4 Ways to Make Panels Pop
Doors are dominant on most cabinet designs, so dressing up door panels is an easy way to make furniture stand out.

Synopsis: Doors are dominant on most cabinet designs, so dressing up door panels is an easy way to make furniture stand out. And because they are flat and finite, panels are a great place to try out new techniques. This collection of articles shows four panels that are tasteful without being overwhelming: book-matched, hand-carved, woven, and routed.
About 30 years ago, when I worked in the finishing shop of the late george nakashima, he told me, “Our job as woodworkers is to reveal the tree’s inner beauty.” that’s literally what you do when you resaw a plank on the bandsaw and book-match the halves. Opening the two pieces like a book exposes a mirror image of color, grain, and texture—a natural pattern unique to that tree. Book-matching works well for all types of panels, including tabletops and all kinds of veneered panels, but my focus here is solid-wood door panels.
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