24 Ingenious and Beautiful Room Divider Ideas To Maximize Your Room’s Usability

room-divider-GettyImages-1428199297 — PHOTO:

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Whether you’re looking to divide up a studio apartment into functional “rooms,” need your kitchen table to double as a WFH conference space, or would like a secluded spot to do a morning meditation among your living room furniture, there’s always a need for creative ways to sequester parts of our rooms. Plus, the open floor plans of years past don’t always jive with the need for flexibility and functionality.

Are Open Floor Plans Officially Over? The Experts Weigh In

Enter these 13 clever room divider ideas, which offer stylish and simple ways of making the most of an open room or studio apartment. From traditional fabric-covered accordion screens to modern slatted wood walls, these creative dividers are as practical as they are pretty, seamlessly increasing both the functionality and style of your space. As a bonus, several of these room divider ideas require zero construction and very little assembly, so you can utilize them whether you’re a busy weekend warrior with little time for a DIY project or a renter who seriously wants their security deposit back.

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Add a Metal Partition

Room with glass and metal partition — AMAL IQBAL

If you’re looking for a way to add a more permanent delineation between “rooms” in your home or apartment, consider adding a “glass” and metal partition, as seen here in the home of creator Amal Iqbal. The interior stylist and blogger opted to create a DIY Parisian-inspired room divider out of lumber and acrylic (which is lighter weight than glass) to divide up her studio and living room without blocking the much-needed light coming from the back of her apartment. The best part? The entire project was designed and created with apartment living in mind and can be removed without creating damage when she decides to move.

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Hang a Piece of Macramé

Room with macrame wall hanging — JANAE HARDY

To create a slightly secluded desk area where the focus is on work, the team over at A Beautiful Mess turned to a simple DIY macramé wall hanging to add privacy. While actually weaving the rope screen is surprisingly easy (especially thanks to their instructions), you can also buy a pre-made design (like this style from Etsy) if you’d rather spend your free time organizing your desk, instead of crafting.

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Create a Slat Wall

Slat wall in living room and dining room — LIZ MORROW

When dreaming up room divider ideas, it’s important to remember that in order to be effective, room dividers don’t have to completely close off a space. Case in point? This creative wood slat “wall” by DIY expert Liz Morrow. To separate her living room and adjoining dining room (and make the two spaces feel more intimate), Liz transformed a collection of raw lumber into an eye-catching focal point that adds just the right amount of privacy. The end result is a linear masterpiece that blends perfectly with the Mid-century modern style of her decor.

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Add Creative Metalwork

Room with ironwork divider — HANNA POÅCZYÅSKA OF KRONIKI.STUDIO

Utilizing room dividers in small apartments can be especially difficult because you’ll often have to consider how your intended solution will affect the flow, functionality, and even lighting in your space. To help section off the entry of her home without adding too much bulk (or blocking light from the nearby window), interior designer Kalina Juchnevic installed an intricate floor-to-ceiling metalwork divider. The piece, which was designed by Koka Studio and created by Ferwor, basically doubles as a sculptural art piece, adding visual interest along with functionality.

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Hang a Beaded Curtain

The ‘70s are calling—and they’re saying thanks for bringing back this retro room divider! Made from hand-painted beaded bamboo and featuring a funky arched rainbow design, this lightweight and renter-friendly room divider idea is a great way to add a bit of visual delineation to your space if you don’t need total privacy. It’d work really well to section off a closet or close in a kitchen a bit while adding a playful and fresh twist to your decor at the same time.

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Drape a Pair of Curtains

For a room divider idea that looks totally custom (and looks way more expensive than its humble price tag), consider this genius curtain idea from designer Megan Hopp. To help section off the primary bedroom in her railroad-style apartment, Hopp hung two mustard velvet curtains from IKEA across the arched entryway of her bedroom for a flexible solution that blocks light (no more early morning wakeups!) and adds privacy when guests come by.

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Shop for Vintage Windows

Bedroom with window divider — SHANNON KING FOR THE FAHNESTOCK COLLECTIVE

Sometimes the best solutions aren’t really new at all. To help transform a pony wall into a full-fledged room divider, the team at The Fahnestock Collective snagged several vintage window frames and gave them new life as an airy means of sectioning off the bedroom from the rest of the living space at their Lancaster, PA B&B.

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Upgrade Basic Drywall

A builder-basic room divider wall can go a long way in making your space more functional, but it doesn’t exactly up the style quotient quite as much. To bring some visual interest to the open floorplan in this home, designer Ginny Macdonald commissioned a custom wood focal wall in the entryway. The slatted feature adds visual interest (and ties in with the nearby kitchen cabinetry), while a petite bench adds bonus storage and acts as the perfect place to pull off your shoes upon entering the home.

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DIY a Rattan Screen

When creator Janet Coon of Shabbyfufu was on the hunt for a room divider that suited her living room, she couldn’t find anything that jived with her personal style—so she decided to make one. The resulting DIY project is as stunning as it is smart, featuring three foldable panels that can be moved about the home as needed to disguise any number of sins, from a pile of laundry to an intimate reading nook.

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Create an Entire Room

Studio living can be tough, especially if you’re someone who relies on room delineations to inform how you live within (and decorate) a space. Lucky for us all, The Sorry Girls have the solution with this custom-made industrial glass wall enclosure they designed and created in partnership with fellow creator Made With Wendy. The plexiglass and wood frame is lightweight and stylish, providing a chic industrial edge to Wendy’s studio apartment and helping to divide up her expansive living space into more digestible “rooms.”

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Mimic a Closed Floor Plan

Wall of windows — PETE HELME PHOTOGRAPHY

When it came to renovating a centuries-old Cotswold cottage into a modern family home, designer Lauren Gilberthorpe was on the hunt for a way to facilitate flow and light between the kitchen and dining room while paying homage to the original floor plan. The solution? A dividing wall of expansive windows and doors still allows for visibility between the two rooms.

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Add a Pop of Pattern

While renovating the kitchen of her historic New York home, design maven Jessica Rhodes turned to a patterned room divider to bring visual interest—and fill an empty corner—in the large space. The intricate blue floral fabric she chose from The Inside complements the rest of her cool-toned kitchen while bringing age-appropriate vintage charm to the room.

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Lend Flexibility With Shutters

Talk about a genius way to rethink a classic room divider! Instead of opting for a traditional folding screen, designer Elaine Thompson of Pistachio Designs turned to a set of floor-to-ceiling louvered shutters to section off the bed from the rest of the space in this studio apartment. Not only does this trick lend a bit of extra privacy to the space (especially considering the bed abuts the living room and faces the entry hallway), but it still maintains a light and airy quality.

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