Fine Custom Framing
→Hand-finished hardwoods, traditional water-gilded gold leaf, historical period replicas, precision welded metals, and archival verso windows designed for fine paintings, prints, and works on paper.
Museum-grade custom framing · Houston since 1983
Bespoke framing, made for the long view.
Every frame, vitrine, and armature that leaves our Taft Street studio is designed around the artwork. The majority of our hardwood, gold leaf, and period frames are made at our own benches; welded metal frames and acrylic cases come from trusted specialist fabricators — and every project, wherever the frame is made, is fitted, matted, and glazed to archival standards in our studio.
1983
Serving Houston since
12K–22K
Hand-burnished gold leaf
In-house
Designers, framemakers, gilders & fitters
TX & US
Collectors & institutions served
The studio difference: finished corners & active making
Assembled raw, finished as one monolithic object.
At Sarah Balinskas Art Services, every frame is assembled in its raw state, mechanically locked with internal hardwood splines, and hand-sanded smooth before any stain, lacquer, or gold leaf is applied. The finish wraps continuously around every corner, creating a single, seamless housing engineered to protect your art for generations.
See how a frame is madeWhat we make
What we make
Our primary disciplines & crafts.
Frame Preservation & Restoration
→Conservation-minded repair of historic and antique frames in our gold leaf department — reversing failed past repairs, recasting missing composition ornament, hand-carving wood losses, and re-gilding.
Display Alternatives for Objects & Sculptures
→Bespoke acrylic vitrines with optically bonded seams, weighted architectural pedestals, and hand-formed museum armatures designed for three-dimensional artifacts and sculptures.
Textile & Object Framing
→Conservation mounting for Hermès silk scarves, vintage sports jerseys, historic tapestries, and family heirlooms using 100% reversible hand-stitching and deep shadowbox housings.
Art Services & Collection Care
→Comprehensive support for private and institutional collections: secure climate-controlled storage, receiving intake, white-glove installation, and conservation coordination. In coordination with a client’s art advisors, we can suggest framing alternatives or restoration across a collection.
Also in the studio
Tactile details & classical line work.
Alongside our core woodworking and gilding disciplines, we offer specialized hand-crafts for singular presentations. We hand-wrap frame profiles in supple, archival leathers for a quiet, tactile presence. For works on paper, our fitters hand-rule classical French mats — drawing precise ink lines and applying delicate watercolor washes directly onto 100% cotton rag board, carrying on the revered tradition of Parisian master framers.
How to begin
Bring the work — and a photo of the wall.
Great framing design begins in thoughtful conversation — at our Taft Street showroom or directly in your home, office, or project site. Bring the artwork itself: design decisions are made by placing actual hardwood corner samples, matting textures, and conservation glazing directly against the piece under proper lighting, and precise measurements taken from the work keep your quote accurate. What genuinely helps alongside it is a photograph of the wall where the art will hang — the room’s light, color, and furnishings often decide the design.
Who we serve
A collaborative studio for everyone who lives, works, and creates with fine art.
Private Collectors & EstatesPreserving legacy and elevating how you live with art
Interior Designers & ArchitectsA true creative partner for your most ambitious spaces
Fine Art Advisors & ConsultantsDiscrete execution and rigorous stewardship for your clients
Galleries & ArtistsQuiet craftsmanship that lets the artwork shine
Museums & Cultural InstitutionsUncompromising rigor for institutional stewardship
Corporate & Hospitality CollectionsSophisticated environments built to endure
Collector voices
Sarah Balinskas Art Services always delivers frames that are art!Stephen Goldberg & Tim Kollatschny, Collectors
The craftspeople are miracle workers, artisans, magicians, historians, curators, and storytellers.Aaron Laine, CEO, Fixtures & Fittings, Inc.
Simply tops… beautifully engineered and meticulously constructed habitats for our works of art.Ben & Marion Wilcox, Collectors
- Henri Matisse
- Jackson Pollock
- Willem de Kooning
- Joan Miró
- Cy Twombly
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- Dorothy Hood
- Adolph Gottlieb
- John Biggers
- Leonora Carrington
- Shepard Fairey
- Charles Rosen
- Saul Steinberg
- Vija Celmins
- John Baldessari
- Marc Dennis
- Hasui Kawase
- Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
- Niles Spencer
- Mel Bochner
- Francis Bacon
- George A. Tice
- Louis Ritman
- Janet Sobel
A few of the 700+ artists whose work has crossed our benches — see the full list.
From the journal
Notes from the bench.
What is water gilding? Inside a traditional gold leaf studio
Gesso, bole, leaf, burnish — the four-century-old process behind our most luminous frames.
ReadMuseum glass, conservation clear, or acrylic: choosing glazing
What actually protects your art from Houston light — and what you see through each option.
ReadThe corner is the craft: finished-corner vs. chop frames
Two ways to build a frame, and what the difference means for the art inside.
ReadBegin
Once a work is yours, make us the first call.
We welcome you to visit our Taft Street studio, or we can meet at your home or office. 1114 Taft Street, Houston, TX 77019 · just west of downtown, between West Gray and West Dallas.
Schedule a Consultation