Best Ideas for Fabric Screens and Room Dividers

Adding some flare to your home is easy with a tasteful fabric screen or room divider. Best of all, it need not cost an arm and a leg. With a great fabric screen idea, you can easily make your own DIY screen. Or, you can take your idea to an upholstery specialist and have them make the screen for you. 

Looking far and wide, we’ve gathered the best fabric screen and room divider ideas for you right here. It’s time to be inspired! 

9 Screens and Dividers for Home and Business 

The most difficult part about this collection of great fabric screens and upholstered room dividers is knowing which one to choose. (Luckily, we’ve got you covered with what to look for in a fabric screen or room divider later.)

1. Traditional Rose Garden Padded Dividing Screen

The first idea is a rather traditional padded dividing screen

It’s a great DIY project, but if you have two left thumbs, you can easily request this type of screen from your local upholsterer. It’s very simplistic in construction, consisting of three identical composite wood panels. No feet are needed to balance the screen here, as the different angles each panel stands at will create a steady base for the screen. 

When upholstering a panel like this, you can play around with different effects by shaping the padding, adding nailhead trim, or even finishing the edges with gimp. Use oversized hinges for a modern look, and you can even add a few door knobs for detail. 

The fabric choice can match the traditional shape, but you can just as easily use modern upholstery fabric or even layer in a ruffled layer of lace or organza. The options are endless with a screen like this. 

Position it in a corner for a tasteful display, use it to define a door opening, add it to help block noise and light from large windows in a bedroom, or create a peaceful corner you can withdraw into.  

2. Best Hospital Style Privacy Screen

While tall dividing screens can be a bit intimidating to make as these can easily tip over, you can solve the problem with this hospital-style draw-out privacy screen. The design is fairly simple: use two by four-inch timber and straight joints. A simple section of fabric is added, woven between the supporting sections of the wood screen. 

To deal with the challenge of a tall screen crashing on your head when you least expect it, the screen has been fastened to a wall with hinges. The innovative fixture also allows you to fold the screen away if you need more space. Use a set of two screens to completely screen off part of a room. 

What a great way to provide privacy in an open-plan apartment!

3. Great Workspace Privacy Screen

Home is not the only place where a little privacy is appreciated. At work, trying to concentrate and focus in a shared space office can be challenging. Additionally, there’s the issue of space as employers often try to optimize by pushing more employee desks into a shared space than is wise. 

This privacy screen is a clever solution and a great way to add a little color to a dull and dreary office. Using a textured fabric in vibrant color, an upholstered panel is added to the back of each desk. This provides privacy and a clever place for the employee on the other side of the panel to organize (if the panel is velcro or map-pin friendly). 

The screen has a size zero floorspace footprint, making it a great space saver. Use the company’s colors to create a unified look and a sense of identity. 

4. Fairy Lights Screen

Fairy lights need not only feature at Christmas or when you’re going on a date at an expensive restaurant. Your home can also step up in style with this classic fairy light screen

For this idea, you must build two to three wood frames made from two-by-four-inch timber. The size and dimensions can be tailored to suit your room. Once the frames are made, add legs or extend the sides of the frames from the beginning to make a screen that is as tall as you need. 

Use a set of battery-operated fairy lights to string inside the frame. Attach these light strings to the sides of the frame with a staple gun, being careful to adjust the tension of the staple gun to avoid accidentally piercing the electric wiring. Ensure the battery unit is near the side of the screen panel. Use a set of fairy lights per screen panel.

Next, use a sheer layer of fabric, with the edges hemmed in, attaching this to the top of each screen panel. Straighten the fabric, or you can also use pintucks to create a little softer folded look. Cover the top where the fabric is attached with a wood cover strip. 

Secure the fabric on the bottom edge of the frame, also covering the fabric attachment with a wood cover strip.  

5. Upholstered Antique-Style Fabric Screen

Create an eye-catching masterpiece with this antique-style upholstered and trimmed screen. The unique design, addition of ornamental trimmings at the top, tufted upholstery, and antique trimmings along the fabric inserts create an authentic and classical royal French feel. 

The velvet fabric creates a lustrous sheen when combined with the tufting, but satin would work as well, or glam it up with vintage stone-washed denim and crystal buttons for the tufting. The options are endless. The clean white enamel finish of the frame brings a slightly more contemporary feel to the screen, making it better suited to match modern furniture. 

6. Upholstered Headboard Fabric Screen

Why not use a fabric screen as your headboard? Using leather or vinyl, you can easily make a shaped headboard that can easily be stacked away when needed. Extend the side panels to create a cozy alcove you can retreat to when snoozing. 

The nailhead trim makes an interesting contrast to the plain fabric, but this design can easily be modified to match any decor theme. 

7. Track Curtain Privacy Screen

Single room spaces can be challenging when you have to fit living areas and sleeping areas in that single space. How do you effectively separate your bedroom from the living area without sacrificing floorspace for a bulky screen? Simple – you hang it. 

This track curtain idea is ideal for small-space living. Simply add a shower rail or curtain rod to the ceiling using brackets secured to the ceiling boards. Using curtain rings (or buy a curtain with a grommet-hanging system), hang the curtain to create a movable fabric screen. 

If you don’t want to look at the back of a curtain from either end, you can easily hang two sets of curtains, back to back (or use a reversible duvet cover for a low-hanging privacy screen). Custom-make the curtains if you want additional length to cover the area from ceiling to floor, or purchase extra-length curtains online. 

8. Padded Fabric DIY Screen

Looking for a fabric screen that’s ultra-modern, but still comfortable and soft? This woven padded fabric screen is ideal for making a statement, absorbing excessive noise, or creating a stunning architectural feature in your minimalist space. 

The frame is constructed from steel, but you can easily make a lightweight version using conduit tubing and elbows and T-pieces. Once the frame is in place, spray the whole frame with high-quality spray paint. 

Next, cut wide bands of plush fabric, layer with polyester batting, fold so the edges of the fabric and the batting don’t show, and weave between the interlocking sections of tubing. The padded finish will create a large-scale basket weave that’s ultra-modern. 

9. Woven Leather Screen

Want something a little more rustic? Why not create a leather screen? A woven leather screen made by creating a framework from steel or wood, with leather panels interlaced through it, is stunning. 

To save on costs, the leather panels can be of different widths to use the maximum amount of each hide. Alternatively, use a leather suede fabric, which can be bought per yard from the bolt. 

How to Choose a Screen that Works for You

Before you jump in and buy a screen for your home, it’s important to consider the following:

  • Size

The screen size shouldn’t be so large that it dominates the room. Remember the space is for your use, not to display a screen. Large-scale screens also require substantial support and bases. 

  • Cleaning 

Whichever surface treatment your screen has, keep in mind you will have to clean it at some stage. Detachable fabric panels can help if your screen is made using sheer fabric. A simple curtain wire can help you remove the fabric and wash it for a fresh look. 

When working with upholstery fabric on your screen, you want to know you have chosen the best quality fabric. Quality fabric can be vacuumed and deep cleaned with a steam cleaner if needed (and depending on the screen frame). 

  • Floor Space

Your screen needs to be discreet to be functional and safe. Having a tall free-standing screen pitch over you isn’t fun, and if you have toddlers or pets, you want to know your screens are secured. However, a large screen will require a heavy base to balance the screen, which can become a tripping hazard.  

  • Functionality 

The reason you want a fabric privacy screen is to limit space and prying eyes out, so choose a screen that fulfills its purpose. Some screens are so decorative that the best place to use them is mounted against a wall as art, but these aren’t user-friendly, and you’d have difficulty moving them about. 

To ensure a screen is functional, check the hinges for quality and ease of operation. Next, check the sturdiness of the frames. If the frames are wobbly, the screen will quickly warp and twist out of shape. Finally, check the weight, as a heavy screen will be a problem to move, clean, and use.

  • Budget

While you may love the idea of that $3,000 screen from your local art studio, your bank card won’t. Choose a budget-friendly screen, whether buying one or making it yourself. Unless, of course, you want to splurge. 

The Final Screening

Having a fabric screen for privacy, to make a focal point, and to divide space in your home is a great investment and a clever design choice. Ensure you choose the best quality screen you can afford or the best materials to make a screen if you like DIY projects. 

As always, partner with Kovi Fabrics for fabulous fabrics and ideas.

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