rail and stile doors

[maurice charitat]

Sorry for the noob design question. My daughter asked me to build a window seat that would hold a litter box. I've built the carcass and was going to have flush rail and stile flat panel door in the front. I realized I made a potential mistake in design. My doors are 19.5" wide by 16.5" tall. I realize that standard design would be a taller than wider door. The flat panels are book matched figured walnut. I'd rather not do 2 doors per side. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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[Ken Fitzgerald]

You could make just 2 doors with overlaps and mount them using sliding door hardware.

To me, just 2 doors would not look proportional to the window seat. I'd either build 4 doors hinged in the normal manner or build two doors, divided vertically to appear as 4 doors and use barn door type hardware to hang them.

[Mel Fulks]

I think what you have will work OK. They do make garage door type lift up hardware ,if you prefer that.

[maurice charitat]

Thanks for the replies. Here's a picture of the panel. One thought was that the cathedral would give some height. Another thought was to rip the panel and place a center stile to make 2 panels per side.IMG_0049.jpg

[Bob Grier]

I should keep my mouth shut because I struggle hard when it comes to what will look good but I have seen quite a few cabinet doors wider than tall and never gave it a thought. My kitchen has cabinet doors wider than tall over the refrigerator. I also have cabinets with panels wider than tall similar to what is in the attached picture and of course drawers are wider than tall and the difference is just a matter of hardware. It could be that I don't understand the question or am missing the point but I am concerned you are second guessing yourself. Something I have done too often resulting in not best decision.

1-large-02.jpg

[Mel Fulks]

I agree with Bob. There really isn't much verticality to accentuate. A snake with vertical stripes doesn't look any taller than a snake with horizontal stripes; projects of that type are done with the grain going either way. Trust yourself. The next owner will be sure it needs painting.

[maurice charitat]

Thanks for all of the advice. Hopefully I'll never have the chance to see this painted.

[Brian Holcombe]

Rather than using rail and stile in the normal fashion, you could make use of battens (behind the panel) which lock into the stiles with mortise and tenon joinery. This will make for a strong door and you can use slim rails top and bottom to complete the form.

If you scroll down to 'Medicine Cabinet', you'll see what I mean;

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/...mpleted-works/