From workshop to wall: how white-glove delivery works in Chicago

When you commission a frame from us, the framing is only half the job. The other half is getting the finished piece from our workshop on Clybourn to your wall, intact, level, and lit the way you want it. For local clients in Chicago, the way that happens is white-glove delivery. We do this in-house, with our own people, in our own vehicles, on our own schedule. We do not hand it off to a third-party logistics company. The piece never leaves a Frame Chicago hand until it lands in yours.

How a Chicago delivery actually works

On the day of delivery, the framed piece comes off our workshop bench, gets a final inspection in good light, and goes into a foam-lined custom crate built to its exact dimensions. We never ship a framed piece in a generic box. The crate is built that morning, sized to the piece, padded to the piece, and labeled to the piece. From the crate to the truck, the piece is moved by two people. The truck is climate-controlled because Chicago humidity in summer and Chicago cold in winter are both bad for canvas, paper, and wood. We drive to your location ourselves. We unwrap the piece in your space, not on your porch. We never leave a frame at a door.

When we arrive, we measure your wall before we open the crate. We confirm the placement, the height, and the lighting. If the piece needs anchors, we bring the right anchors. If the wall is plaster, we bring plaster anchors. If the wall is brick, we bring masonry. We level the piece on the wall, sight it from across the room, and adjust until it reads true from every angle a person actually looks from. Then we leave. The whole process, from crate-pack to wall-hung, usually takes about ninety minutes. For most pieces, that ninety minutes is the difference between a piece that looks expensive and a piece that looks cared for.

Why we do not subcontract delivery

A lot of frame shops pack the piece, hand it to a courier, and consider the job done. We do not work that way because the piece is not done until it is on the wall. A courier does not know what the artwork is. A courier does not know how it is supposed to hang. A courier cannot answer your questions about lighting. We deliver our own work because the framing decisions we made in the workshop only matter if they survive the transit and the install.

That is what white-glove delivery means inside our shop. Not a luxury label. A guarantee that the artwork is held by people who built it from the moment it leaves our bench to the moment it reads true on your wall.