FAQ & Contact Info

Contact Us

For general information, pin suggestions, press inquiries, and questions about print/book availability or placing an order, email us at info@idealbookshelf.com.

For questions about an order already placed and/or received, email us at orders@idealbookshelf.com.

For information about wholesale pricing and how to place a wholesale order, email us at wholesale@idealbookshelf.com.


FAQ/Info


SHIPPING

Prints, Notecards, & Bookmarks

We ship most orders (including pins, totes, stationery, and ready-made prints and mugs) within 1-3 business days of receipt, and notify you of shipping via email.

Custom prints and mugs usually ship within 1-2 weeks, depending on the queue at the time (and it can be a bit longer around the holidays when we get many orders!). Custom paintings usually ship in 4-6 weeks. Framing adds 1-2 weeks to *any* print or painting order. Please let us know if there's a date by which you're hoping to have something by and we will try our best!

Unframed prints are shipped in protective cellophane sleeves. 8x10"s are shipped flat in a sturdy cardboard mailer, and anything 11x14" or larger is shipped rolled in a heavy-duty cardboard tube, all via USPS Priority mail within the U.S. and USPS First Class International mail outside of the U.S. Pins ship in small bubble mailers and generally ship via USPS First Class mail. Non-cutom items ship from our warehouse in Houston, Texas and within the U.S. shipments usually arrive within 2-3 business days, and outside of the U.S. it's 5-14 business days, depending on the country of destination and customs processing times. For some unknown reason, orders to Australia seem to take at least 14 days.

Framed prints ship directly from our framer, Simply Framed, usually via Fedex Ground. They are framed to order and therefore take a bit longer to ship, usually within 2 weeks. If you are trying to meet a deadline please let us know and we will do our best to make it happen.

If you would like to request faster shipping, please contact us before you order and we will let you know the possibilities.

Paintings

Unframed paintings are in protective cellophane sleeves, and will be shipped flat in a sturdy cardboard mailer. Framed paintings ship directly from our framer, Simply Framed.

Within in the USA unframed paintings ship via Fedex and usually arrive in 2-3 business days, and framed ones ship directly from Simply Framed, usually via Fedex Ground and take 3-7 business days. Outside the USA they ship via USPS Priority or Express Mail and usually arrive in 3-10 business days, depending on the country of destination and customs processing times. 

Tracking Orders

For orders within the USA, the email you received when your order shipped (either from the USPS or Fedex) should include a tracking number that you can use to check the status via their respective websites. Unfortunately international orders do not always have tracking available, in order to keep shipping prices relatively low. If your order has not appeared within the timeframes listed above, please contact us.

Damaged Orders

We try to keep our shipping prices as low as possible while still keeping the art safe. Very rarely, bad things do happen on the way to you, and a print might get damaged in transit. If so, please contact us right away and we'll replace it immediately. If possible, we'd also really love to see a quick snapshot of the damage, so that we can figure out how to adjust our packaging going forward.

Lost Orders/Shipping Issues

We try to keep our shipping prices as low as possible while still keeping the art safe. Very rarely, the USPS or the postal service in another country loses a print or painting along the way. If you think that may have happened, please contact us right away. We cannot give refunds on these orders as they were made custom for you, but we will replace one that has gone missing.


PRODUCTS

Prints

All prints are printed in archival pigment ink by a top-of-the-line digital printer, on Canson Arches 100% cotton rag paper. To be frank, it's hard to tell them from the original painting unless you made them yourself.

The prints are mostly created in open editions, and unsigned. If you would particularly like a signed print, please email us before you place your order.

Custom Prints

You pick the books you love most from our list, and Jane will arrange them in the best possible way. We print them in archival pigment ink by a top-of-the-line digital printer, on Canson Arches 100% cotton rag paper, and Jane signs it for you. They usually take 1-2 weeks to ship, depending on the queue at the time.

Paintings

The paintings are created with gouache (a kind of opaque watercolor paint) and gel ink, on Fabriano Acquarello 100% cotton hot pressed (i.e., fairly smooth) watercolor paper.

Custom Original Paintings

You pick the books that made you who you are today and email us photos of the full spines from top to bottom, large enough that we can read all the authors, titles, and publishers. Either together or in separate photos is fine, but if separate please give us some indication of relative size to each other (i.e., "The encyclopedia is about a foot high and the dictionary is a couple inches shorter," etc.). 
If you don't have the books or don't care which editions are used, email us your list first and we'll let you know if there are any we're missing and need you to track down. We do have photos of a lot of books, and often several versions of any given book. Jane will always pick the ones that look best together if you leave it up to her, but let us know if you have specific requests.
The paintings are created with gouache (a kind of opaque watercolor paint) and gel ink, on Fabriano Acquarello 100% cotton hot pressed (i.e., fairly smooth) watercolor paper. They usually take 6-8 weeks from when we get your photos, depending on demand at the time. But let us know if you have a specific deadline you're hoping to meet and we'll try our best to make it happen.

FRAMING

We've partnered with our friends at Simply Framed to offer our collectors high quality, affordable custom framing for all print and painting sizes. We've selected beautiful hardwood frame moulding in your choice of white (Jane's favorite for these pieces), black, or natural wood, plus a white mat. Simply Framed does an amazing job (check them out for all the other artwork you have hanging around in your home waiting to be framed!) and working with them lets us include all of these professional touches:
  • Hardwood frame moulding in your choice of white, black, or natural wood
  • UV-shielding plexiglass, which protects against 89% of UV and 92% Light transmission
  • Custom Cut 4-ply white mat with bevel edge
  • Archival acid-free backing
  • Protective paperback finish
  • Wall bumpers 
  • Hanging hardware + nails 
  • Hanging and care instructions 
As for the sizing, if you order a framed 8x10" print or painting, it will arrive in a frame that is about 11.75 x 13.75". An 11 x 14" print or painting will be in a 16.75 x 19.75" frame, and a 16 x 20" in a 22.75 x 26.75" frame.
As the mats are custom cut to fit the artwork, and all are framed to order, framing your work adds 2-3 weeks to your delivery time, but it is SO worth it, we promise.

PLEASE NOTE: Because the framing is custom for each piece, framed work cannot be returned.

If instead you'd like to frame yours yourself, the best off-the-shelf frames we’ve found are IKEA’s Ribba frames. They have great rectangular ones in various sizes, and even nice square ones that often fit the paintings or prints with fewer books (7 or so) perfectly.

Unfortunately, the mats that come with the frames usually have too small an opening for the bookshelf images. But you can get a custom white mat cut for you at most art supply and framing stores (like Michael's or Blick); it usually costs $10-15.