buying frames is a dilemma, i have spent years looking for the best. its all dependent on what quality you are after – sometimes i have just gone to ikea and purchased their wooden ones, but to be honest, the minute i get home and dismantle them, i realise that you pay for what you get – the joints do not meet properly, they are difficult to hang as the fixings tend to pop out, but if its for a temporary display then they are perfect. habitat offer a better quality ready frame, but again, they are limiting, especially if you want to add a mount – finding the right size, the cost etc … you end up paying quite a lot. i have bought some of the habitat wooden ones and repainted them to match a colour scheme. Conran sell a selection of multi frames, where you can insert more than one photo to make a collage, which is always an interesting way to display multiple photos – they usually take the classic size photo that you have printed at snappy snaps too.
i use 2 reliable framers, though it seems such a craft these days, small independents, that there can be a 2 week waiting. William Campbell near alfie’s antique market has a lovely range of frames, some modern, some traditional and a beautiful range of antique frames. Primrose Hill Framing company have a lovely range of modern frames and can even find you perspex boxes for your 3 d artworks. both framers offer a bespoke colour service, whereby you can paint your frames to a certain colour that you require or to enhance a colour in your picture or photograph.
You should try Frame Set and Match they have 2 branches one in Notting Hill Gate and one in Endell Street Covent Garden.