The Burnes Group began in Chicago, IL in 1933 as Metalcraft, a little picture frame company owned and operated by two brothers, Herman and Maurice Spertus. Herman and Maurice recognized that photography was becoming a way of life in America, and that a good product connected with photography would likely be a good seller. The first Metalcraft frames were made in the basement of the Spertus brothers' apartment building, and later in a fourth floor workshop.

During the first 25 years, through 1958, Metalcraft relocated six different times to larger locations, all within the city of Chicago. It was in the early 1960s that Metalcraft introduced its in-store service program and acquired a small frame company in southern California that provided greater market share in the eleven western states. The Company expanded into other related product areas such as mirrors, albums, pictures, clocks, and hanging hardware. The Company also expanded its factories in Chicago and Los Angeles and established manufacturing operations in England and Canada. Metalcraft then adopted the name Intercraft in 1969. As a result of all of this activity, Intercraft experienced accelerated growth, tripling its sales volume in the 1960s, and tripling again in the 1970s.

Sales growth leveled off in the early-to-mid 1980s, and in 1986 Intercraft began to experience a decline in market share and profits. The management team was comprised of executives without direct Intercraft experience who, quite simply, did not understand the industry. In late 1986, the management team was replaced by a second team of Intercraft veterans under the leadership of Philip Spertus as Chairman and Trevor Redmayne as President.
The new management team quickly took decisive action to improve the Company, including the following:

• The Company stopped producing framed art, a line of business that accounted for only 20% of revenues but 80% of problems.
• The Company closed its California factory, consolidating all U.S. production into factories in Taylor, Texas, and Statesville, North Carolina.
• The Company substantially reduced its headquarters staff and moved its headquarters from Carson, California, to Taylor, Texas.

Intercraft returned to a pattern of sales growth, increased profitability, and increased market leadership. In 1988 Intercraft sold its business in England and Australia so that it could concentrate all of its activities in the U.S. and Canada. The Company was owned since its inception by the Spertus family, except for a period from 1969 to 1983 when the Company was publicly owned and traded. In 1989, after Intercraft performance had improved, a number of members of the Spertus family decided to sell their interest in the Company to a new ownership group in April 1990. In 1992, the new management group decided to sell to Newell Company, which is based in Freeport, Illinois.

Intercraft (a Newell Company) acquired Decorel in October of 1995. Decorel was founded in 1903, when 19 year-old J.A. Scheyer gave up a high-paying job as a cloth cutter to start his own picture frame company in a basement in New York City. Within six months, J.A. had increased the number of employees from two to six, added a night shift, and taken a lease in a small factory. In 1905, his brothers Ary and Mickey joined him in business. By 1910, growth was so rapid they decided to add a factory in Chicago. The year 1944 was a turning point for Decorel when the company was divided. J.A maintained control of the West Coast, and his brother gained control of the East Coast. In 1953, J.A. purchased land in Mundelein, IL, where Decorel was based until early 1998. The family decided to concentrate on picture frames and framed art in 1987 with a focus on profits. Arrangements for a factory that now operates in Durango, Mexico, began in 1993. In the acquisition of Decorel, Intercraft saw one of its largest and fiercest competitors suddenly become a member of the family.

Intercraft (a Newell Company) also acquired The Holson Burnes Group in January 1996. The Holson Burnes Group originally began in Boston in 1917 as the Charles D. Burnes Company, a small picture frame company owned by Charles D. Burnes. The company specialized in hand-carved wooden frames. After his death in 1938, Burnes' son-in-law, Samuel Gordon, took over the business and went out on the road carrying suitcases full of samples. It was truly a family business, with Sam's wife Alice doing the bookkeeping, and Sam's son Charles assembling frames in the plant. In 1971, after receiving his degree in chemical engineering, Charles Gordon took over as President of the company. Charles developed the photo cube and engineered the mass construction of the collage picture frame, which doubled the size of the company in one year. In 1979 the company was purchased by Hallmark. With Hallmark's financial support, the company grew from a small company to a medium-sized business by improving systems. In 1987 the company was bought by Bain Capital, which also owned Holson Company, a small album manufacturer based in Wilton, Connecticut. In 1990, the Holson Company was merged with the Charles D. Burnes Company to become the Holson Burnes Group. The companies, which had previously sought ways to outsell one another, are now sharing information and tactics to make them all stronger and more successful.

In December 1997, Intercraft Burnes added a distribution center for its mass-market business in Covington, TN. The Covington facility was formerly owned by Kirsch, another company acquired by Newell in the mid 1990s. In 1999, Intercraft Burnes acquired Pedroza, a decorative mirror manufacturer in Tijuana, Mexico. Pedroza's manufacturing was ultimately consolidated among other Intercraft Burnes facilities, and the Tijuana plant ceased operation in April 2001.

In March 1999, Newell Company acquired Rubbermaid and subsequently changed its name to Newell Rubbermaid. In January 2001, Newell Rubbermaid named Joe Galli as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In March 2001, Mr. Galli determined that the European Photo Fashions business, acquired in the fall of 1999, would become part of the Intercraft Burnes family. By doing that, Mr. Galli created a new group within Newell Rubbermaid solely dedicated to picture frames, photo albums, and other photo fashions. As a result, the company known as Intercraft Burnes changed its name to the Burnes of oston/Connoisseur Group.

In September 2002 the Burnes Home Accents headquarters in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, and the Connoisseur headquarters in Taylor, Texas combined and relocated to a new single headquarters location in Austin, Texas. The Rhode Island location ceased operations at that time, and the Taylor location continued operations primarily with manufacturing, distribution, and support functions. The name of the company was changed to the Burnes Group.

Today, the Burnes Group consists of 2 distinct business units. Connoisseur represents the mass-market frame and album business in North America (formerly known as Intercraft); Burnes Home Accents represents the upscale frame and album business in North America (formerly known as Holson Burnes). The mass-market brands currently include Connoisseur, Decorel, Intercraft, DAX, Heirloom, and Holson albums, and the upscale brands include Burnes Home Accents, Terragrafics, Carr, and RareWoods.

In April 2004, the Burnes Group, along with two other divisions of Newell Rubbermaid, was purchased by the privately held financial holding company, Cerberus Capital Management, headquartered in New York City. With this acquisition, Cerberus formed the Global Home Products (GHP) division that is headquartered in Westerville, Ohio. George Hamilton was named as CEO of GHP. Cerberus is a 12.5 billion dollar company whose portfolio includes such well-known companies as: Filla, Formica, Alamo & National Rental Car, Georgia Pacific, and many more.

In June of 2006, Burnes Group was purchased by Anderson Press, headquartered in Atlanta, GA and changed its name to Burnes Home Accents, LLC. The home office of Burnes Home Accents, LLC is located in Atlanta, GA and continues to operate a distribution center in Florence, AL and a manufacturing facility in Durango, Mexico.