Who knew?! There are actual tons of great uses for folding screens in modern day interior design. You may have seen them here and there but couldn’t come up with a good use for one in your home. Consider the following placement ideas:
AS A HEADBOARD
AS WALL DECOR
AS A DISPLAY FOR YOUR PHOTOS
If you happen to find a folding screen for a steal-of-a-deal but it doesn’t have quite the look you’re going for, here are 2 simple ways you can take that ugly folding screen and make it the beautiful centerpiece of your living space you’ve been hunting for.
Simple Fix #1: Paint or Stain Those Old Buggers
This blogger refurbished bi-folding doors by sanding, staining, and fastening multiple sets together to make a beautiful boho folding screen.
Simple Fix #2: Cover Those Bad Boys With Wall Paper
Another blogger also created her old folding screens using repurposed bi-folding doors but her design approach used a different medium – wallpaper! You can mimic her process by following the steps outlined in her blog post.
Simple Fix #3: Distress The Heck Out Of Those Screens
To distress your screens, we’ve put together a general outline for distressing most furniture pieces. You’ll need the following supplies:
Your ugly (about to be beautiful) old folding screens
Base coat paint – satin/latex
Top coat paint – satin/latex
Paint brushes and/or rollers
Candle
Steel wool – medium grade
Medium grit sandpaper
Tack cloth
Optional: polyurethane
1. Your first step is to sand your folding screens. Don’t worry about getting all the paint or stain off. Your goal is to create enough texture on the surface of your screens for the new base coat color to stick.
2. Wipe the folding screens clean, removing all the dust from sanding with your tack cloth.
3. Paint the folding screens with your base coat/primer. Let the primer fully dry.
4. Sand portions of the screens that would normally get the most handling. Sand corners, handles, and edges that would be regularly touched. If you want any of these area to show through your next coat of paint, rub them with your candle. Too little sanding will leave you with underwhelming folding screens. Don’t be afraid to go a little nuts with your sanding.
5. Apply your top coat. Allow the top coat to fully dry.
6. Once your top coat has dried, rub the areas where you waxed the screens with your steel wool. Once you’ve removed your desired amount of top coat, clean the screens again with your tack cloth to remove all residue.
Optional: Finish off your folding screen doors with a coating of polyurethane. This will help prevent scratching and water staining.
