I've just completed my latest prop, an ornate wooden throne (thanks for the idea Infernal). The fretwork panels are actual geometry rather than just a texmap and they also have separate material so that you can alter the underlying colour. The black areas also have there own material assignment so that they can be coloured, made to look semi-transparent or have a fabric pattern added as required.

Let me know what you think before I upload it to freestuff.

Simon.