Cheap Office or Room Divider

Step 6 Putting it all together

Once the pieces are all dry simply slide the frame together hook in the canvas and enjoy you dirt cheap room or space divider!

As you can see I still need to do a little work on getting the canvas to be nice and tight, but other than that I am very happy with the result!

Of course do not throw this away when you need a different size, remember we didn't glue all the joints that means you can take it apart and reconfigure it! Recycle!

Some tips from the comments section:

• Spray some water on the canvas then use a hair dryer to dry the canvas, this will shrink the material and make the canvas nice and tight.
• You can also use these as a projector screen, pick some nice white fabric!
• You could give the panels a nautical look by installing grommets every 3 or 4 inches around the canvas edge and then lashing it onto the frame with thin nylon rope (venetian blind cording would work). This would eliminate the sagging canvas problem.

Comments

[vincentato]

Do you guys know where to get big canvas? They are pretty expensive when I browsed for it on the Internet. I'm planning to build a divider that is approximately 120 high and 150 wide.

[blodefood]

You might be able to score some large canvas curtains at the thrift stores.  I got  some huge ones at VV to make a parade banner and some regalia for less than $20.

[weasel999]

This link sells BIG white tarps they work best.

[chaignon]

When we did a drama production at our school and bought a large quantity of canvas, one of the volunteers told me we should've bought from a marine supply place because the canvas, she said, would be cheaper.

[micheleliz]

I have a daycare in my basement and was trying to think of ways to make dividers for the crib area rather than buying the expensive ones. These will work so good, if only I can get my husband to make or help me with them!!!! Thanks for the great idea! Michele

[3dmuses]

This is a cool room divider solution! With the sagging of the canvas the water spray will work If you add a bit of white glue (Elmers, SOBO, etc) AND if the canvas or muslin is 100% cotton. This solution is used in the scene shop all the time to tighten fabric surfaces. It may 'pull' at the attachment points depending on the amount of stretch it has when you start. If something pokes a dimple in the cloth later a simple re-wetting should tighten it right back up. Nice job though.

[andygreyrider]

Would it not benefit from filling the bottom tubing and feet with sand to give a sturdier feel to it?

[CheapOffice]

I am sure it will benefit from weight in the base, but in my setup the desks are right behind the screens and are sitting on top of the legs holding them very steady. Without the desks stability is pretty good with the 2F pipes. Since the base is not glued together you can experiment with this!

[andygreyrider]

Being an Engineer with doing welding and grinding. This would make an ideal portable screen and the sand would give so much more stability. A gust of wind and it's Kite Time. A brilliant instructable that it is, it has given me an idea for extending my garage entrance without the expensive cost.

[dpocius]

Or you could purchase (or find/recycle) a length of steel pipe to slide inside the plastic pipe at the bottom to give it some weight on the bottom.

[deadbody]

you could but I don't think you'd need to unless you need to use it in wind or its going to get knocked around.

[11010010110]

to reinforce the canvas stitch a grid of bands of material that does not stretch over it dividing the wall to 4 X 4 squares is about how much i'd go

[CheapOffice]

It's been up for about 2 weeks now and increasing sagging or stretching is not apparent beyond what you see in the photos in the article. Guess this canvas is pretty good.

[11010010110]

you need reinforcement with lower strength or very big canvas. not with this one

[Bobblob]

Great idea, nicely illustrated and explained, thanks! For an easy "auto" tightening/aligning method how about attaching the canvas with mini bungee cords or several robust rubber bands ?

[Bobblob]

Opps I missed MasterOfNone's rubber band comment but the mini bungee cord idea may advanced this nice project a little so I'll leave it. Also I was suggesting using the mini bungee cords or robust rubber bands on ALL the attachment points

[Matt4_16]

good idea for a projector screen!

[lcockerill]

to get it to go tight try a spray bottle of water and hair dryer you might be able to get it to shrink a bit. Canvas usually has cotton in it and cotton shrinks a lot. Also you could paint your canvas or add pockets for extra storage. I love this and I already thought of many places this idea could be used, good job.

[MasterOfNone]

If the water trick doesn't work, I wonder if attaching the bottom grommets to the hooks with rubber bands or springs would help. The dividers look nice, anyway. Good job.

[CheapOffice]

Thanks for the tip. I might try that!