Before The Architect added this Craftsman Style interior detail text on wainscot to a plan set's D5 [5th sheet of cross-referenced details], after recognizing that design guidance could be formative, and ought to be identified as responsibly and authentically as could be without ringing up the Smithsonian. Clients were intent on a Craftsman Style interior. [Came across a young finish carpenter showing off his Craftsman trim in a new-built on the Web . . . ladies loved it and blogged and blogged . . . looked ok, you know, walked the walk and talked the talk, but didn't dance the dance . . . guy had a heap of self-defined rules about size and shape and on and on . . . knew it all, he did . . . pure fabrication and largely incorrect, particularly in terms of design latitude limitations]
WHILE NO FIRM RULES APPEAR TO CRAFTSMAN STYLE DETAILS ON WAINSCOT (AS, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH RESPECT TO RIGOROUSLY DESIGNED CLASSICAL STYLES TRIMS OF ALL SORTS), APPROPRIATE INDICATIONS ABOUND.
1. ALL MAJOR PIECES ARE FLATWORK, NEITHER FLUTED, NOR OTHERWISE MODIFIED OUT OF TRUE, EXCEPT, POSSIBLY FOR STILE AND RAIL TRIM AT NON-RABBETED JOINTS TO PANEL EDGES AND FOR BEADBOARD (STRIP ONLY).
2. PANELS TALLER THAN WIDE, WHICH DESIGNERS PREFER TO HOLD TO CLASSICAL PROPORTIONS: STICKING (CLOSELY) TO SINGLE-DIGIT INTEGERS SHOULD SATISFY OR TO THE LOWER END OF THE FIBONACCI SERIES ...1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ... AND TO PHI AND phi.
3. WAINSCOT TOPPING OUT COMMONLY TO 5LF AFF (AND LESS COMMONLY LOWER), AND HIGHER'S OK (THE CLASSICAL ONE-THIRD HEIGHT HOLDS NO HEFT HEREWITH EXCEPT AS A MISGUIDED ADAPTATION)
4. TOP RAIL ABOUT 1/2 WIDTH OF BASEBOARD.
5. STILES USUALLY LEANER WIDTH THAN TOP RAIL, BUT NOT ALWAYS, SOME STILES BEING QUITE BEEFY, EVEN TO SEEMINGLY SHIPLAP PROPORTIONS.
6. ALL STILES (AS FRAME) OF SAME WIDTH; ALL RAILS (AS FRAME) OF SAME WIDTH, WHEREAT INTERIOR FILLERS OF DESIGN MAY FURTHER VARY.
7. PANELS MAY BE RABBETED (DESIGNERS' PREFERENCE) OR TRIMMED-IN WITH NARROW EDGING AT JOINTS TO STILES AND RAILS.
8. SMALLER TRIM PIECES MAY BE ROUNDED OVER, CHAMFERED, OR VERY SIMPLY IN (CONCAVE OR CONVEX) PROFILE, OR IN SOME COMBINATION.
9. RAILS MAY REVEAL TO STILES (DESIGNERS' PREFERENCE); BOTH RAILS AND STILES REVEAL TO PANELS ON THE ORDER OF NOT LESS THAN 2:1; STILES MAY NOT REVEAL TO BASEBOARD AND BASEBOARDS MAY REVEAL TO STILES (DESIGNERS' PREFERENCE.
10. WHILE MATERIALS MAY LEGITIMATELY BE OF ANY SPECIE AND ANY JUXAPPOSITION, HONEY-TONED, SATIN-CLOSED CHERRY (PLEASE SEE WOOD HARBOR EXAMPLE) AND OAK ARE PREFERRED BY DESIGNERS.
11. PANELS MAY MORE CONVENIENTLY BE OF 1/4LI THICKNESS IN RABBETED APPLICATION AND REALLY FLAT WALL APPLICATION (OR FIR TO FLAT); OTHERWISE, 3/8-1/2LI THICKNESSES ARE SUGGESTED.
11. PANEL WIDTHS MAY VARY, OFTEN SYMMETRICALLY OR OTHERWISE ARTISTICALLY, ON A GIVEN PLANE, AND SHALL NOT VARY RANDOMLY.
12. RAIL AND STILE EDGES MAY BE ROUNDED OVER OR CHAMFERED OR BOTH.
13. PRESENTATION IS EXCLUSIVELY RECTILINEAR AND ON ORTHOGONALS TO THE HORIZON.
Comment: Linguists, listen up. Did you know that wainscot(s)' is a noun form and the companion, transitive verb is wainscot(t)ing,' wainscot(t)ed,' or wainscots' and . . . wainscot? So, supposedly, one could properly blurt, "See how Waldo wainscots wainscots." And be smugly self-assured, no matter the blind stares.
Suggested reading:
THE BUNGALOW: AMERICA 'S ARTS & CRAFTS HOME BY PAUL DUCHSCHERER & DOUGLAS KEISTER, PENGUIN GROUP, 1995 .
SHOP DRAWINGS FOR CRAFTSMAN INTERIORS: CABS, MOLDINGS & BUILT-INS FOR EVERY ROOM IN THE HOME , MEASURED AND DRAWN BY ROBERT W. LANG, FOX CHAPEL PUBLISHING, CAMBIUM PRESS, 2003.
UPDATING CLASSIC AMERICA BUNGALOWS: DESIGN IDEAS FOR RENOVATING, REMODELING AND BUILDING NEW BY M. CAREN CONNOLLY AND LOUIS WASSERMAN, THE TAUNTON PRESS, 2002.
Before The Architect designs and drafts custom home plans nationwide. Its principals Ralph and Jean Pressel have worked hands-on together since the ‘60s in custom home design, drafting, consulting, plus building and repair in every major trade.Their plan sets are extraordinarily detailed; their clients' active involvement throughout is essential.
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