Allen Custom Frame & Biscarr Fine Art

I have a fine art that needed to be put back into its original frame. I spoke with Harry and he was very helpful and professional about my art. I brought my art work to his gallery and he was able to quickly and professionally put my art back to its original condition on the frame the same day. I would recommend Allen Custom Frame to everyone who is looking for an honest, professional, great customer service and reasonable price. I am from Baltimore and will continue to drive to Allen Custom Frames for all my framing needs.

I needed to get an 11×17 piece framed for my workplace. I visited a few of the many frame shops in this area and decided that I liked the staff at Allen Custom Frame the best. The gentleman I talked to about my framing needs had helpful suggestions on colors and frames. I came back a second time after I chose them and worked with the owner to make my final choices. He was similarly helpful and didn’t try to upsell me with any special hardware I didn’t need (unlike some other places). In the end, they did an excellent job for a very fair price!

Allen Custom Frame is a great place to have your art work framed. What distinguishes it from most other framers is the excellent «eye» of the owner, Harry Biscarr, in picking out a type of frame, color of frame, style of matting (double, single), style of mounting (floating, mat bound), and overall size of the final assembly. He is both an artist and a craftsman.
Further, he and his staff are easy to work with. He will not foist his opinion about framing on you, but rather, make helpful suggestions so that the end product is «yours» — but with a trace or two (or three) of his ideas. The whole experience of working with him is many cuts above many shops who ask you what color frame and mat you want and leave it at that. As you might imagine, we are very satisfied with his work and we highly recommend his establishment.

Let’s keep this succinct, shall we…
The customer service was awesome. I spoke to the owner during my initial visit and when I picked up the framed piece (my graduate school diploma). He was very helpful, personable, and informative.
The piece itself had a couple different borders and mattes and he helped me pick the best ones to fit the diploma along with a selected frame. It came out PERFECT, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I mean, it looks absolutely wonderful. I could recommend this place off of the workmanship alone.
I am at odds over giving this place a 4 or 5 stars, simply because the place is a bit pricey in comparison to comparable framing workshops around DC. It kinda surprised me (and I’ve been to at least a few framing spots in DC before) and my wallet took a hit that month. Haha… (No worries… it made a full recovery and I have no regrets!) I have trouble deciding whether the value justifies the price.
(That’s not to say they are a rip-off…I don’t believe that at all. They are in a very popular real estate location and their work is some of the best in DC!)
For now, let’s just say… be aware that it can be pricey, but if you have a bit of loot going into it… and especially if you need a variety of mattes, borders, etc., I can’t recommend this place enough.
Not hurting for cash? HANDS DOWN… ALLEN CUSTOM FRAME knows what they are doing.

Harry Biscarr has been framing my art for almost 20 years. I like coming to him because he has a very good instinctive eye for what the best type of frame should be. He takes the time to really look at the piece to figure out the frame, matting and glass and his suggestions are almost always better than what I may have originally had in mind. His prices are also very fair.

I went to Allen Custom Frame after buying a groupon (or living social) deal, I can’t remember which. It really didn’t matter. I had a wonderful experience. The folks in the store took their time helping me pick out a frame, and not only did I buy a frame for a painting, but I also saw a vintage frame that I was intrigued with — they added a beveled mirror — stunning. Overall, an easy and enjoyable experience. This is coming from someone who gets a lot of items framed!

It was an ideal framing experience. The staff helped pick out a fantastic frame for a diploma I had been meaning to get framed and helped suggest a great color matte to accent a second piece of art I had brought in. The turnaround was quick as well. In total they framed four pieces for my girlfriend and I and we couldn’t be happier.
Really a fantastic place to get any framing done.

I recently had a very large print photograph framed at Allen Custom Frame. The store attendant was very patient with me while I considered numerous different frames. She was also very insightful in helping me decide which frame might be the best for my photograph. In addition, she was very clear and transparent about pricing. I haven’t framed many other photographs, but the pricing did seem fair to me based on my previous framing experiences. And finally, the photograph was framed earlier than promised. I followed this experience up by framing another large photograph. The frame I wanted was a bit out of my budget, but they were flexible and we negotiated a good price to get the photo into the most flattering frame. I definitely recommend it.

I had a numbered print from my college years sitting around collecting dust that I knew I should get framed, but had never gotten around to doing so. I came across a LivingSocial deal for custom framing and bought it to get this print framed. I’m so glad I picked this framing deal to buy — the experience was fantastic. I waited until the last Saturday before the deal expiration to take my print in, and there was maybe a 15 minute wait with all the other stragglers, but the staff were really nice and worked quickly, yet without sacrificing customer service or spending the time to get to know what you were looking for. There were people in there with some seriously pricey and delicate works for framing and I felt a little stupid going up with a poster of my favorite band, but they treated everyone like their number one customer.
I got my print back and it looks fantastic. I pretty much relied on what they recommended in terms of matting and framing since I don’t have a very good eye for it and there were literally hundreds of frames and mats to choose from, and I’m really glad I took their advice. From start to finish it was a fantastic experience and I will definitely be back for future framing projects.

Harry and his team have been framing my art for years. Now he frames pieces for my friends and family. He has such an eye for art, that I now just drop off the paintings and let him decide what to do with them. I have never been disappointed, and he frames them so they have the «wow» factor, each one totally different. I love to travel and try to bring some art back from each trip. His prices are very fair. He is the best that I have found in Washington, by far.

I had a LivingSocial deal, so I got two very large Japanese prints framed. They did a fantastic job. They were very upfront on the pricing and showed all my options. When it was going to take a little longer than expected, they were proactive about contacting me to let me know. Best of all, when we told them we were moving, they wrapped them up for shipping. If we still lived in DC, we’d definitely be back.

These guys were outstanding! They were doing a huge order for the a federal agency (I forget which one), but still managed to get my small framing order done before schedule. It is some of the best I have ever seen, and I am proud to have their work on my wall!

I highly recommend Allen Custom Frame/​Biscarr Fine Art’s friendly, knowledgeable staff and the high-​quality work they perform in a timely manner.
In addition to framing services, there is a good stock of original and historic pieces available for sale.