This framed art print was one we had in the family home for over two decades. It is such a beautiful piece, depicting such a peaceful morning scene.

It had faded quite badly over the years, and while I loved the frame size and the print itself, I wasn’t sure if the colours could be restored.

The only other option I had would be to use the frame for a new painting or artwork. But before resorting to that option I wanted to see if the colours could be corrected.

I opened up the frame from the back, gently removing the framing staples and examined the print itself.

I wanted an easy option that wouldn’t take too much time, so I tested a small area of the print using a watercolour paint. I didn’t use too much water, just enough to liquefy the pigment.

The main thing that I wanted to check was that the paint didn’t curl or distort the paper too much.

I tested a small area and waited until it had dried and found the paper held up well. There was little to no distortion and the paper retained the pigment.

Faded art prints tend to have an overly ‘bluish’ hue to them. So, in order to correct these ‘blue’ hues in the print, I used paint with more of an ‘orange’ hue.

The greens that I used were a deep earth-toned green, to offset the ‘blue’ tones underneath. This seemed to work well and the original print came to life again.

Completing the rest of the restoration, there was more freedom to customise the colours into what I wanted, while still continuing with the earth-tone theme.

Re-framing the print was the last step.

Overall, a simple restoration bringing back to life a beautiful, timeless piece.