I need a divider for my small studio space and love DWR's Cubits shelving, and was wondering if you had any suggestions for something with similar translucent quality? Ikea has their Expedit shelves, but the wood makes it look very heavy and would make the room feel even smaller...help!

Thanks,
saintmims

Hi saintmims,

You didn't say whether storage was a requirement or whether dividing the room without creating a heavy barricade-like feeling is your most important concern. If you need both storage and translucency, Cubits is probably your best bet, because as far as we can tell, it's a unique product. But if you'll settle for a room divider that lets light pass through we can suggest a couple of other good options, one a cheap DIY, the other one fairly pricey, though possibly still cheaper than a wall of Cubits.

The pricey option is Stephanie Forsythe & Todd MacAllen's expanding paper softwall, which can curve around your bed to separate it from the living area. Softwall accordians down into something so small you can store it in your closet when it's not in use.

The cheaper option is to hang a scrim-like curtain using either hospital track (attached to the ceiling) or tension wire and turnbuckles attached to the walls. Maxwelll did a very detailed how-to on the tension wire trick, complete with slideshow, in 2004. You can read it here ("How to hang curtain across any space").

Anyone else?