At first glance, Frame Nation looks much like any other custom framing shop. Along many of the walls hang hundreds upon hundreds of frame samples, all separated by either color or material. Toward the back of the room are two big work tables covered with scraps of matting and frame remnants and partially finished projects.

On one wall, opposite the walls of typical frame examples are a few samples you probably won't see in any other frame shop in town. Wrapped around two panoramic photos of the Richmond skyline is a massive frame made out of what looks to be the upper half of a wooden door you might find in an old Fan row house.

"It actually is the top half of an old door," says professional framer Mary Fender, owner of the recently opened Frame Nation in Shockoe Bottom. "I cut the base off and them I used these as ornaments."

Fender points to several pieces of an old wooden brace that are affixed to the unique frame. In its heyday, the intricately carved wooden brace most likely held up the ceiling to a front porch in the Fan or Church Hill.

Now, however, that brace and several like it have been rescued from the salvage yard and are an integral part of Fender's newest framing option – recycled style.

Though the art in a frame is normally supposed to be the main focus and purpose of a frame, Fender's renewed style tends to blend that focus.

"With custom framing, people usually have their own artwork they bring, but with the recycled style it is kind of like a combination of sculpture with art," Fender said. "It's very new to people and some people don't care for it because it is not new and a lot of people want something new and shiny."

But some people don't. For some, Fender's newest framing option is just another way people can catch onto the growing green movement in this country. For Fender, it's not only a great way to recycle, but it's also a lot of fun and very unique to the area.

Beside the frame made out of the old door is a large square mirror wrapped in an intricate tin frame with lots of rust spots. It looks as if it is 100 years old. Upon closer inspection, you can see that the tin frame looks like it was made from an old tin ceiling tile.

Just down the wall from the tin frame is another large frame made from an old steel fireplace surround. Beside that is a sample frame corner that features a border of fluffy fox fur.

"That is actually a fox collar I got from a thrift store jacket," she notes. I am not into killing more animals, but I think a beautiful item like that should not be wasted."

Many of Fender's recycled style supplies come from local salvage yards such as S.B. Cox, but she also employs other used goods as part of her office space. Besides the unique recycled framing options for her customers, Fender also applies a "living green" theme to the rest of her shop.

From the file cabinet beside her desk to the display cases near the front door, most of the furniture in her shop came from local thrift stores. Even her open sign, which is actually an old traffic light, was given another chance besides the local garbage dump.

"When I see these things lying in the garbage, I help but think 'I could use these again somehow,'" she said.

Though Fender said she wishes she could stake claim as the founder of recycled style framing, she actually got the idea from a local framing competition. The recycled framing style idea actually came from collaboration between the Historic Richmond Foundation and Kristy Ford, the former co-owner of The Art of Richmond and Dementi Gallery.

In 2003, as a fundraiser for the Historic Richmond Foundation, a call was sent out for local artists to design a vintage frame out of salvaged materials for a historic photo of Richmond provided by the Dementi Gallery. About 15 artists participated in the first event and the finished works were auctioned off to support the Historic Richmond Foundation.

Fender's design won first place.

The next year, Fender won first place again and had developed a firm appreciation for the recycled style.

"I didn't come up with it, but I really love it," she said.

w To find out more about Frame Nation and Mary Fender's recycled style framing options, check out her Web site at www.framenation.net