Turn IKEA KALLAX Shelves Into A Chic Room Divider With This Hack

An open floor plan is a great feature that's been on trend for years, but sometimes it's best to partition that space to better meet your needs. If you have a large, open space and you want to delineate some borders around the room to create dedicated areas, a room divider is a great idea. These can be beautiful and decorative enhancing the look, feel, and even functionality of your home or office. However, adding a permanent wall or room divider isn't always possible. Fortunately, you can use IKEA's KALLAX shelves and a few other materials to make a functional and stylish one yourself.

These shelving units are highly versatile pieces of furniture that can be a great addition to any room. They are open square shelves available in a wide variety of sizes and configurations and they can be set down horizontally or vertically, as suits your taste and needs, and perhaps best of all, it doesn't need to be placed against the wall. Plus, this project is a great way to turn your KALLAX shelves into a custom, statement design piece.

To make a room divider out of IKEA KALLAX shelves, get inspired by iamhayleystuart's TikTok tutorial. Measure your space to make sure you know its size limitations. Think about how the shelves are going to be used and how many you'll need to ensure you purchase the right configuration. Follow the assembly instructions and place it where it best partitions the room. Then, to make it single-sided, you'll attach fiberboard to the side that won't need access to the shelves.

These panels of fiberboard can be bought at home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowe's. Make sure it's tightly fastened to the shelving using paneling nails or thin screws. Cover the entire side of the unit, making sure it's secure at the corners and every structural intersection.

Once the paneling is up, put some bold, bright, graphic wallpaper over it. Pick out something that will bring out your personality while still fitting within the room's aesthetic. In the TikTok tutorial, they use traditional wallpaper that has to be pasted on, but there are tons of peel-and-stick wallpapers out now that go above and beyond solid designs. Once your wallpaper is firmly affixed, go to the other side of the Kallax shelves and fill them as required, then sit back and wait for all the compliments you're going to get.