How to Make a Japanese Shoji Screen
Japanese shoji screens come in many shapes and sizes, and are used traditionally as walls, doors and room dividers in Japanese houses. Shoji screens provide soft, diffused light through paper sheets covering their frames. These screens can be plain or decorated with designs on the paper. The most common type of shoji screen, and the simplest to make, is a room divider, typically three frames hinged together. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 6 pieces of frame molding, 1-by-1-inch, 60 inches long
- 6 pieces of frame molding, 1-by-1-inch, 12 inches long
- Miter saw
- Corner clamps
- Wood glue
- Drill with drill bit
- Screws
- 18 pieces of 1/2-by-1/2-inch wood trim, 10 inches long
- 6 pieces of 1/2-by-1/2-inch wood trim, 58 inches long
- Wood stain (optional)
- 3 shoji rice paper sheets, 11 inches by 59 inches
- 4 hinges
Instructions
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1
Miter each end of all the frame molding pieces to a 45-degree angle, using the miter saw.
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2
Insert the mitered boards into the corner clamps to form a rectangular frame measuring 12 inches by 60 inches. Glue the mitered joints, then clamp them together. Drill a hole through each glued joint and screw the pieces together. Let the glue dry.
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3
Repeat Step 2 with the rest of the frame molding pieces, so you create three identical frames.
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4
Stain all the frames and the wood trim, if desired. Let the stain dry.
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5
Insert two of the 10-inch wood trim pieces so they are equally spaced along the length of the frame. Position each trim so it is flush with the back of the frame when the rabbet edge of the frame molding is facing up. Glue the pieces in place. You should have three equal "windows" in your frame. Repeat with the two remaining frames.
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6
Insert the shoji rice paper piece into the rabbet edge of one frame, so that it covers the windows of the frame. Glue the paper in place.
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7
Place two 58-inch trim pieces along the length of the frame's rabbet. Glue them in place so they cover the edges of the paper.
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8
Insert two 10-inch trim pieces on the smaller rabbet edges of the frame, and two mirroring the window pieces on the back. Glue them in place.
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9
Repeat Steps 6 through 8 with remaining frames, paper and trim pieces.
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10
Position the hinges 10 inches from either end of one of the screens. This will be the middle screen. Screw the hinges into the wood on both sides of this screen frame.
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11
Position the remaining two screen frames on each side of the middle screen. Secure the hinges to the side screens by driving screws through the hinges and into the wood frames.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Frame molding is available from framing stores and most lumber yards. You can achieve a similar effect by creating a rabbet edge 1/2-inch deep and wide on the short sides of mitered wood boards.
