Buying Guide

Carve Out Some Space

Are you ready to divide and conquer—literally? Because these folding screens, shelving units and room dividers are designed to do just that. Perhaps you live in a studio or a small apartment without a lot of interesting architecture. Maybe that “open floor plan” that was once so airy and appealing suddenly feels a little too open. If you wish to have a separate home office or dressing room, you're in luck: A room divider allows you to add to your space without any complicated renovations. Sure, in a perfect world, we'd always have enough closet space or a separate changing area, but this is not a perfect world. A screen can keep your exercise equipment, printer and storage bins corralled and out of sight.

What's more, folding screens and shelves barely take any effort to set up. Simply position them where you need them most (more on that below) and then rearrange them as often as you'd like. It's a shape-shifting solution that many interior designers use because it not only makes extra square footage seemingly appear out of nowhere, but also because these stylish pieces of accent furniture add a touch of luxurious sex appeal to any room. Probably because folding screens were originally created for royalty and other nobility. They were first found in palaces, but continued to evolve and enjoyed a resurgence during the streamlined mid-century boom. Today, they come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. There's surely one that suits your style and budget. To help you get started, we pulled a few of our current favorites.