Ever had a bare corner of a room that you had no idea what to do with? Maybe you have a stack of electronics for your home entertainment needs that don't fit in a cabinet, or maybe even an ugly wall unit heater or AC unit, or maybe you just don't have any furniture that you can think of placing in that empty space. Here is an easy to do project that takes little time and little money.

Easy DIY Decorative Screen

Materials needed:

• 8 1"x3"x10' wood strips
• 6 1" hinges
• Screwdriver
• Staple gun
• Wood screws
• Paint or Stain
• 2 Twin sized flat sheets or other fabric choice of similar size.
• Hot glue gun

Now if you lack the power tools at home to cut your wood strips down to size, you can check with your local large home improvement stores, most of them offer free or low cost cutting for you. Otherwise you can cut this with ease with two easy steps. Measure your first cut to 6', then take the remaining length and cut it equally in half (which will be a little less than 2' each). Continue this with all eight wood strips.

The next step will be laying out your pieces so that you have four panels laid out side by side (or one frame if you lack the space to lay all four out at the same time). You will screw each corner together to make a nice sturdy frame for each of your panels.

Once your panels are all screwed together you can now add your hinges. Just remember you want to alternate which direction your hinges attach between your panels (see image above). You want your panels to fan out with each panel facing alternating directions. For example: (Lay two panels down on the floor) Panel #1 and #2 are connected with the hinged section facing down (towards the ground). Panel #2 and #3 the hinged section of the hinges will face towards upwards. Panel #3 and #4 the hinged section of the hinges will again face down. This way you have a fan effect.

Once all your panels are properly connected, you now have the choice of painting or staining your wood. This will depend on what look you are going for. Some people like natural stain, some like the painted look.

While your paint or stain dries, you can start working on your fabric. You can go with two different looks at this point as well. You can cut your pieces to fit the inside of each panel tightly (cut to leave a 2" overhang on each side wider than the inside measurement of your panels) for a clean more modern look, or you can measure your fabric to double the inside width (cut to leave a 2" overhang on top and bottom wider than the inside measurement of your panels) for a gathered look (great for a softer decor)

Once your paint or stain is dry, lay out your fabric how you want it (inside your panel). After you get it centered, start stapling away. You want to staple your one side completely, then go to the opposite side to stretch it taut if you are doing a taut, smooth panel look (start at top edge, then staple the bottom edge or left side, then right side). If you are doing the gathered look, start at the top and staple, overlapping 1" of fabric each inch of space, repeating this on the bottom edge after you finish the top.

You can clean up the edges of your fabric in a couple different ways. One way is to take a glue gun and fold over the excess fabric over your staples and glue the fabric to hide them. Another way is to to cut the excess overhang and your hot glue gun and add a decorative ribbon to hide the stapled edges.

Now that your project is complete....stand it up, put it where you want it...and smile proudly. You have a personalized new decorative screen to decorate your room!