Living in a studio apartment or a loft can be challenging when it comes to creating "rooms" within a single space. One way to go is with curtain partitions...
They can be pulled shut for privacy or opened for one big space. We've seen curtains put to use very successfully here on Apartment Therapy and at points beyond:
FIRST ROW:
• 1 from Laura of House Tour: Laura's Pared Down Perfection Relocates
• 2 David & Im's OneSpace
• 3 David & Im's OneSpace
• 4 How to Hang Curtains Across Any Space
• 5 Rebecca Robertson's apartment, originally in Blueprint, via Martha Stewart
SECOND ROW:
• 6 Anywhere Telescoping Curtain System from Umbra
• 7 Room of the Week from Simon and Emily
• 8 Maison Barak by R&Sie uses movable plastic strips to divide the kitchen from the rest of the house
• 9 A divider of the fringed variety, via Living Etc.
• 10 a Japanese noren from Flickr member ProjectBasho, licensed under Creative Commons
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Recipe: Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans
When I lived in a smaller studio (maybe 250 square ft), I wanted to create a divider between the kitchen in the back and the living room area in the front - but a curtain would have blocked all of the light in the kitchen. So I hung a blue see-through shower curtain from the ceiling that came down behind my two seater couch. I wish I had a picture, but it really worked well and was quite pretty.
David & Im's OneSpace (pics 2&3) is nothing short of spectacular. Rarely does a post dazzle me completely. I'm shopping for a Raw Loft in Chicago and when I find the right one I'll be using Onespace as a point of reference. Thank you for posting.
My husband and I have a Noren instead of a door to our closet (which is in the bathroom). I love it!
My husbands father is the architect of David & Im's OneSpace. The curtain and the organizational aspect of their loft is amazing but the architecture is what really stands out. I live in another one of his buildings and the artistry of the architectural accents is like living in a sculpture. I lived in the same building as David & Im for 3 years with my husband (then boyfriend) and they were some of the happiest times in my life.
I've always loved this if I were to live in a small apt. This one in the main pic reminds me of the Carrie Bradshaws apt. in SeX & the CITY.
Jen Ramos
'Cards & Prints You'll Love...'
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I think curtain dividers are wonderful and it always amazes me how creative people get with the idea. In pic 2....wow....that's a whole lot of stuff they are storing!
I think the only ones that work are sheer, or of the panel variety - a "nominal" curtain/separator. Can't stand the look of drapes in a small space.
Can anyone tell me where that awesome chair is from?
I actually have curtains separating my bed nook from the rest of the apartment. I found some at Ikea about the same shade as my wall color so it blends in nicely. I keep them mostly open, but it divides the space nicely.
If you need to divide a space but don't want to block out the light, what about having curtains with the top 1/3 sheer and the bottom 2/3 solid? If you use cotton sheers and panels in the same tone, it would look great and not block out all the light. It's pretty easy sewing project that the tailor at your local dry cleaner could probably do for a nominal fee.
I'm working on doing this in my loft and am having a friend sew the curtains for me. I am curious though, what is the best way to hang these, especially if its for a large space like David & Im's OneSpace?
#6 appears to be discontinued. Does anyone know where I can find this curtain system or something similar? Thanks!
Back when 3 of us were seriously poor students, we shared a 2 bedroom corner apartment. No living room, unfortunately, as I'd curtained off the bulk of that for my bedroom, using creamy white fabric hung from bamboo rods suspended from the ceiling.
It was a very romantic look, and worked well for us for the semester that we had to do it.
I notice that most of the systems above are white. There's nothing like light filtered through pale coloured drapery. But the fish motif really works for me too.
Would anyone be able to tell me where I can special-order curtains to do this? I'm assuming they would have to be specially ordered, since they are ceiling-to-floor length, right?