How To Carve Out Private Spaces At Home

I have a pretty public job. I own a store in a small town, where, like Cheers, “everybody knows your name” (link below, for a musical trip down Memory Lane). And because I write a blog my name, and sometimes even my face, show up in your email a couple of times a week (thank you). These are things that I love about my life. But sometimes I need a little privacy. It may be when I’m struggling with a particularly challenging blog topic or balancing the month’s expenses for my store. I need to be alone and focus my thoughts. Not having a door on my office could be a big part of the problem at work, LOL. There’s not a whole lot I can do about that one. But home is wholly different story. There are a lot of easy tricks that can help you carve out private spaces at home. Just consider…

Carve Out Private Spaces At Home with a Folding Screen or Curtain

One of the hardest working pieces in the interior designers playbook is the folding screen. It’s no wonder that the Victorians threw them into the corner of every bedroom, back in the day. The folding screen is made of wood (and paper, if it’s a Shoji) or fabric. Three or more panels wide, it stands alone and blocks a good deal of the scene in any room. In your search for carving out privacy at home, place a screen at one end of the bedroom, living room, guest space or office and segment out a private oasis. Add a comfy chair, a daybed, a desk and chair, a couch, a yoga mat or whatever you feel will enhance this private space you have created.

A curtain, hung from ceiling hooks or a suspended rod can give you the same effect as a screen. The ability to go all the way to the floor with the fabric may enhance the solitude you are after.

Hardworking Bookcases: A Great Way To Carve Out Privacy at Home

A bookcase can have 1000 lives, if you just have a little creativity. Yes, these babies work great, up against the walls, filled with Bronte and Shakespeare and Ibsen, but a bookcase can be so much more. If you are wishing to create a spot for privacy in your home, consider the bookcase as a wall without the benefit or cost of a contractor. Use a bookcase (or, better, two, back-to-back) to create a “wall” for to carve out a private space at home. With the narrow end up against the wall, a bookcase sections off a little piece of private heaven. When you need to re-imagine the space again, the “wall” comes down with no fuss and no muss. This one on Amazon is a great option: Bookcase.

Insider Tip: Thrift and consignment shops, like Consignments Ltd., are a great place to find folding screens and bookcases

Convert A Corner of Your Bedroom to Carve Out Private Spaces At Home

I have a little “L” in my bedroom. It’s too small to be terribly functional, but it’s too big to waste. When I first moved in, I put a lovely cozy chair in there, and some books, on some shelves. Bruce and I used this private space to take Zoom calls or sometimes to read. (We’ve since re-imagined it, which I’ll share in a future blog). But my point is that almost every bedroom has a little bit of space to give for privacy. Or you can carve this needed oasis from your guest room or den. You can use a chair, a couch or a chaise to define the privacy real estate (or a screen or bookcase, as above). Just grab the space and devote it to privacy, to mental space, to sanity. Peace be yours, my friends.

For more home design ideas, check out my previous blogs: Creating The Dual Purpose Room and How To Create A Work-From-Home (WFH) Space.

And If You’re Feeling a Bit Nostalgic…Have a Listen:

Have a lovely Sunday, my friends. Marianne

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