Getting the basics right before you design
A nameplate is small, but three decisions — size, material, and placement — matter more than the design itself for how it actually looks and functions once it's up.
Common nameplate sizes
- Compact (around 8"×12") — apartment doors, office cabins, desk plates.
- Standard (around 12"×18") — most independent house main doors.
- Large (around 18"×24") — bungalow gates, villa entrances, statement pieces.
These are common starting ranges, not fixed rules — the right size depends on your door or gate's own proportions and how far away it's typically viewed from.
Material considerations
Material affects both look and durability. Metal (brass, steel) suits exterior placements exposed to weather and tends to read as more traditional or formal. Wood brings warmth and pairs naturally with a wooden door. Acrylic and glass give a cleaner, more contemporary look but need a solid mounting surface. None of these is objectively "correct" — it's a genuine style and durability tradeoff.
Vastu placement, if that matters to you
Vastu guidance commonly places the nameplate on the north or east side of the main entrance, with material choice sometimes tied to direction (wood for north/east-facing entries, metal for south/west). If Vastu compliance matters for your home, decide on placement and material together rather than as two separate choices — swapping material after the fact to fit a direction is easy on paper, harder once something's already mounted.
Getting yours made
Staynish is building out a real nameplate catalogue — real materials, real collections, sized and finished to your door. It isn't yet a live self-serve configurator the way Tiles and Jali are, so the fastest way to get a real quote today is to start an enquiry with your rough size and material preference.