Possibly one of the most challenging things about designing a room is deciding how to place your furniture. Some people like their rooms to be open and flowing, while others prefer more privacy with closed-off spaces. What if you could have the best of both worlds? With so many creative ways to use dividers in any space, it’s easy!
Room dividers are designed to section off or separate sections of a room to alter its layout, provide privacy, or increase the space’s versatility. They come in various forms, such as the classic folding room divider or curtain rod and drapes, and can be placed in a number of creative ways, such as on the wall as artwork, at the head or foot of a bed, and more!
This article will list our top ten recommendations of most creative ways you can place a room divider in nearly any room. In addition to these inspirations, we’ll also discuss the purpose of these versatile pieces of furniture and the many forms they can take to suit your space and aesthetic.
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Top 10 Creative Ways to Place a Room Divider
When people think of a room divider, they often picture old movies or books where women in puffy dresses changed behind an elaborately designed folding screen as their maid pulled on their corset strings like her life depended on it. Because of this, many people think these pieces of furniture our outdated, but that is far from the truth.
There is a wide range of creative ways you can place a room divider in a room that will suit your needs and enhance your living space. Some of our favorites include:
- To conceal open storage
- As a headboard or footboard
- To decorate an empty corner
- As an alternative for window shutters or blinds
These creative placement ideas alone are fantastic for saving money on pricier pieces or furniture or sprucing up any room, but you’ll have to read on for the full list of possibilities.
As a Stylish Door for Open Storage/Shelving
Open shelving is becoming an increasingly popular modern trend, but if this doesn’t suit your tastes or you have the door that’s currently on your closet or storage feature, consider placing a room divider here instead.
Not only is this option usually cheaper than your average door, but it’s infinitely more stylish. With a patterned or artistic room divider, what would otherwise be a basic door turns into an accent piece for your room while concealing your everyday items, such as towels, cooking supplies, etc.
As a Headboard or Footboard
Another way to use these versatile pieces of furniture is to swap out your outdated, bulky headboard and footboard for an elegant room divider instead.
Headboards are useful for ensuring your bed doesn’t constantly knock against the wall behind it, causing scrapes, indents, and other damage. However, a basic headboard will usually cost are $100-$150, and a higher quality one can cost several hundred dollars, even into the thousands. With a room divider, you can still protect your walls, but you can get a far nicer one for a fraction of the cost.
They also make good footboards since they can separate your sleeping area from the rest of the room, giving you more privacy. This is especially ideal for studio owners, as it allows you to create a bedroom space with one simple purchase.
In an Empty Corner as Decoration
It’s almost inevitable in any home, apartment, or other living space that there is going to be that one corner, or perhaps an entire wall, that is just completely devoid of furniture or accessories. These empty eyesores can quickly diminish a room’s vibe, but before your run off to buy some random table or other object to fill it, hear us out.
A room divider is a perfect decoration for any empty corner for two reasons. The first being, of course, that it will look fantastic. Since they come in a wide range of styles and designs, we’re confident you can find one that will easily blend in with your room’s current aesthetic or stand out as an accent piece and conversation starter.
The second reason is that the room divider is the only purchase you’ll have to make to spruce up this space, as they can fill it from floor to ceiling if need be. If you were to buy a table or some shelves, you’d need a bunch of knick-knacks, pictures, and other items to place on top of them so they look like they have purpose and add something to the room. Comparatively, a room divider requires much less effort.
In Front of Windows as Shutter or Blinds Alternatives
Another common modern trend nowadays is having bright homes filled with windows or even glass walls to allow as much sunshine in as possible and enjoy the view surrounding your property.
While this is a beloved feature in homes, there is a time when most homeowners want to conceal the inside of their home and block the sun or prying eyes. Rather than opting for those tired white window blinds, why not put a room divider here instead?
Having a nice room divider in front of your windows or glass walls is much more appealing to look at than most modern shutters, drapes, and blinds, and they’re just as easy to place, when necessary, if not easier (let’s face it, everyone’s battled with those release cords on blinds at least once in their lifetime).
All you have to do for a room divider is pull it out or unfold it for some privacy and shade and store it when you want your sunny view.
To Separate Your Shower or Other Bathrooms Spaces
Bathrooms are oftentimes the rooms with the least amount of structure, and understandably so since they’re overtly very private spaces, to begin with. That being said, if you want to add more privacy and structure to your bathroom space, placing a room divider here is the way to go.
One option is to place your room divider around your toilet or bathtub to create a more private space for these features. This works well for community bathrooms or bathrooms with clawfoot tubs that aren’t paired with a curtain.
Another option is to place your room divider in your bathroom as a dividing wall or in a corner to create a changing station.
This feature can also help enhance your bathroom’s aesthetic. For example, having a sculpted metal room divider is a nice touch of elegance to a sophisticated bathroom design, whereas a folding bamboo room divider would pair well with any design focused on relaxation and trying to capture a spa-like vibe.
Either way, having a room divider in your bathroom allows it to be a more versatile or even communal space without losing its inherent vibe of safety and privacy.
Around Beds or Window Seats to Create Private Nooks
One of the best spaces you can create with a room divider is a nook. These are private little bubbles where you can feel completely at home and wind down from the day. Two of our favorite places to put a room divider is enclosing a bed or around a window ledge.
Placing a room divider completely around your bed is the ideal choice for college students or anyone who has to share their room with a roommate. When you constantly live in a small space with another person, it doesn’t take long for privacy to feel like a thing of the past. Thankfully, placing a room divider around your bed can create a haven where your sleeping space is not cut off from the rest of the room.
The same concept goes for having a room divider around a window seat. Doing this allows you to create a space that’s your own little world, making it perfect as a book nook or an artist’s corner.
In Front of Mundane or Unappealing Features
A famous saying that comes to mind with room dividers is “out of sight, out of mind,” and this is especially pertinent here.
Probably the most practical and useful place you can strategically put your room divider is directly in front of mundane or unappealing features in any room that you deem eyesores or simply don’t want yourself or others to look at all day, every day. This might be a treadmill you have in your family room, an oddly placed washer/dryer, a crumbling fireplace, the list goes on.
Rather than feeling ashamed or embarrassed that your guests have to look at this feature or allowing it to detract from your room’s aesthetic, simply tuck it away behind a nice room divider.
Hang it On Your Wall as Artwork
At first glance, this might seem odd, but many room dividers, especially the artistic antiques, make fantastic wall art to spruce up your boring walls.
If you have a giant wall that is completely bare, try nailing a room divider to fill the void. Once they’re up, many folding room dividers look just like multi-paneled prints and paintings, and we guarantee most if not all of your guests won’t even see a difference.
Hanging your room divider is also a great option for anyone who already owns a room divider they used all the time in a different space but haven’t needed since moving to a new one. Instead of storing it in a closet or the basement, see if you can incorporate it into one of your living spaces on the walls.
Repainting a room or adding accessories that match the room divider is a great way to help it blend in with the new space and not feel out of place.
Use it to Create a Dividing Bookcase
As we mentioned previously, the typical image that comes to mind when picturing a room divider is the folding screens, but in fact, there are other sturdier and more substantial types that come with features, such as shelving. In these cases, you can use the shelving to your advantage to create an aesthetically pleasing barrier where you can showcase objects like souvenirs, photos, or our personal favorite, books.
Creating a dividing bookcase is always a classy feature in any room that allows you to essentially hit two birds with one stone: it gives you a place to store all your favorite literature, and it creates a barrier to divide one space from another or create more spaces in an otherwise open layout.
Again, we’re going to reference the classic studio space, as this is a great option for creating a sort of wall between your bed or a lounging area from the rest of the apartment.
By a Door to Create a Formal Entryway or Mudroom
The final suggestion we have as a creative placement for your room divider is actually right in front of any door that leads into your office, apartment, or home from the outdoors.
If your office or living space has an extremely open layout and seems to lack flow, you can place a room divider in an L-shape at your entrance doors to create a more formal entryway or mudroom that’s separated from the adjoining space. Alternatively, you could place a sturdier shelved room divider a few feet in front of the door.
This will help you create two separate spaces rather than people walking straight into the entirety of your office or living space. We especially recommend this idea for anyone who works from home or has clients who come into their office, as you can use this idea to create a greeting space or even a waiting area.
What is the Point of a Room Divider?
If you’ve gotten this far in the article, we’re assuming you either already have a room divider or you plan to get on soon. However, if you’re a room divider skeptic who’s wondering why you would even want one of these in your living or office space, let us explain.
Room dividers are extremely versatile pieces of furniture that have more benefits than simply being used as wall décor or adding some privacy between rooms. Dividers are great for sectioning off any space in your office or home to create more purposeful and fully functional spaces.
You can use them to section off an area for quiet reading, create a cozy napping space, or even as a makeshift playroom. Originally, these features were simply created to give people a private space to change, but nowadays, you can use them for so much more. In addition to the purposes previously mentioned, room dividers can:
- Add color and design to a room
- Help redirect foot traffic
- Hide messy or private spaces
- Create a wall or workspace screen
Honestly, the list of possibilities for where you can place a room divider and what you can do with this newly created space is endless!
What Types of Room Dividers Are There?
We’ve been going on about how there are multiple types of room dividers you can utilize to enhance any room, but you still have that folding/accordion screen stuck in your head, you might be having a hard time visualizing alternatives.
Although the classic folding screen was arguably the original room divider, there are a series of other options, such as:
- Solid hanging dividers
- Fabric hanging dividers
- Bookcase dividers
A solid hanging divider is a bit misleading because they aren’t exactly “hanging” in the sense that they can sway around. Usually, these room dividers are made from sturdy materials like acrylics, glass, wood, resin or other option and will create a floor to ceiling barrier. Sometimes it looks like a uniform wall, and sometimes it can appear as if the divider is hanging with the help of posts.
A fabric hanging divider is more how you would picture it. A common example of this room divider is a fabric or paper curtain you can pull across on a rod. Most homeowners will use the option to separate entire rooms, typically a private room like a bedroom or dining room from a more communal space like a kitchen or living room.
We mentioned bookcase dividers in one of our previous tips. This refers to a room divider that is designed to have numerous shelves where you can place books and other objects. Bookcase dividers aren’t usually as tall as the other options, meaning they won’t go floor to ceiling. Instead, they’re a favored choice for creating spaces and boundaries in a room while still having an open feel thanks to the spaces in the divider’s design.
Final Thoughts
Next time you decide you want to retire your trusty fold-out room divider or you’re considering having walls installed in your office or living space, think about all the creative ways you can solve common issues with just a simple room divider. Turn your window seat into a reading nook; decorate that lonely corner; toss old, tired headboards, blinds, and doors by the wayside and let room dividers give your space the flair and functionality it needs.