The Shoji portable room divider is the most popular style of all room dividers, and also the original. It is the one made from a wooden lattice surrounding white rice paper, and the one you typically associate with Japanese training Dojos. They are very cool because they are completely opaque, but light can shine through the rice paper. If you want to build your own Shoji room divider, follow these simple steps.

The first thing you want to do is build two identical lattice screens. You can make them whatever size you want, but the traditional size of the lattices within is 8″ by 3″, so be sure to make the total size something that would fit those lattices in proportionately. The standard size of the screen is 8′ by 5′ (but of course, that is just a preference call too). Both frames must be built identically because they will later on be attached with the rice paper in between them. The wood on the outside should be a nice thick frame, but for the lattices thin strips will suffice. You can either attach all the horizontal ones first and then the vertical ones over, or you can do a criss cross pattern across the whole thing.

The next step is to attach the rice paper over one of the frames. First wet the rice paper and then blow dry it completely dry. This is in accordance with the traditional Japanese way of doing it, and it also makes the rice paper stretchier and easier to work with. Stretch the rice paper over one of the frames and stick it on the wood using rice glue.

Once the rice paper is attached, attach the other frame directly over the rice paper, also sticking it on with rice glue. Once the glue is dry on both sides, attach the two frames using nails on the borders. At this point you will have completed one full Shoji frame. Depending on your project, repeat the process as many times as needed. At this point you will have a very nice Shoji room divider, as well as a conversation piece because your made the divider yourself!

Portable room dividers can be purely functional, purely decorative, or a combination of the two. If you are looking for one that will make your place look nicer and more well decorated (with maybe a touch of usefulness on the side!), you should consider picking out one of these types of decorative room dividers:

The Hanging Room Divider – Hanging room dividers is portable in the sense that you can un-attach it and take it somewhere else, but it is usually kept in the same place as a permanent fixture. Hanging room dividers are typically decorative, with the hanging part being made up of hanging strings that are beaded with small pebbles, small pieces of wood or plastic, etc. While they do separate the room a little bit, they don’t actually provide that much privacy, visually or audibly (you can see through them and hear through them easily!). These are generally hanging in door frames in place of the door itself.

The Sliding Room Divider – Sliding room dividers are basically sliding doors that glide along a track. Sometimes they are placed within a full wall room divider, or sometimes they are freestanding on their own gliding tracks. These are cool because they can be slid in and out of place easily, and the divider can be decorated very nicely. They also provide full privacy if these sliding room dividers are part of a full wall room divider.

The Shoji Screen Room Divider – Shoji screen room dividers are the classic decorative room divider that you generally associate with Japanese dojos. They are made up of a wooden lattice with white rice paper in between. They are cool because they are opaque, but still let light shine through. If you want to decorate your place with a slight Asian flair, a Shoji screen room divider is the way to go.