Bartertown Framing

Pat did all my framing when I lived in Oakland, and leaving her was one of the harder parts about moving out of the area. She’s got an amazing eye for design and her labor rates are low — too low, in my opinion. «Artisan» and «craftsperson» are words that are thrown about too lightly these days, but that’s what she is: an artisan. Go see her. You’ll pay a tiny bit more than if you’d used that loss-​leader 80% off framing coupon from the big-​box in Emeryville, but I guarantee you’ll be happier with the results. The right frame doesn’t have to be expensive, but it will transform your artwork.

You may not know it, but you really do need a personal framer. Pat is awesome and has been my personal framer for over 10 years. She is very talented and has a great eye if you don’t exactly know what you want. She has an extensive array of frames and matte colors to choose from. She hand crafts each piece for you and does fancy things on the back like put little felt protectors, and papers over the back in a very tidy way. She is also a great neighbor as she knows everything and everyone in the neighborhood and keeps an eye on the streets and the park. Go see Pat and you will not regret it!

I’ve had four items framed by Pat on two occasions. Her work is spectacular and her recommendations are spot on. Thank you!

Pat at Bartertown is AMAZING!!! She did a custom job on a very old picture of my Grandma and I couldn’t love it more!!!

Just got my framed print in from Pat at Bartertown, and it looks fantastic, but lets start from the beginning:
Firstly, I call the place up to get a rough price quote for my weirdly-​shaped print (12“x34″). I get her answering machine stating that she’s probably got her hands full, and so I leave a quick message describing my print, and go on getting other quotes. She calls me back around 10 minutes later, and I get the best quoting experience I had gotten all day.
On the phone, she’s warm and affable, and speaks to me like I’m an old friend. Secondly, she is breaking down the prices of the materials like glass, matte, frame, labor, etc. We add it all up, and it’s the best price in town. I had gone into this knowing that I wanted to give my business to a local shop if it wasn’t outrageous, as I believe in that sort of thing, but I didn’t dream I’d also be getting a competitive price.
I thank her for the quote, call up a couple more places, and then drive right over to Pat’s in Old Oakland with my wife. I quickly find parking, and we just walk in and I introduce myself as that guy with the 12“x34″ print on the phone earlier. She remembers me, and she immediately gives me a smile and introduces herself, and we go to her staging table to start deciding what kind of matte, frame, and glass I want for my piece. Pat was extremely knowledgable, friendly, and had a very pragmatic, no-​nonsense feel to her when it comes to her business, but at the same time, is very warm and was joking around with my wife and I while we were getting samples off the wall.
We sort everything up, calculate the cost (which was actually lower than her ballpark quote since I went with a lower-​cost frame for style reasons), and then she tells me that she can have it ready in only a few days, which I thought was either very ambitious, or she just knew her suppliers and schedule very well.
Lo and behold, I have my framed print turned around in only a few short days, and it is of impeccable quality. There is literally no reason not to come to Pat with your custom framing business. She’s friendly, local, professional, competitive, and quick.

Pat has framed nearly 30 pieces for us over the last 10 years. There is a reason we ONLY go to Pat for an expert framing job. Pat is a professional. Pat is an artist. Pat is realistic. And, she is a lot of fun — with just the right amount of edge! From small, standard-​type frames, to more complicated and delicate pieces of art, Pat has always found a solution. Every piece hanging in our home that Pat has framed always garners attention for the way her framing work highlights and accentuates the art. A great craftsperson works that way. For a high quality, personal touch to your important photo, art, or item you need framed, Pat is the one to make it happen!

I have had large and small –prescious and less so– items done here over the past 4 years. The owner is honest and may come accross as gruff to some people. As I have gotten to know her and especially her work, OMG she’s become my favorite framer ever! She’s got amazing craftsmanship, reasonable pricing, fairly quick and lots of choices and ideas. She’s very good at figuring out odd sizes and how to make a picture look good –my SUPER PICKY art collecting mother even thought her work was good. Now THAT is saying really all there is to say!

Pat is an amazing person. She is always friendly when you walk in and is patient as she steps you through what you need to pick out. Her suggestions are always spot-​on. I’ve had 4 items framed by Pat. To top it all off, she remembered my name after not coming back for a year. I hope her shop stays in the area for years to come.

I’ve had four different pieces framed on three different occasions here and I’ll never go anywhere else. The owner takes a lot of time pulling frame samples and arranging them around the piece. I usually go in without a clue of what I want and end up being guided to something I wouldn’t have grabbed myself but is unquestionably perfect for the piece. The actual matting/​framing work is flawless and the price is great relative to other places. A very good value.
I’m surprised at some of the reviews stating that the owner was rude. She’s perfectly polite, maybe a little quirky? Definitely not rude.

I totally AGREE with Phoenix S. the lady on the wheel chair was EXTREMELY RUDE!!! Just went there a while ago just to get a fucking mat cut and she just explode on me for no reasons. I dont deserved to be treated like that I was being polite and nice to her. If you wanna save your effort, gas and money dont go to this place. The lady is VERY RUDE.

I agree with Kai H who posted July 2013, the woman, owner of this shop is rude. I do live in the Bay Area and walked to the store to inquire about getting a paper print framed. I don’t know anything about framing which is why I went to a frame store. First, she was sitting outside of the store smoking a cigarette which made me not to want to go in to have her tar filled fingers on my print. Next, when I asked her about framing she started by telling me what she can’t do. Third, when I asked for advice on framing she said well «What do you want» I said I don’ tknow that’s why I’m here, she made a snide remark that «People usually have some idea of what they want». At that point, I told her I would take my business elsewhere and walked out. I do not recommend this store at all… stay away!

I don’t live in the Bay Area. I called to see if Bartertown would frame something if I sent them the print and prepay, so I could have it framed for a gift I would be giving when I did come to the Bay Area. I don’t expect everyone to want to take on this type of request, but all it should take is a simple ‘no thanks.’ Instead, the woman on the phone went out of her way to make me feel like I was trying to run a scam and wasn’t worth her time.
Some of her choice lines:
‘How can you pay by credit card if you’re not here?’ ‘How do I know you’re the person who owns the card, and then they don’t want to pay for it when you leave it?’ ‘If it’s just a print, why don’t you just get it framed somewhere else?‘
Completely wrong on so many fronts. Learn how to treat customers if you’re going to survive as a business in the 21^st century.

I’m a part-​time antiques dealer and low priced art enthusiast. I frame 15 – 20 prints/​paintings per year. I moved out to the bay area this past September and began what I thought would be the arduous task of replacing my great art framer back on the left coast.
I’ve had mixed experiences with framers. My priorities are getting the best quality work at what I consider to be a reasonable price in an acceptable time frame. When my experiences have been unsatisfactory they’ve been with framers that I feel are guiding me towards what they want and not being open to a collaborative process. What they want generally turns out to be the most expensive frames they sell. My waiting times are often over a month to get the work back.
Thanks to Unilocal I’m here to tell you that the sun has shined upon me since I’ve found Pat at Bartertown framing.
I waited until I had over a dozen pieces of art framed to write this review.
In no particular order here is what I love about having my art framed at Bartertown.
–Pat is a sole-​proprietor. When you go to Bartertown you receive her undivided attention.
–Pat knows her stuff and her stock. She will look at my art much like a contemplative Budda and quickly have out mats and frame samples that are spot on.
–Pat is secure and respectful. If for some reason I don’t love her choice or suggestion and have a few of my own there is no change in attitude or her zen-​like demeanor. She’s not invested in you agreeing with her and is secure enough to accept it if you make your own choices. (although admittedly I usually go back to her original suggestions)
–Pat is reasonably priced! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a framing quote and wondered if I’d inadvertently walked onto the set of the Wheel of Fortune. «I’ll have the ceramic cheetah for $ 7,000 Mr Sayjak.»
–Pat turns my work around quickly! Even the framer I loved on the east coast took 2 – 3 weeks to get my art back to me. Pat has turned my work around for me without exception within 7 – 10 days… sometimes sooner!
–Pat does quality work. Every piece of art I’ve had framed by Pat has been rendered in an exacting manner. Perfectly cut mats and frames. Perfectly centered. Just great work.
–Location and Parking. Is it just me or is parking in the East Bay a major inconvenience? Not at Bartertown. Plenty of parking in a safe area.
–Pat has integrity and respect for her customers. I recently brought Pat a piece that was in what I thought was a pretty beat up frame. I was interested in replacing the frame. Pat told me she thought the frame was actually perfect and that it would be a waste of money to re-​frame it. I reconsidered based on her suggestion and she was correct. How many business people are going to turn down work???
And last but not least Pat is cool. I’m sure it would be just fine if I never had any interaction with my framer but I really enjoy talking with Pat during our consultations. She’s super-​cool and has lead a really interesting life. I feel like I’m hanging out with a friend when I’m in her shop.
So there you have it. Can’t speak highly enough of my experiences at Bartertown and with Pat. Go in and give her shop a try. You and your wallet will be glad you did!

I agree with the other favorable reviews.
I’ve been to a number of other framing shops in the Bay Area, including shops in Berkeley and Walnut Creek, but Bartertown Framing is the only place that feels like it belongs in a small town, where people know and care about each other.
Pat, the personable owner, is extremely generous with her time, knowledge, and resources. She’s also has very reasonable prices, and in some cases they are even lower than the impersonal big chain stores!
Plus, there’s almost always parking right in front of the business, which makes it easy to load and unload heavy glass picture frames.

Recently worked on a very fiddly framing project with Pat, the owner of Bartertown. At first she was severe with me — like some Zen framing master — but I came to realize that it’s coming from her real passion for perfection and desire to get it right. Well… she did… and I found out even more deeply than I had anticipated when I walked in… the significance of the picture I had framed, to the larger picture of my life.

Every time I go into Bartertown framing, I know I’m going to get great service from Pat who will walk me through multiple options to get the best solution for my piece. Whether it is giant posters, diplomas, photographs, artwork, or comic books, each item I’ve had framed at Bartertown came out absolutely gorgeous!

I can only echo the comments from all of the others… Bartertown Framing is the best! I’ve used Pat for my framing needs since 2007. She walks you through the options for colors, textures and sizes for mats/​frames with expertise and knowledge that can not be beat in the Bay area. Recently she took on a difficult tapestry, with an assortment of colors and textures, creating a show stopping piece of art. She is upfront, honest and fair. Her attention to detail comes through with the finished product. I can confidently say that Pat is the framer for you!

This review is long overdue… My boyfriend and I had a painting from Thailand that needed to be framed, and Pat did an amazing job. She really knows everything there is to know about framing, and the piece looks perfect hanging above our fireplace in it’s beautiful frame. Pat was personable, informative, and easygoing, and the pricing was very fair. We will definitely be back here!

This place was great. The owner, who helped us make our selections, was really pleasant and helpful. This was actually the first time I’ve ever gotten something framed, however, and I was kind of astounded at how much it cost. I’m pretty sure it’s simply just expensive to get something custom framed, though, so I wouldn’t say that as a criticism. The finished product was beautiful and was done in a timely manner.

Out of disclosure I never had anything framed from this store, but the owner is so honest I think she deserves 6 stars. I took a picture that had some framing issues (out of square) and she spent a lot of time with me and then offered that I should NOT frame it.
Her frame selection is really good and I look forward to bringing her in something else in the future. She has incredibly nice and honest. What more can you ask for?