Dividing Wall Alternatives

September 17, 2009 6:30 PM

Cardboard wall alternatives? I really like the idea of these modular cardboard walls/dividers, except they seem way too expensive. Any suggestions for an alternative?

I live in a basement apartment and I'd like to put some dividers up to section off the corner of one room. These seem ideal, since I can't install anything in the walls or ceilings, and I'd be able to take them when I leave. I'd like to find something that would work similarly, yet not cost quite so much.

Thanks!

posted by tomcochrane to home & garden (10 comments total)

You could totally make those yourself out of discarded boxes (free! - ask your local grocer) and paint. You could probably spend $56 on paint alone, however, so you may want to keep 'em brown. The selection of labels could be interesting.

Bit of a fire hazard, though, innit?
posted by Sys Rq at 6:52 PM on September 17

Really big and sturdy cardboard boxes can be found at places like automotive bodyshops. Windshields, hoods, and fenders are shipped in very large, multi-ply, well constructed boxes. Some of these sheets of cardboard can be between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick.
Breaking down and disposing of those oversized boxes is a big pain and they fill up the garbage really fast. I bet they'd be happy to get rid of them.
posted by Jon-o at 7:33 PM on September 17

You could try decorative "furniture" screens (those are examples from overstock.com, but lots of furniture places sell them, even Target and the like.)

We have a 4x4 Ikea Expedit bookshelf which is a nice space dividers, though it's not solid.

Here's a do-it-yourself hanging curtain divider made of hardboard and s-hooks; this would require building a way to hold up the dowels.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:34 PM on September 17

(sorry, those are alternatives, but are not cardboard)
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:41 PM on September 17

That's okay! I'd love to see some non-cardboard alternatives as well (perhaps should have mentioned that in the original post).
posted by tomcochrane at 9:22 PM on September 17

Ok, here are a few more.
Ikea sliding wardrobe doors as room dividers - they're not cheap but would not require installing anything permanent into ceiling, since they're held up by tension poles.

room dividers at Apartment Therapy - these are more idea-fodder than practical, since they're pretty expensive.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:59 PM on September 17

I have been a huge fan of the plastic milk-crate cubes. Not the expensive ones for hyper-organized people, I mean the misuse-punishable-by-law type.

They are cheap to free, stable, act as hidden storage, and easy to disassemble if you want to change the rooms' function. If they give you too much of a dorm-room feel, external decorations are easy, and various colors are available for giant pixel art.
posted by whatzit at 10:23 PM on September 17

I bet you could make a Nomad System knock-off out of regular cardboard. The only tricky part would be the curved cuts, but you could just replace that with a straight cut, maybe more like <> or > <> building instructions!
posted by orme at 5:38 AM on September 18

Uh oh, tried using some characters that messed up my comment.

Shoulda been more like...

you could just replace that with straight cuts, maybe more trapezoidal than curved edges. (you get the idea, i think)


Heck, they even provide the building instructions!
posted by orme at 5:46 AM on September 18

When I was in the same situation as you, I thought it would be fun to build a wall out of these cardboard blocks or similar:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=cardboard+blocks&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17057336992472362077&ei=rIKzSuaHDcLZlAeqt-WMDw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=8#ps-sellers

Something from Uline might be cheaper, like these:

http://www.uline.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?model=S-4116&ref=406

They have a huge variety of sizes, too, so you could even use an extra long one for a lintel over an entrance.

I ended up just going to the fabric store and hanging a length of denim from the ceiling.
posted by boots at 6:00 AM on September 18