Re: Raised Panel Layout / Proportions
I have constructed raised panels for furniture using my shaper, but now I want to build a chair-rail with raised panels in our home’s entrance foyer. I have read several books, aricles and purchase videos about constructing raised panels. My issue is that they explain raised panel construction in detail but only discuss their layout in the broadest terms. If you have walls of varrying lengths where the raised panels must be different widths how do you determine the optimum width so they look proportionate? Is there a maximum width you do not want to exceed?
Regards,
Mark Normyle
Replies
There was a discussion on this recently. Maybe if you're lucky the search function will be working.
As I recall the consensus was that a good place to start is the "golden rectangle", which has proportions of about 5x8. Basically any rectangle will look "right" when it is close to those proportions. I forget the exact numbers; I tend to just trust my eye.
You can do other designs, though. Arts + Crafts homes often had tall, narrow panels. Some Victorian houses I've worked on had small square panels, 2 or 3 high.
You want the stiles to remain close to the same width, generally 3 to 5 inches wide. Window and door casings return onto the stiles.
It helps to start with a scaled drawing of the room. If you can upload a drawing people here might be willing to help you with the design.
Hope this helps.
Like the other poster noted, we had a long thread on this (including plans, no less). Golden section/rule creates nicely proportions panels. My experience is to use a fairly consistant panel width, and to keep the internal stiles the same width, then take up any differences in the end stiles.
Getting the panels similar--or alike--in size will help in a small room like a foyer. It will help you out in the milling, too. I try not to ever specify raised panels wider than 24" if only to control the number of glue joints in the "field" of the panel.