DIY A Room Divider By Repurposing An Old IKEA Shelf

Room dividers can be one of the best and most adaptable décor elements in a home, offering blocked sightlines, privacy, and a feeling of enclosure and defined space. Whether you are trying to block off areas in a tiny studio apartment or just trying to divide a large room into smaller spaces, the perfect room divider can be a functional and stylish addition. While you can readily find retailer options at multiple price points, and there are many DIY projects to create your own room divider, there's one solution you may already have in your home. You can build a stylish and simple room divider by using the end pieces of an old IKEA IVAR bookshelf to create an easy-to-assemble and sturdy room divider for very little expense.

This wooden room divider can be customized perfectly in size and style to fit your space. The sturdy boards and construction, once meant to bear the weight of heavy shelves of books, are quite durable and can be stained or painted to match your décor perfectly. This divider can also be created with newer IVAR end supports, sold for around $15 each, if you're looking for an inexpensive hack that saves time and labor.

To make a divider from your old IVAR shelf ends, remove the horizontal shelves from the unit, leaving only the end pieces which resemble ladders. You will need to cut them down if you want a lower divider and may have to cut them vertically depending on your final divider dimensions as you piece them together. Once you have them cut to size, use screws to attach them together in a row, creating the underlying frame for your divider. When finished, you can attach the divider to the wall at the end to keep it in place, or create easy footings for it by placing metal Heavy Duty L-Brackets on either side at the bottom. You could also make a hinged version that folds by adding metal hinges between the pieces instead of screwing them together.

While this DIYer uses a fluted sheet of plexiglass attached to the frame with Loctite Adhesive to create a transparent surface, you can use other things like fabric, paper, or woven material to cover the divider, attaching whatever you like with a staple gun to one or both sides of the framework. You could also use inexpensive plain plexiglass and cover it with decorative transparent window film to get a beautiful stained glass look. For a pretty and innovative room divider, use chicken wire as a backing and wind greenery or flowers through to create a covering for the screen.