DIY Partitions: 7 Rope Doorways and Room Dividers
On a recent birthday weekend in Mexico City, I made a beeline for Utilitario Mexicano, a shop that celebrates well-made, everyday goods made in Mexico: take a look. Beyond the artful displays, a humble detail caught my eye: in lieu of a door, a screen of rope strands divide the store’s public and private spaces.
I have a longstanding thing for string and cord—I love its texture, simplicity (made of nothing more than twisted fibers!), affordability, and the fact that it’s been used for centuries for so many things: brown paper package ties, stair rails. Naturally, I started looking for other examples of rope partitions. Here are seven favorites, all easily doable, some even readymade. Take a look, and if you’re in need of a partition, consider putting rope to work.
Above: Utilitario Mexicano owners Enrique Arellano, a graphic designer, and Libia Moreno, a textile designer, explained that they had formerly hung a series of canvas curtains in this spot: “they got dirty easily and tore with the passing of boxes to the store,” says Libia. In response, Enrique devised this solution cotton cording that is simply looped around a metal rod and knotted at the ends. All it requires is rope, scissors, and a hanging bar.
Their shop, in Mexico City’s Colonia Juárez, is a Remodelista all-time favorite, and here’s a Enrique and Libia’s Apple Green Kitchen.
Above: Bay Area cult fashion designer Erica Tanov devised this “Touch of Hippie” solution for a doorless closet. She made it out of crafting cord and brass beads finished at the top in a knot pattern learned from a YouTube video: see Erica Tanov’s DIY Macrame Curtain for the details.
Above: Commissioned to come up with an office design in a rented warehouse, designer Morgan Satterfield of The Sage House (formerly The Brick House) suspended rope as room dividers.
Morgan wrote on The Brick House: “Vertical jute rope division walls allowed for defined ‘zones’ but still retained light and visibility throughout the space. A plus when using this type of rope is the added benefit of bringing in a chunky/graphic/warm texture to an otherwise cold and hard industrial room. The construction process is pretty simple: wood boxes were custom built with evenly spaced, rope-sized holes drilled through the top and bottom. Precut sections of rope were strung through the top and tied off at the bottom, allowing for the interior knot to hold the rope in place and taut. Just screw close the open side of the box and all those knots are hidden away.”
Above: Halil Özsoy’s HS Desing Workshop of Kusadasi, Turkey, offers ropework designs on Etsy, including this Thick Rope Room Divider made of hemp that comes mounted on a wooden rod; $2,450.
Above: Idal Desing, another Turkish Etsy vendor specializing in rope designs, sells this hemp Rope Curtain Room Divider. Made to order, it comes on a wooden rod and is available in a range of lengths and widths starting at $450. The workshop also offers Thick Jute Rope; $34.90 for 9 feet.
Above: Heavy strand cotton rope, such as what’s used in this doorway partition, is available from Knot & Rope Supply of Perrysburg, Ohio.
Above: Interior designer Patricia Galdón suspended rope as awnings and curtains on the terraces at Hannah Formentera, a beach hotel (formerly called Casa Pachá) in Formentera, Spain. Note the tape tips used as a colorful finishing detail; wrapped string also works well on loose ends.
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