DESIGN & DECOR
A Frame Shop Large Enough to Deliver
Here’ s how expertise, sentiment and scale bring Crestar Picture Framing continued success in East Greenwich.
EDITED BY EDELINDA BAPTISTA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGEL TUCKER
LEFT: A magnetic workboard makes decision-making for framing effortless with racks of frame and mat board samples, readily available to customers during the selection process. BOTTOM: The Crestar team, made up of artists and creatives, can seamlessly complete orders of up to sixty frames for a single project within the 16,400-square-foot facility. NEXT PAGE: Crestar can handle any art form or material, such as this delicate scarf, to be framed with padding underneath to avoid sagging.
E VERY PART OF THE CRESTAR PICTURE FRAMING & Art Production experience has your happiness in mind, whether that’ s by offering seating for those who can’ t stand for the design process, the quaint tea and coffee area, or the children’ s toys and dog treats to make even the littlest guests feel welcome. East Greenwich knows Crestar for its hospitable character, expertise and lively community events.
“ The minute you walk into Crestar, you’ re greeted happily,” raves a long-time client.“ They’ re just fantastic to work with. I really value the team’ s input and knowledge on what frame type suits what material— whether that be flat prints, canvas, etc.”
The cheery environment and crew are all thanks to owners Brendan and Edith McCarthy. Brendan moved from Ireland to the United States thirty-two years ago as an engineer, bringing his cando attitude and accommodating mindset to Crestar and New England as a whole.
“ I am passionate about pleasing our customers,” says Brendan.“ We invest in educating our team of seven artists through framing conventions and out-of-state networking events. This is so they can be as transparent as possible on the how’ s and why’ s of their design decisions with our customers— not just show them what looks good.”
THEY CAN HANDLE THE HEAT Whether it’ s a $ 10,000 painting or a bathroom decor piece, Crestar moves like a well-oiled machine. Brendan equates Crestar to handling batch orders, like a restaurant makes food orders, with how his team can work seamlessly to complete an order of fifty to sixty frames for a single project. Crestar’ s shop houses more than 4,000 frame samples from more than twenty vendors, allowing clients and designers to explore subtle variations in color, profile and finish, making this feat easy.
“ With our 16,400-square-foot facility and high-capacity machinery right there in front of you, we really are like an open kitchen— you can see the chefs at work,” says Brendan.“ To build trust, it’ s important that your artworks and belongings
18 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY’ S NEST | 2026