drop a couple hundred dollars to stock up on these frames. Earlier this year my sister went to Ikea and I asked to pick me up some of the frames, but when she got there she said they didn’t have any. No problem, they are probably just back ordered, it’s happened before. A month or so later I dropped into an Ikea and I found the same thing. They had the white and black shadowbox frames, but none of the wooden square ones. Fortunately I still had a bunch in stock. But sadly, this morning I had an order that used my last birch wood frame, so I finally had to break down and make the dreaded call to Ikea. As I feared I was informed that they don’t have any in stock. She said that most likely what has happened is that since they are such a popular frame the supplier who makes them couldn’t keep up with Ikea’s demand, and so Ikea discontinued them out of frustration for not being able to keep them in stock. Ugh. My heart sank. Immediately I had to go to my Etsy shop and put almost all of my framed yoyos, as well as original artwork and prints in “edit mode” because the productd were all pictured in those frames.
I’ve just sent an “email” to corporate Ikea inquiring about the frames, hoping I might get better news from the top, but I’m not holding my breath. In the meantime I will have to start the hunt for a replacement product. Square frames are almost impossible to come by, and when you do see them, they are usually gaudy and/or decorative. I’m so sad right now.
:(
I had noticed they recently went from solid wood frames to wood veneer as well. They are a lot lower quality than the older ones!
But, I would recommend americanframecompany.com – they are awesome and do custom frame sizes on the cheap.
On my last trip to ikea, I noticed the same thing, an I was really sad. They had only a few of the larger square format frames, and I bought 5 of those to stock up, but everything else was rectangular. I’ve heard of the plain style referred to as “gallery frames” so maybe that’ll help in your search for plain square frame options. good luck; if you find a good replacement, I’d love to know about it!
Cool!! that inspired me.. i think i must to paint a lil bit more.. cant remember when was the last watercolor the i did.. i think is because i get focus on the oil paintings… mmmmm got to go back to the fresh and clean watercolor!!! :D
Saludos!!
Oh no! I’m planning an IKEA run this weekend with Lydia (who loved her little ring btw!) and will have to check out the supply.
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50134634
They are still listed in Canada.
that explains it! i looked all over the store for these the last time I was there and didn’t see any. I was thinking of you, too, because I thought, ‘I know Robyn uses square frames from IKEA, where are they?’ ugh. so sad!
Robyn, I can see I am not alone!!
I am in the same situation, relying many of my art pieces on those frames, and now… THEY’R GONE :(((
Because you wrote that article in 2011 I was wondering… have you found any substitute (in the same price range) to our beloved frames???
Thank you!