How about this? Hinge holes can be plastered and painted when you want to move out.

http://www.sanssoucie.com/blog/tag/all-glass-bathroom-door/

What about using a bookcase to create a division? Something like the expedit?

a wide drapery installed on the bedroom side, so no curtain rod is seen from the living room. i like the idea of an expedit, too, if you have walking space there.

yeah beaded or bamboo curtain would be my advice.

Long saloon doors or changing room doors (any kind of frameless door) might work too. Probably they'd be less expensive than the glass door I referenced above.

Bookshelfbacked with art or really cool wrapping paper? Use the mobile concept and hang stuff? Do you have any collections? Like a scarf collection? Or anything else that can be hung or displayed? A friend once painted poetry and quotes on a bed sheet for me to hang on the wall. What about painting a board with chalkboard paint? Find some used folding closet doors that are like wooden blinds and paint them some outrageous color and stand them up in the doorway.

Have the same situation with no good answer though with your white walls, this 'maybe' idea popped into my head; white window shade mounted on the bedroom side & a silhouette of the Eiffel Tower or something tall and graphic. Main thing, you also don't want it to look like a shower curtain.

I would avoid using a bookshelf because it seems like it would be a fire hazard. Whatever you choose, I would consider safety first!

A bookshelf on wheels?

Ok, to keep from installing ANYTHING... just put a nice bookcase inside the room a few feet... It looks like you could then just walk around that bookcase, and it creates a nice wall to keep all your privacy in your room. It stops the unintentional flow of traffic- without having to provide an actual door or screen to go through....

Bookshelves are actually illegal in some jurisdictions unless empty. Check with your local DoB before embarking on such a hazardous adventure.

I like the idea of a bookshelf, but I would go further and say mount it on wheels, that way you could slide it in front of the arch when you want it, and against the little nook wall when you dont.

I wonder if you could install some sort of barn door? Its that it too intrusive, maybe a roll up blind that extends down when you need privacy

That said, only a door or heavy curtain will provide any sound insulation, which I assume is important. Better yet, two heavy curtains a foot apart. Roll down shades seem completely impractical.

Hmm...I'm thinking you could buy (don't laugh) a portable stripper pole, set it up in that little inset near your door, and maybe affix something on hinges to that?

"Bookshelves are illegal in some jurisdictions..."

Huh?

How handy are you (or your loved ones...).

How awesome would something like a bookshelf door be?

http://heartfireathome.blogspot.com/2010/12/bookshelf-thats-also-door-wow.html

I made something that could help, you can get poles at ikea that you can run floor to ceiling that use tension. I placed larger picture frames connected with a some wire and screw to the pole. If you stack the photos on top of each other and connect them, you can rotate them like a door, swinging open and shut.

@HOLLIDAVE1 - I think the user meant that bookshelves loaded with books are illegal to use in front of doorways because they block escape routes in case of fire.

I have this idea for building something like an "L" in front of the doorway using 6' high furniture/bookshelf, so that you have something like a little hallway that you need to go through to get into the room ... not sure it's translating itself from mental image to written word well.

Don't put holes in the wall unless your lease allows you to. A friend had tenants who hung a lot of things on their walls against their lease. On the good side, they had dry wall and not plaster and lathing (don't be responsible for holes in plaster and lathing!). On the bad side, my friend had to patch and repaint every wall when the tenants left and the cost came out of their security deposit.

I'd also suggest a bookcase, either on the bedroom side or the shared space side. In either case, a simple drape on the other side of the bookcase might complete the look, with your landlord's permission. Ask and he might be willing to hang the drape for you.

BTW, a bookcase in front of the opening you describe should be perfectly legal. It isn't blocking a safety route.

I like the idea of a bookshelf on wheels. However, what if you put a bookcase parallel to the door, but a couple of feet in front of it, sticking out from the edge of the wall on the right(which is deeper than the other wall). Then your room would be private from the outside and you could just slip around the edge of it into your room. And maybe a curtain on the inside of the room for even more privacy.

I'd find a giant and convince him to sit in your doorway. Not only would he block out light and sound from the other room, but he could act as a doorman and only let those people you want into your bedroom. A downside might be all the extra groceries you'd have to buy to feed him.

I think that indentation in the wall above the arch screams for a heavy curtain hung from the top, and tied back. But if you want to be different, how about making a curved entry (like the "snail" entry to a shower stall, or the curved privacy walls you see for bathroom entries made out of glass bricks) out of corrugated plastic sheeting? You can buy it in rolls or sheets. It's light, comes in colors, can be opaque or translucent. It would not be a big deal to build a light - wood frame for it.

I bet you could install a sliding barn door with very little damage. It was my first thought, though caseyinto beat me to the post!

see: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/spacesaving-sliding-barn-doors-144088
and: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-create-a-sliding-barn-d-141003

If you want something more temporary, you could use heavy thick pieces of felt or stiff fabric on a slider track. They are, technically, curtains, but much more substantial. Our AT guru/founder, Max, has (or had) similar in his apartment, and was kind enough to post a tutorial awhile back: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-build-fe-16848

Not sure how high the ceiling is but think that you could hang a semi-shear flowing material from the ceiling. This could be hung from two chains at each end of a industrial pipe. Maybe the material pools a little at the floor. The frame above the arch doorway has an angle, follow that angle when hanging. You could have it come in a foot or so into the room so you don't have to sweep it to the side every time you go through the doorway, just walk around it. Also you could hang a simple industrial light fixture draped down. One of those plug into the wall and hang from a hook in the ceiling lights. I feel simple would the best in this situation.

For something unexpected that embraces that beautiful arch, install a roll-up blind that you would normally put on a window inside of the room, and get some wallpaper that looks like a view out a window and attach/adhere it to the blind so that you get the effect of a window from outside the room... you'll be able to push it aside to enter/exit and if you want to have your room open, all you have to do is put the blind up.

Everything I can think of requires mounting: sliding doors, bi-fold doors, shutters.

I would keep it simple, a tension rod and thick curtains.

I don't think there's any safe solution that wouldn't require installing some hardware in the walls. It's not entirely unclear whether your landlord specified no holes/hanging on the walls, but ask about touch-up paint, if you're allowed to hang pictures, this would simply be another thing to spackle and paint when you move out.

All of that said, I can't imagine it would be too difficult to install an actual door (although unless someone is handy with a jig saw, fitting a door to the arch could get expensive) with hinges and a simple latch. I don't know what you mean be "more creative", but although the bookshelf ideas are really cool, that would take a lot more engineering on your part to make sure it is safe.

Sliding barn door.

http://contentinacottage.blogspot.com/2010/03/sliding-barn-door-inside-house.html

http://www.housetweaking.com/2011/02/10/diy-sliding-barn-door-part-i/

...or maybe not, with that angle in the second photo.

What about those Ikea panels that hang from a track and slide? They are flat and you would probably need 2 or 3 to cover the opening. You might only need to push one aside to walk through.

If you are going to stay a while, then it might be worth a few holes and hinges for a proper installation. I had a similar situation once and my dad installed bifold doors for me. Since it solved the problem nicely, the landlord did not make us remove them when we left.

People -- budget concious, more focus on privacy than noise reduction, and not something too substantial! Barn doors?! - bah! - Great idea, but they don't meet the criteria.

Anyway, I'm in a very similar situation. The obvious thing, as some have mentioned, is a tension rod mounted in the doorway with curtains. I'm considering this - am I'm looking for curtains that aren't tabs but rather a whole sleeve, so the tension rod doesn't peak through. I'm also thinking about just one pail w/a side hook mounted in the bedroom to loop it over when i don't need the privacy. i prefer to keep it open and the drapiness will look nice i think.

i unfortunately have to do this in a small hallway where the other sides are the bathroom door and an indentation in the wall we've turned into a closet (ah, NYC!), which will also need some kind of curtain. i'm debating if the two sets of curtains (bedroom door and over the closet) should match, etc.

"Bookshelves are illegal unless empty in some jurisdictions..." From regular news reports, I'm guessing some of those jurisdictions are in Florida, Mississippi, and Arizona.
I'm just sayin'...

With that architecture, I think heavy drapes would look best. Put the rod inside your room, close to the ceiling and all the way across this short wall segment that houses the arched doorway. Maybe you can find some good thick drapes at a thrift store. Ikea and Urban Outfitters drapes are thin, and in this case, with the architecture, I think a lined velvet or damask would be good.

Perhaps a trellis mounted to a sturdy base, either set back or on wheels? You could weave lengths of fabric or paper through the openings in the trellis. I'm thinking of the ones with square openings, not the fan-shaped or vase-shaped ones.

Have you asked the landlord to install a door for the room? It's not an unreasonable request. Why don't you try that first?

Hinged privacy screen? Inside the room.
Easy to fold up & lean against the wall during the day & to set up at night.
Make something with light weight wood & fabric, can't imagine something that light being a fire hazard & the decorating possibilities are endless - maybe chalkboard on one side to leave a message.............................

I still don't buy the "illegal bookshelves" comment. Of course no one would block a doorway with a loaded bookshelf. But does that prevent someone from angling a bookshelf out from a side wall creating a screen from the doorway but still making a walkable passageway?

I've never heard of any city regulating how furniture in a private residence must be arranged.

Bookshelves are illegal....Oh. Of course they are. Hear that knock on the door "It's the police...we heard you have a bookcase, open up!"

Yes, there are lots of good reasons not to block the door with a bookshelf, even on wheels. BUT how about putting a nice heavy bookshelf against the wall shown on the right. Then instead of drilling into the walls, you could attach hinges on the left side of your bookshelf, and hang a door, maybe supported by a caster on the bottom for stability and to keep it from moving when you don't want it to. When the door is "opened" away from the bookshelf, it blocks the visual access to your room. When the door is "shut," it covers the front of your bookcase.

You could build bookshelves on both sides of the door with a connecting shelf above and attach 2 smaller doors, one on each side. A simple bracket attached to shelves and wall should stabilise the thing enough, or make larger lower cabinets or shelves to hold heavy items with minimal shelves above, just enough to hold the doors in place. You could make the doors very simple light frames filled with padding and covered with upholstery fabric for reasonable soundproofing. It might be possible to utilise some kind of pressure fitting in the doorway to hold the arrangement in place without making any holes.

I would just get a hinged closet door and install it like you would a pair of shutters. It would be lightweight so not too much damage to your walls. The kind with the slats would be the most practical in this instance, if that provides enough privacy. The other suggestion that seems the best that i've seen is placing the bookcase in such a manner that it is offset from the doorway yet provides privacy (making a makeshift vestibule so to say between the archway and the bookcase and directing traffic in the room around that. you could also use the back of the bookcase as your personal landing strip - hooks for coats, etc....just a thought...)

...also for noise dampening - you could use a heavy drape on the "common room" side of the doorway, to minimize that whole "hey look i have a curtain for a door" feeling. or even one on each side for more.

Where do you live? I wonder if the lack of a door is up to code. If the landlord is renting the apt as a 2 bedroom than he/she should provide a door for each bedroom. Where I live, you can't call a room a bedroom unless it includes a closet and at least one window. I'm guessing doors are required too.

You could go with turnbuckles and some tension wire, right up close to the ceiling which would give even greater visual height as well as block out the sound. (Less than $10 at most hardware stores)
I'd hang a heavier cotton canvas fabric attached with drapery rings for ease of motion. And of course, make sure the fabric reaches or even sweeps the floor a bit for even more sound proofing. Voila!

Easy. Elegant. Economical. And depending on your choice of fabric, quite visually interesting.

@DONALDN oh...the visual...........I loved it..:) I know I def would not want my bedroom right there off the 'common room' due to noise. It would have to be a nice and heavy set of drapes from inside the writer's bedroom..something grand..and velvet..and a bookcase on wheels from the writer's side of the entry...and that big round stern faced giant..and his bowl of something killah' from AT's theKitchen..: )

A few years ago I saw a nice room divider made of two glass paned doors hinged together. You could put paper, fabric, magazine covers or anything else, even paint, in the panes. The one that I saw had hooks on the side facing the bedroom for jewelry, scarves or belts. The divider could be placed inside the room about 3 feet back from the door so you have privacy but can easily get around it. It also can be folded and moved to the wall whenever you want to. The Habitat restore has plenty of these doors for cheap. You probably could find them at any salvage place as well. Even new unfinished ones can be bought at the big box stores pretty cheaply. I know you didnt want shoji but this really could be an art piece, it's up to you!

Was this place advertised as two-bedroom. I know that in a lot of cities a bedroom door is actually required for your landlord to legally call your space a bedroom. You may want to look into that and if it's the case the landlord will have to install something, or change the listing (and maybe reduce the rent to comparable one-bedrooms in the area?)

Other than that the only solution I see are the curtains. I know they are not what you are looking for but as a grad student I know all about budget (many of these solutions would be way out of my budget) and most of the other affordable ones don't sound very safe.You also have to keep in mind this is something you will have to open and close every day, so you don;t want it to be too heavy or impractical.

You are really twisting yourself into a pretzel to find alternatives when the obvious solution is to put on a door. Asking to have the room painted pink with purple polka dots is pushing the landlord, asking for a door to secure and provide privacy in the room you rented is not. It is a basic need and may even be required in your locality.

Heavy curtain for noise, privacy, then put nice tall plant just in front to the side, to hide your curtain.

Door, installed by landlord.

Or Curtain, probably on a tension rod so as not to wreck the probably plaster and lathe walls.

I've never heard of bookshelves being illegal. That is ridiculous and almost impossible to enforce.

Tension rod, and curtain. Done. No holes, super inexpensive, and takes like 5 seconds to install. I have a door-less bedroom in my apartment as well and I have considered doing the same thing for privacy when guests are over. For sure this would be my go-to solution.

Target has super cheap tension rods in lots of different sizes too fyi.

A shower curtain tension rod will stay more secure.

This shower curtain is made from fabric not plastic.
http://www1.macys.com/shop/registry/wedding/product/martha-stewart-collection-bath-accessories-encore-stripe-shower-curtain?ID=384199&CategoryID=29552#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D17%26ruleId%3D51%26slotId%3D3

Tension rod and a curtain...keeps eyes out. If that's your goal then that's an easy, no build solution. Use a thick, light reducing curtain from Bed Bath and Beyond, done and done.

a swing arm curtain rod would be cool. it opens and closes like a door, but is easier to hang. you could even put one on the outside of the doorway and one on the inside so people in either room can close their side for privacy.

*********************************************************************************************
1.On the Right side of the door..place a tall+wide wall unit/bookshelf system.
2.On the left side of Wall unit/bookshelf attach hinges on the board.(the part close to
the wall.
3.Attach a two panel folding door from Home Depot (some sets are under $50.)
This way it can unfold and cover the opening and when not needed folds flat against the side of the wall unit/bookshelf out the way.

Thank you everyone for the fantastic suggestions! Couple things:

1. This room is technically a den. It is a two-bedroom place, but one of the bedrooms is tiny (I think around 8'x6') so I chose to take the (much larger) den instead and do without a real door. Thus, I don't think the landlord is obligated to provide a door for me.

2. No idea if the walls are the plaster kind people are mentioning, but now I'm nervous to attempt to hang a real door.

3. I'll probably toss up a tension rod and curtain for about a month, but I am very interested in installing a very thick, opulent-looking curtain in a more permanent way. I'm also into the felt door panel idea and I'm investigating felt options now.

Thank you so much for the suggestions, you guys!

Apartment therapy had a piece on building sliding doors made with industrial felt a few years ago: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-build-fe-16848

It's lighter and easier to move aside than a filled-bookcase -- in case you have to escape from a fire in the night -- but offers some light and sound deadening.

In lieu of the traditional curtain, ikea has great panel curtains that you can cut to any length. It's weighed down by metal ends that are easily fastened on the bottom. They're affixed on a sliding rod (sort of like the barn doors, but less complicated and less heavy). You can use 1 or 2, and still have a sharp/artsy affect on both sides of the entryway!