Sometimes, I like to imagine myself in a dramatic scene from a black and white movie…”Dahling, would you be a dear and fetch me my dressing gown…” If there is one thing I have learned from old movies, it is that every glamorous lady needs a folding screen for her boudoir.

Folding screens are fantastic for adding a pop of color and pattern to any room. They make great room dividers or clever junk hiders. While in my film-fueled fantasies they are made of satin and are strewn with long gloves and floor-length, feather-hemmed nighties, the reality is folding screens can be wonderfully functional and modern if you make them yourself.

Here is how to make  a folding screen to call your very own – this one is designed to use a fabric panel you will also make, but there are many other design options you can try using this basic design.

What You’ll Need:

6 – 1 x 2 x 72 pieces of wood (Poplar and Pine both come this size pre-cut at most home improvement stores)

6 – pieces of 1 x 2 x 18 (same wood stock as above, the store can cut them for you to 20 inches)

6 – 18 inch dowels (these can also be cut at the store)

2 packages of 3/8 inch Dowel Pins

Wood Glue ( I use Elmers Wood Glue)

8 small hinges

A drill with a 3/8 inch bit

Painter’s Tape (for marking how deep to drill your holes)

Fabric (and a way to hem it.  Sewing machine, stitch witch or by hand is fine,) and velcro or buttons.

Paint or wood stain and some sandpaper (to finish the wood)

How To Do It:

The construction of the frame is very similar to that for making a headboard (See How To Make A Headboard) and uses dowels and wood glue to hold together. I find the dowel pin and glue method both easy and sturdy for projects like this.

1. Checking Out The Pieces

If you have ever bought furniture that you needed to assemble, you are already an expert at this!

Having the wood pieces pre-cut at the store means you essentially have a “kit” that just needs to be assembled. The only difference is that the dowels that fit together are not yet in the wood.  Easy enough! Place your wood on the floor and get all your pieces in order so you can visualize how each panel will go together. Do 1 panel at a time – each panel will use 2 – 20 inch pieces, 2 – 72 inch pieces and 2 dowels.  You will use a total of 12 dowel pins for each panel (see the diagram below.)

2. Drilling and Dowel Pin Placement

Take your longer pieces of wood, measure, and mark a dot in the center of each measurement. This is where you will drill holes. You will drill 6 holes (about half an inch deep) on the inside of each of the long pieces of wood. I measure the length of the dowel pins and tape off half of that measurement on my drill bit – this ensures I don’t drill more deeply than I need to. For the frame pieces, I like to make a little template by tracing around the end of the wood and marking where I will put my holes. Cut it out and use it to mark on both the top and bottom of the long pieces and the ends of the shorter pieces of wood – this will ensure your dowels will line up with their intended holes when it is time to assemble.

Measure about 4 1/2 inches from the top and bottom and mark a place in the center of the inside (the smaller side) for a hole. This is where your dowels will attach.

Next drill corresponding holes in the ends of your dowels and your smaller frame pieces (making a template helps!) Put a little wood glue in the holes, then insert the dowel pins. Line everything up with the long pieces, put a little wood glue in those holes and around where the pieces will join and assemble! Now you have a basic frame — How exciting! Let this frame dry, and repeat for the additional two frames. It is time to paint or stain the wood now if you choose to do that as well.

3. Hinging and Finishing

Once your three frames are completed, use the hinges to attach the frames together so the screen will fold and stand up. Each joint will get a total of 4 hinges, one group in one direction, the other in the opposite direction, grouped in 2′s.

Measure from the top to bottom of each dowel and add 8 inches to the length. Hem this and then fit it over the dowels, measuring where you will  put the buttons or velcro on the top and bottom. Finish the panel then attach it to the frame.

Sequels and Improvisations:

• Use outdoor fabrics and enjoy your screen on a porch or patio
• Change the dimensions, add a panel, and use burlap and hooks to create a lovely tabletop craft show display for jewelry
• If you are handy with a router, make a channel about 1/8 inch deep on all inside pieces of each channel, skip the dowels, and you can insert a panel of any thin material you like before you assemble your frame…wainscoting, stamped metal, the decorative sheet metal they use for old radiator covers are a few options that could be fun…
• Upholster each panel…cover them completely with fabric or even leather and add upholstery tacks. (I’m thinking of a green leather door I saw somewhere — so dramatic!) Maybe even a dangerously spiked one a la Lady Gaga or a Warhol-esque, tinted tryptic of posters using your high school picture…hey, it’s yours…make anything that makes you happy!
• Cover your panels with giant black and white posters (you can get them printed online or at a  FedEx Kinkos type store – just measure first!)

Oh and, Mr DeMille…you know the drill.

Fin.