...but thanks to a tweet reply from the lovely Marisa at Omiyage, I am now probably the LAST to know the secret to fixing the problem with Ikea's white Ribba frames.
What problem? you may ask...
Ikea Ribba frames (probably the most popular budget frame of all time) come in a variety of colours. They are generally awesome for the price. The only problem I have ever found with them is that the white frame (for some CRAZY reason) has a cream mat.
Like...really cream.
Annoying, right?
Anyways - Marisa just told me that if you flip the mat over, it is white underneath! Seriously - can you believe that? I don't think it was meant to be a two-coloured mat (they don't advertise it as such) but that is such a great tip!
I of course immediately ran to the closest white Ribba frame in my house and tried flipping it over, only to find out that the back had discoloured around the print in an ugly, can't get away with it, kind of way.
Upside is that you can see how white the non-discoloured bit is :-) That is good news for the future!
So if in the unlikely scenario that I was NOT the last to know, well...now you know too!
Thanks Marisa :-)
10 comments:
I just discovered this a few months ago and it was like a revelation. Now how about the sizes? Any tricks for that? Since normal sized prints (11x14 specifically) don't seem to fit in Ikea frames....
Well, you have to remember that IKEA is European, so the frames fit regular European sizes.
If you're the last, I'm the VERY last. I'm off to start flipping mats now!
Thanks for the tip.
I had no idea. Not only are the mats cream, but they are different shades of cream which bothers me in the line up of photos I have on the bathroom wall. Thanks for sharing the tip.
You were not the last to know!! Good to know..so so good!
I didn't know either! I'm definitely checking mine.. likely yellowed though too.. Thanks for the tip!
I didn't know - that is awesome!
I tried that before but the lack of bevels on the other side of the mat really didn't turn out to be that pretty. I would take it to Michaels or any framing shop for a custom-cut white mat to fit the Ikea frames and together it'd still work out to be cheaper than custom framing.
Michelle is right: no bevel on the other size = not so pretty. Ladies, if you go to Deserres, you can simply by the uncut "real white" mat and purchase a beveled cutting device at the same time. Under $15 and you will solve you "cream" troubles quite easily!
You could always spray paint the mat white. That is what I did with one of my frames. You do have to watch out to make sure the mat and frame do not touch (paint adhering to the glass is not what you want!).
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