Space Wall Panels Equally Without Math Gymnastics: Stack, Measure, Divide

The Problem

Decorative wall paneling lives or dies on even spacing — and calculating it the head-on way means juggling wall length, panel widths, and gap counts in one equation, then trusting your marks across the whole run. One slip in the arithmetic and the last panel lands against the door casing with a gap that's obviously wrong.

The Technique

Tom Silva's version replaces the algebra with one measurement:

1. Count your layout: for six equal openings between an inside corner and a door casing, you need seven panels.
2. Slide all seven panels tight together against one end of the wall — stacked edge to edge at the corner.
3. Measure from the far side of the stacked panels to the door opening. That single number is all the empty space the wall has left — say 24 inches.
4. Divide by the number of openings: 24 ÷ 6 = 4 inches.
5. Cut a scrap block to 4 inches. Now walk down the wall: block against the corner, panel tight to the block, block again, panel again — to the door.

Every gap comes off the same physical block, so the spacing can't drift, and the arithmetic was one division.