At This Store, the Mat's the Thing

At the new Georgetown framing store L'Eclat de Verre, the experience is more about the area between the picture and the frame than it is about the artwork you are framing or the frame itself. Here, the mat takes center stage.

The shop offers more than 500 styles of handmade paper that, when affixed to a backing, create a customized mat, according to Caitlin Allen, manager of the French chain's first U.S. store, in Cady's Alley (3336 M St. NW, 202-333-6840).

I took in a 9-by-12-inch pastel to get the French framing treatment. At the store, a framing consultant helped me select two papers (one patterned and one solid) that complemented the colors in the painting. Then we chose a dark wood frame. The estimate for framing my art came to more than $400.

As less pricey alternatives, the store offers workshops in make-your-own framing and cartonnage, a technique for making paper products such as photo albums, file folders and boxes. Workshop prices range from $55 to $70, not including the cost of the paper. You can also buy framing supplies and paper for wrapping (or for your new cartonnage hobby). Papers include silk, linen and even fake leather and cost $2.50 to $43 a sheet.

JoEllen Murphy