7/27/10 A Room Divided...Keeps Paint Off Paws

You want to see my weekend project? (I know it isn't the weekend anymore, but I just finished it, so I guess it's a weekend+1 project). Anyway, here's the thing: We have a basement/workroom downstairs where I do my painting. The washer and dryer are also down there, and the cats used to get their dinner down there right up until the time I came home and found paint paw-prints across one of my wet canvases and all over the window sill. (Now I keep the door to the workroom closed and the cats eat at the bottom of the stairs). Only it's a huge hassle to keep that door closed all the time. For one thing, trying to open and shut a door while carrying 50 loads of laundry is nearly impossible, and second, every cat knows that a closed door means that they're being deprived of something fabulous, which makes them only more determined to break into the room. If I could just block off my paint section from the rest of the room somehow, then I could leave the door open downstairs.

So I made one of those room dividing screens.

Now I know I could have just purchased one, but the longest one I could find was only about 4' long, and I needed it to stretch 8'. Plus they're either all oriental-themed, or really plain and boring. Besides, they're so easy to make. It was basically just mitering some frames and stretching canvas like I do anyway, only 6' high by 2' wide, and 4 of them instead of one. Then just hinge them together and call it a day.So if you need a room divider (or just a decorative screen), I encourage you to build your own, because concept is absurdly simple. It's basically a frame on the front (like I said, mine is 6' high by 2' wide, made out of furring strips, cut with a miter saw and painted black), some thin canvas material stapled on, and another frame on the back to hide the staples and make the whole thing a little sturdier. Then just multiply by 4 (or however many panels you like), hinge them together and viola! Instant room divider.Here's the front frames with canvas stretched over them. And see? Already doing a good job of hiding the dirty dishes in the sink.
Of course, plain ol canvas is boooooring, so I decided to paint a simple little tree on mine. It hints at oriental with the cherry blossoms, but it's contemporary enough to match the rest of my house should it ever need to divide another room. Trees are good because they're hard to mess up...uneven areas and thicker "branches" just add authenticity, and I like to think that metaphorically, the birds are me and Tony, hanging out together in our quirky curly tree.
The canvas makes it super lightweight to move around, but still really sturdy so I know it isn't going to come crashing down if it ends up being ground zero for a cat chase. I know it isn't a Monet or Van Gogh, but I like it and it will serve its purpose, which is all I'm asking for something that will live in my basement.