Create a Unique Room Divider Using an Inexpensive Photo Screen

Photo screens – those three or four panel room dividers with spaces for family photos – are available everywhere for about $20-$30. On the other hand, fancy room dividers made of wood or bamboo or shoji screens can cost as much as $200 or more. So why not take the less expensive photo screen and customize it in such a way as to make it fit into the décor of your room of choice – without the photos.

Step 1: Purchase a photo screen, such as the one shown in Image 1.

Step 2: Purchase a poster and some coordinating scrapbooking papers, as shown in Image 2.

Step 3: You simply cut out pieces of the poster to fit into some of the openings, and fill in the rest with the coordinating scrapbooking papers. The most difficult part of this project is the time it takes to open all the photo openings. I used a small screwdriver to help me slide aside all the metal holders, allowing me to remove the cardboard backing in each photo opening. Then I used the picture that was in that opening as a template to cut a piece of poster the correct size.

How you choose to design your screen depends on your imagination and the use that the photo screen will have in your room. My screen sits in the corner of a room, with the left section tucked against a wall, so I did not put too much effort into that section – choosing instead to fill those openings almost entirely with the scrapbooking papers.

You might use little strips of the leftover poster glued or simply placed in front of the scrapbook paper in some of the openings to make the poster go farther. You may choose to buy a larger poster and fill all openings with sections of the poster. Or you may want to buy a small poster to fill the center section of the photo screen and leave the outer sections for the scrapbooking papers. Use your imagination!

Other ideas:
1. Use fabric, leather, wood veneer pieces, wallpaper, vintage newspapers or even thin sheets of decorative metal instead of a poster. (if the product is sturdy enough, such as with metal, you may even want to remove the glass and allow the texture of the metal to add to the beauty of the screen)
2. Paint or stain the photo screen, to create an even more unique room divider that coordinates with the other furniture in your room.