A photo screen is a large decorative room divider that is used to provide privacy while adding an interesting focal point to your room. Photo screens are available to fit both traditional and contemporary design schemes, but purchasing these products can be expensive. If you’re on a tight budget, building your own photo screen is a great alternative.
Deciding the size of your room divider is the first step to building a photo screen. Generally, most screens are about five feet (1.52 meters) tall. They commonly have three to five separate panels, depending upon the size of the room they will be used in. Measure your space, then sketch out the desired placement for the photos you wish to use.
There are several different ways to construct the panels for a photo screen. You can repurpose old closet doors or cut sheets of plywood to use as the base for your screen. For a very creative look, you could even try using large artist canvases with flat backs to make your homemade room divider. Decoupage photos directly onto the canvas to eliminate the need for glass and make the screen much safer for homes with pets or small children.
If you lack strong carpentry skills, however, the easiest way to make a photo screen is to simply purchase a large quantity of photo frames from your local discount store or a nearby thrift shop. The frames don’t need to match exactly, as long as they are all of a fairly similar style. Use wood glue to attach them together to create your panels, removing the part that makes the frame stand up on a table.
Many photo screens are designed to display large 8×10 prints, but you can make your screen to fit whatever size of photos you desire. If you don’t have enough photos to fill an entire privacy screen, keep in mind that the frames can also be used to showcase other memorabilia. Newspaper clippings, poems, a child’s artwork, dried flowers, or pretty designs cut from old greeting cards are all possibilities to consider.
Once you’ve created the individual panels for your photo screen, you’ll need to join the panels together. This can be accomplished using metal hinges purchased from your local hardware store. If you are concerned about the appearance of the back of your homemade privacy screen, use Velcro to attach cloth that coordinates with your home décor.