In recent years homeowners have preferred open floor plans. Homes of yesteryear compartmentalized the kitchen, dining and living areas, but today we love houses where these three areas flow together. Sometimes, however, homeowners need or want a little separation. With room dividers, you can segment your space without sacrificing openness.
Open, but with boundaries
By creatively using room dividers, you can have the best of both worlds of home design: the openness you probably valued when you bought your home and some division between the various uses of your space. Stylish room dividers can also benefit those who live in studio and efficiency townhomes and apartments. A one-room space can be sectioned for different activities with room dividers.
Endless creative choices with room dividers
You can construct a divider with new material. But you can also repurpose or upcycle a wide range of items into creative room dividers.
- Start with simple shelves. Divide the space between your living area and bedroom, for example, with floor-to-ceiling shelves displaying collectibles, accessories and more.
- Standing, folding room dividers, which can be from a wide variety of materials, have been around for generations. If the divider is expandable, you can conveniently adjust the extent to which the room is divided.
- Curtains draped from rods mounted overhead give you the opportunity to open and close the divider. The room dividers also allow you to modify the extent of the division. If you want open and airy, slide the curtain back; when you want privacy, pull it closed.
- You can also divide a room with a half-wall topped with open shelving that reaches the ceiling. This room divider can include a countertop at the point where the wall and shelves meet to add functionality as well as a boundary.
- Reclaimed barn wood, pallets or old rope hung from the ceiling are clever ways to divide your space. Old shutters hinged together also make good room dividers.
- Speaking of barns, another popular room divider is barn-style doors, mounted on metal tracks, which you can slide open or closed.
- Some dividers are made with vertical floor to ceiling slats. In some cases, the slats can be opened or closed like a set of vertical window blinds.
If you put on your creative thinking cap, you can come up with the perfect room divider for your individual style.
Related – 4 Benefits of Today’s Smaller Homes
