I came across this very informative little article which demonstrates how the box-model layout of divs can "now" be made positively and reliably in such a way that page can be made to flow and maintain column widths without worrying about widths of each div and the problems with floats. http://hacks.mozilla.org/2010/04/the-css-3-flexible-box-model/ In fact, columns can actually be made flexible! Works now in Firefox, Safari and Chrome using the developer prefix to the property, i.e. -moz-box-model: for Firefox -webkit-box-model: for Safari and Chrome Don't forget to have a look at the Demo page layout near the bottom of the article. Barry