Author: Marcello Kline
August 22, 2024
Find original blog post at Apartment Guide
- Room dividers create separation while adding to a room’s design
- Use beads and macramé for the boho chic look
- Create a modern farmhouse style with a sliding repurposed barn door
Whether you live in a home in Buffalo, NY, or a studio apartment in Dallas, TX, making the most of your space can feel daunting, particularly with all your varied activities. How do you create specific areas for working, crafting, reading, relaxing and entertaining while retaining a sense of peace, tranquility, design and order?
The answer is room dividers! From elegant curtains to vintage beads from the ’60s, there’s a perfect solution, no matter your decorating style. Did someone say modern farmhouse fan? Today’s country cottage room dividers and sliding barn doors create the perfect blend of ambiance and functionality.
Let’s get creative and explore the top 11 room divider ideas and determine which is right for your special place.
How can you use room dividers?
Room dividers offer a way to break up your space while adding to the décor. They’re used to increase privacy, creatively section off an area and even maximize storage. Some incorporate heavy materials, like doors and repurposed wood, while others use light, sheer materials. With some creative ingenuity, you can even use bookshelves, artwork and shutters.
Whether you want to separate space in your living room, bedroom or kids’ room, these room divider ideas will inspire you to act!
12 room divider ideas for inspiration
If you’re looking to create a space for your unique hobby, a private oasis or your ideal area for entertaining, these room dividers can take you there.
1. Oversized artwork for the creative
Do you enjoy wandering through museums or find yourself stopping to appreciate street art while your friends yawn or continue walking? If so, you may possess the creative gene, one who explores the world through the eyes of an artist.
An oversized piece of art suspended from the ceiling with hooks makes a modern prominent visual display that will appeal to the artist within while creating separation. Make sure to check with the property manager before hanging things from the ceiling.
2. Hanging beads or macramé for bohemian chic
Bohemian style revolves around the natural world while emphasizing an eclectic free spirit with bold colors, designs and textures. The boho culture came alive in the ’60s and ’70s in the U.S., as did beaded curtains and wall hangings. Today, the possibilities are nearly limitless, from bamboo beads to crystals and carved wood.
If you appreciate the style but are unsure about hanging beads, hanging macramé offers another unique divider. Macramé uses different knotting techniques to create a textile and is very boho chic.
3. Repurposed barn doors for modern farmhouse flair
Nothing shouts modern farmhouse flair more than a repurposed barn door on sliders. You can keep the costs way down by finding an old barn door, cleaning it up and using one of the many hardware kits designed for this popular room divider.
If you like the rustic look, consider recycled wooden pallets put together with hinges. Attach paintings or photographs to make it uniquely yours.
Marie Antonette, founder and creative director of Marie Antonette Designs shares, “In a nod to sustainable luxury, salvaged architectural elements–weathered barn doors and antique stained-glass windows–are repurposed as statement pieces, infusing contemporary interiors with a sense of history and gravitas.
Additionally, Nathan Menaged, general manager for French Furniture Orlando shares that any space can be modernized with intricate design selections such as “adding large sliding doors or folding screens.”
4. Hanging curtains to create an elegant oasis
Draperies pulled back with elegant ties create a certain mystique. What lies beyond the veil? Consider a sheer weave underneath a solid fabric for extra elegance. Suspend a curtain rod from the ceiling and use hooks or rings to attach the material.
You can instantly create a little reading nook, corner office or dressing room by using a curved shower rod in the corner of a room. For a more modern design, trade in the curtains for ceiling-mounted shades. Shades offer sheer opacity that lets in filtered light or opaque fabrics for total privacy.
Leah Jarrell with LJ Interior Designs shares how you can create separation in a room and achieve a “softer look” by using “drapery panels mounted with ceiling brackets and rods.”
When it comes to hanging your curtains as a room divider, Tiffany Clark, founder and CEO of Tiffany Clark Interiors states that her “golden rule” is that they “must be hung floor to ceiling.” She shares, “Not only do curtains create drama, they enhance the room by appearing to be larger, as well as creating depth and a sense of luxury to the space.”
5. Open shelving units or bookcases for double duty
Do you seek out used bookstores or feel a smile spread across your face when you walk into a library? Then, imagine a divider filled with books, knickknacks and plants. Bookcases break up a room while adding additional storage. A win-win!
Shelving units are also great if you have kids sharing a bedroom. It creates a sense of privacy that children appreciate and offers storage for toys, books and art supplies. You can configure floor-to-ceiling pole shelving in numerous ways, and it doesn’t require a supporting wall. You can even add a built-in desk to one side of the shelving unit.
The team at Kingdom and Co. suggests leveraging your furniture placements such as strategically “placing bookshelves to delineate different areas.” Using bookshelves to divide your spaces, Illie Alvarez with interior design firm JoySpace Austin adds how this can “maximize the height of a room and offer functional storage.”
To spruce up your bookshelves, Jenny Fields, owner and principal designer of Jenny Lee Designs suggests arranging “books and decorative items thoughtfully” and to “leave space for cascading plants.”
6. Utilize console tables, storage cubes, or other medium to large furniture pieces
From console tables and couches to console tables and floor lamps, larger pieces of furniture can be multi-functional. While they serve a primary purpose such as holding decorative items or offering a place to lounge, they also provide an organic way to divide rooms.
Sandy Schuster of Rooms by Sandy states, “You can use storage cubes to define a workspace which also gives you the flexibility to store books and paperwork or display your favorite accessories or awards.”
One way that Los Angeles interior designer Eddie Mickenberg utilizes furniture for dividers is by “separating a living room with an oversized bookcase, or tall tree with a lot of volume.” He adds that “this will provide you with the idea that you are utilizing your space efficiently by dividing the space for more opportunity.”
Additionally, Joey Kim with HArts Design and Build calls tall plants her “favorite room dividers” and shares how they can either be living or faux. Kim adds how “height and enough foliage/density buffers sound and visibility” which can offer a more private feeling.
7. Plants for healthier air and an influx of nature
From hanging plants to palms, these beautiful room dividers offer a lush backdrop, life and a dose of oxygen. They may also provide a sense of calm. A systematic review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that indoor plants may lower blood pressure, reduce stress and improve academic or career achievement.
Consider tall plants that grow well in medium light, like dracaenas, snake plants, peace lilies and palms.
Given the benefits offered by plants, Rita Sladack with Interior Design Factor recommends “incorporating vibrant plants or vertical gardens to form a natural partition, enhancing quality and bringing in some greenery.”
8. Repurposed large clothing racks for the environmentally conscious
Repurposing and reuse are on the rise as newer generations instill a more sustainable and eco-friendly mindset. With that in mind, what could be better than transforming a clothing rack into a room divider?
Consider hanging indoor plants on it for an open feeling. You can even interlace string that hanging plants and vines attach to, creating a wall of green. Hanging curtains or tapestries offer more privacy and a burst of color, texture or an intriguing design.
9. Bifold doors for flexibility and creativity
Bifold doors fold in and out, making them perfect for a room divider. You can even repurpose bifold closet doors using three or four panels and some hinges. Finish with woodland blue chalk paint for a weathered look.
Another ingenious use of bifold doors is painting them with chalkboard paint. Now, you have a blank canvas to create your own designs or favorite sayings. It’s also a great solution for kids drawn to the blank slates walls provide.
For those who appreciate fairy lights and a touch of whimsy, consider placing branches into panel-sized frames and stringing them with twinkle lights.
10. Folding screens for the impromptu interior designer
Do you find yourself rearranging furniture at a moment’s notice and switching artwork on a whim? You may possess an interior decorator who loves to break free in spontaneous bursts of passionate design. What could be easier to incorporate into your latest decor than folding screens on casters? These movable room dividers let you open and close them effortlessly and redecorate whenever the urge strikes.
You can also use folding dividers that rest on the floor. If you lean toward Asian-inspired design, traditional Japanese folding shoji screens are made of rice paper and wood-framed panels.
Caitlin with Symmetry Designs shares how her favorite way to “divide up a space is to use decorative wood or iron panels with an interesting pattern.” She adds how “this can add a beautiful architectural element to the space and give privacy if needed without blocking too much light.”
Another great option is using vertical wood slats. Leah Near with Live Oak Interiors shares how this option offers “versatility and aesthetic appeal” and can “be mounted as a panel on a sliding track, or designed with individual slats on swivels to adjust the level of visibility and privacy.”
Creating separation in space doesn’t only have to be in the interior of your home. For those who desire to create separation in an outdoor space, Susan Bathon with Good Space recommends checking out various panel collections such as what is available from Outdeco USA.
11. Reclaimed or salvaged shutters for a vintage look
Reclaimed shutters hinged together offer an ideal divider. Various kinds of wood, such as alder, cedar or basswood, create different aesthetics. Keep the slats open to let in the natural light and closed for complete privacy.
12. Linen fabric for simplicity
The minimalist design aligns with the power of simplicity. And there’s nothing much simpler than suspending sheer linen fabric. You can keep the material straight and neatly aligned by creating a hem on the top and bottom and inserting rods before hanging it from the ceiling.
Consider a natural color if sticking to a minimalist or biophilic design. Otherwise, a pop of color can bring a whole room together.
Esther Ellard with Effortless Designs shares that “creating a space for privacy while not feeling completely closed off is one of the things my clients ask me for often.” She adds how to achieve this request, she’ll “opt for light linen or breathable sheer fabrics for curtain room dividers based on my clients needs.”
Choosing your room divider
As William Morris, a well-known 19th-century designer and artist, said, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. ” When selecting a room divider, consider how you’ll use it and the design you’re going for.
If you’re wearing a smile after making your selection, chances are good you’ve found the perfect match. The same goes for the right apartment. Find it now.
About The Author
Marcello Kline is a content marketer for Redfin. With over a year of experience writing for Redfin and a background as a former real estate agent and home flipper, he brings valuable insights to the real estate community. Based in Los Angeles, Marcello enjoys the serene beaches of Malibu, playing tennis, and hiking on a moody overcast day. His ideal home is a Regency house in London, reflecting his appreciation for classic architecture and design.
