How to Divide a Studio Apartment With Curtains

Divide a studio apartment with a curtain to create separate living areas.

Studio apartments appeal to people such as first-time apartment dwellers or senior citizens living on a fixed income, because they can live in these apartments inexpensively. However, the all-in-one set up of the studio means that the kitchen, living room and bedroom exist in the same space. You can easily remedy this by using curtains to divide the different areas of your studio. There are several ways you can hang up curtains in your apartment. You may have to use a different combination of these methods to get the full coverage you desire.

Things You'll Need

• Tension rod
• Curtains
• Free-standing bookcase
• Eye hooks
• Wire
• Rope clips

Instructions

Tension Rod

1. Buy a tension rod that will stretch across your apartment space.

2. Select a curtain that's wide enough to stretch across the two walls and long enough to touch the floor.

3. Slide the curtain onto the tension rod.

4. Position the tension rod between two walls to divide one side of the apartment from the other.

Wall Extenders

1. Place a free-standing bookcase against the wall to extend the wall if the tension rod is not long enough. So instead of positioning the curtain rod between the two walls, position it between one wall and the side of the bookcase.

2. Place the tension rod between the wall and the end of the bookcase, so that the bookcase functions as the wall. Make sure that you push the bookcase up to the wall so that it's snug; this keeps the tension fully in the tension rod. The curtain will pull down the rod otherwise.

3. Hang up the curtain as usual.

Wires and Hooks

1. Screw eye hooks into the two walls where you want to hang the divider curtain. For example, if you want to divide the living room from the bedroom, the eye hooks should be positioned in such a way so that the curtain will hang between these two spaces.

2. Fasten some wire to the two hooks; aircraft cable is very strong and works well for this task.

3. Attach a wire rope clip to the ends of the wire until the wire is strung tightly between the two eye hooks.

4. Hang a curtain on the wire with curtain hooks.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to divide your studio apartment, but don't want what's on each side of the wall to be completely hidden from view, use thin curtains. These become translucent room dividers. These allow some of the decorative elements in one side of the room to show through on the other side of the curtain without them taking center stage in the decorating scheme.

References

• Apartment Therapy; How to Hang Curtains Across Any Space; Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan; August 2004
• Apartment Therapy; Small Space Solutions Use Curtains to Divide; Laure Joilet; April 2009
• Apartment Therapy; Small Space Solution Curtains Instead of Doors; Anna Hoffman; August 2011
• Apartment Therapy; 5 Smart Ways to Divide a Room; Sarah Coffey; April 2010
• Apartment Therapy; Good Questions Separate Spaces in a Studio Apartment; Colleen Quinn; July 2009

Resources

• Apartment Therapy; Translucent Room Dividers; Sarah Coffey; November 2009
• Apartment Therapy; Inspiration Using a Bookcase as a Room Divider; Beth Zeigler; April 2009