How to Use Shelves to Divide a Room
- 1). Measure room height and width with measuring tape. If you are going to find shelves to divide a space, you will need to know the room's dimensions.
- 2). Sketch out a plan of how you want to divide the space. There are so many ways to go with portable shelves that double as dividers. You can choose to place the shelf unit on one wall so that it extends only partway into the middle of the room, allowing for a pass-through at the nonwall end. You can place narrower shelving smack in the middle of the space, leaving room to walk past on either side of it. You can find low shelving that rises only to the middle of the vertical wall space to provide a more open feel to the area. Consider carefully the look and feel you want to convey, as well as how you plan to use the space.
- 3). Buy shelving units or bookcases/room dividers to suit your purposes. You can find tall bookcases to extend the entire width of the room or shorter ones that rise only to a foot or so beneath the ceiling. Think, too, about the shelf material: Dark, medium-tone and lighter woods are available, as well as a variety of metal types. Glass shelving can lend a nearly ethereal -- or starkly modern -- appeal to the room. And modular shelving offers great versatility, giving you the opportunity to alter the shape and size of the divider at will.
- 4). Place your shelving. For instance, if you want to make a small office area in your cozy living room, you can use tall wood bookshelves to delineate the space. Or, if you have a trendy studio apartment, you can use tall and short glass and metal portable shelves to separate your dining, living and sleeping areas. If your kids share a bedroom and are always fighting over space, separate the room equally with tall, wide bookshelves painted to match the room's decor.
