Room Dividers & YOU 2022
It’s a bit unusual to find room dividers becoming more popular in homes due to a social issues such as COVID 19. Due to the increase in people working from home or being isolated in their homes the layout of many properties has come in to question. Under normal circumstances the open layout of many homes and apartments has never been a problem but times as they say are a changing.
Privacy, reducing noise and controlling room temperature has become top priorities forr many people working from home and having a gazillion Zoom meetings. Looking forward into the future here are our predictions for room dividers in 2022.
1. Adapting An Existing Layout
When most homes are built its difficult to predict every option you may encounter in the future and for many new homes changing a design can be expensive especially with volume builders. They want you to choose off the plans and let them get on with it with minimal fuss. This keeps the costs down and helps the builder be efficient with their time but may not satisfy your future needs.
A great example of this is with walk in wardrobe options. In most cases you get the space, a top shelf and hanging rail and that’s about it! This gives me the opportunity to plug our walk in wardrobe business (find out more here)
Anyway I digress. Most new family homes come with second living areas, open plan dining, lounge, entertainment areas and so on. You get sold this amazing large 4 bedroom home with an enormous amount of internal space but then the reality of living there kicks in. Its noisy, difficult to keep warm or cool and you simple can’t concentrate on important work because of the “openess” of the design.
The options are to build a wall frame to cover an existing open area and insert a wooden door making the area another room in your home. We have seen this and its often a clumsy addition to the home’s design and gives you no flexibility. We have also encountered partitions that ineffectively block off an area but still don’t give you much control over noise and temperature. Many times you have to “drag” the partition out the way when you choose to open up the area.
Looking at your second entertainment area or smaller alcove or what ever space you have decided to use as your home office there are more suitable a flexible options using a room divider. You can add options to your existing layout that gives you the control you need. You can shut off the noise and have those Zoom meeting uninterrupted, whilst being cosy and warm and , depending on your choices, the light can still stream through your home.
Working from home is definitely on the increase as well as the length of time you have lived in your home and realise you need to adapt the layout. We should also mention we have installed room dividers in homes that are more the 30 years old for clients looking to better control room layouts, hall ways and living areas.
2. Room Divider Options
I’m still concentrating on the functionality of your room divider choices. Obviously you have chosen the area you wish to control now its a great idea to look at the opening, track, panel and door “parking” options. Whether its a simple wall facing single sliding door or the complex solutions with some panels fixed and some sliding. Here’s a few things to consider:
- Do you have cornices in your ceiling?
- Do you have skirting boards?
- How big is your opening?
- How many doors is often determined by the area that needs to be covered and the weight of the doors.
- How much room is on either side of the opening?
- What do “pocket walls” require if you wish the doors to be hidden?
- How much of the opening needs to be accessed?
- Are you ok with a bottom track, what are the restrictions/requirements here?
These type of questions gets you thinking pragmatically before we even look at the cool design options. Once the physical requirements have been decided then we can move on and look at your existing decor and install a room divider that adds to and compliments your home’s aesthetic.
3. Style & Class
Finding a solution to the frustration in your home can now be looked at as a positive when we start considering the door panel and insert design options. Making your home more suitable to your needs will also add to its attractiveness if you wish to sell in the future. We consider our room dividers to be an asset to your investment.
Design trends are generally to do with colour, materials and style and we have an array of options to satisfy your creative endeavours. Many people opt for a functional, neutral design that quietly compliments their home but you can make your room divider a feature.
You can choose your insert layout (here) whether you have a full length panel or up to six inserts or choose a colonial design. These inserts can be glass with various choices of translucency, two pac paint finish with solid colours or a woodgrain finish or a combination of your choice. You can choose clear glass or double sided mirrors as well depending on your room requirements.
With the double mirror inserts (mirrors both sides of the room divider) they are perfect to use between a bedroom and an ensuite. In fact many newly built homes we are finding don’t even have a door to the ensuite and the mirrored room divider is a great solution.
If you really want to add some class to your room divider selection you could look at Shoji Doors.Shoji doors gives you a slight contemporary Asian feel to your room design but this is subjective. Depending on the style and finish the Shoji door adds a robustness to your interior design and is a great alternative to our Indeco range.
And In 2022…
More and more people are opting to work from home and home schooling is on the rise. This means the functionality of the areas of homes are increasing in demand and need managing. Room dividers, sliding doors and even fixed panels will help you better utilise the space you have in your home.
Your home office can be closed off when in zoom meetings or you can just close the room divider and psychologically your working day ends. The kids are in the TV room watching some loud and entertaining movie whilst you are closed off in the dining room having quiet time. Everything can then be opened up for some crazy play time with the neighbours kids.
Look at the current opening you wish to close off, choose the most appropriate sliding door choices then match your existing decor with the right finish. Simple enough eh?
Don’t forget to call Leigh Robinson (our room divider expert) who can first give you advice and indicative pricing then come and do a detailed, accurate measure followed by a professional installation.
Use the contact form here to get the ball rolling.