Privacy screen room dividers are difficult to find in your local stores but they are very easy to make. The screens can be made in various ways, from all sorts of different supplies, but one of the most unique ones you can make is assembled from picture frames. Depending upon how much room you have, the room dividers can be made with three, four, five panels or more. Most room dividers are at least five feet tall but you can make yours any size you wish.
The first thing to do is decide how tall you want the screen to be and how many panels you’ll be making. The panels will then be hinged together to form the whole screen. You can use 5″x7″ frames, 8″x10″‘s or even 11″x14″ frames. The picture frames must be made of wood or lightweight plastic, with at least half-inch thick sides. Dollar-theme stores usually have picture frames for a buck, and sometimes, two for a dollar.
You’ll have to do a little calculating. For example, if you would like to make the screens from 8″x10″ frames you can make a five foot tall screen with six picture frames, per panel, if you turn the frame where the width of the screen panel is the 8″ side. Then you’ll need six frames for each panel you make. Use larger picture frames, such as the 11″x14″ size and it’ll take even less frames.
Remove the stand of the frames – the part that allows you to stand the picture up on a table. Do not remove the entire back, though. The frames can be new, with no pictures, or can already have pictures – as long as they are all the same basic shape and design. Align the picture frames for the first panel on a table. Use wood glue to attach the wooden frames to each other. Use super glue to attach the plastic frames together. Allow ample time to dry for the wood glue. Align the frames and attach with glue for each set of panels that you’re making. After the glue is completely dry you can hinge the panels.
Use metal hinges for connecting the panels together. You’ll need a drill and tiny drill bit to accomplish this. After you have hinged all the panels together the room divider is basically finished. There are many different things you can do to the screens, though.
One thing you can do is add velcro to the backside perimeter of the divider. Cut a piece of cloth to the size of the perimeter and add velcro to all four sides of the fabric as well. Now you can put the cloth on the backside, and remove it whenever you want. The cloth will cover the backsides of the picture frames and make the divider look a little more elegant, particularly if you choose a beautiful cloth pattern.
You don’t have to put family photos in each frame. You can put in poems, drawings, colorful cloth, wallpaper designs and other treasures. Make your screen with a theme, such as a nautical theme, then add different nautical images in each frame. If you use the deep frames, such as the ones used to make shadow boxes, you can actually put real starfish and sand in the frames.
Make a mini version of the screen to set on a table or elsewhere. They are a cute way to block sun from a particular window or to show off your grand kids on the mantle. There are many other ways to make the screens, too. You can use closet doors, fabric covered thick cardboard, or even plywood. You’ll love your new room divider photo screen and so will everyone who sees it!
Reference:
- Make a plywood room divider: interiordec.about.com/od/foldingscreens/ More room dividers: interiordec.about.com/od/foldingscreens/
