Room dividers instantly make something out of nothing, turning single-use rooms into double spaces with separation and privacy. They can even create the illusion that a room has more square footage.
1. Simple Jute Rope Room Divider
What better room divider for an upholstery collective than one made of organic fibers? This DIY room divider is dead-simple, and the materials are cheap. Thick jute rope, available at hardware and craft/hobby stores, is very inexpensive. And if you are willing to go with thinner 1/16-inch jute rope, costs drop even more.
Mount wooden shoe plates on the floor and ceiling, then thread the rope between the plates. While this project won't create a total visual block, it is superb at demarcating and separating spaces.
2. Frosted Glass Room Divider
Studio apartment dwellers know how cabin fever can develop: Something about having just one room really cranks up the claustrophobia. It intensifies when two people dwell in that same single room. Can this be fixed?
IKEA PAX wardrobe doors with frosted glass come in sizes large enough to stretch from ceiling to floor. They slide effortlessly on tracks and, like a just-sharpened knife, slice one chaotic room into two separate calm sanctuaries.
3. Book Heaven
A classic DIY room divider is one that has found its way into college dorms and other shared spaces for decades: the carefully positioned bookcase. This is one IKEA hack that is more about placement than it is about drills, screws, and saws. All you have to do is rotate a shelving unit so that it is perpendicular to the wall.
It's important, though, to secure the unit so that it can't tip. This doesn't just apply to earthquake-prone areas; it is necessary everywhere, and especially in homes with active children.
4. Two for One Room Divider
The divider does double duty as a kind of vertical scrapbook: Finish nails pounded into various places on the divider act as hooks for binder clips, which in turn display mementos of trips and Broadway shows.
5. Hanging Around
This gorgeous salvaged antique window sash. After mounting it to the ceiling with a barn door track, you will have an instant DIY room divider. "Keep things bright and open." This window does just the trick.
