As wonderful as secluded home spaces are, the Hawaii lifestyle doesn’t often provide the luxury. With working from home still going strong, some folks have gotten to know their neighbors a little bit more than they may have wished to. For a quick escape from prying eyes, traffic noise, or the Waikiki passersby, we recommend creating DIY privacy screens!
DIY privacy screens are a great way to help your household form a secluded space while reusing materials from around your home. The best part about DIY privacy screens is that they are left up to your creative imagination! If you want to use plants as part of your privacy screen, you can incorporate them into a rain garden or your existing landscaping to help treat storm water. To start, we recommend looking to reuse older household items that have lived out their purpose.
These items might include:
- Curtains/Curtain Rods
- Wooden posts
- Netting
- Bamboo Posts
- Sheets
- Tarps/Drop Cloths
- Fencing
Or, check with local hardware stores to see if they have any wooden panel scraps that you may use. For outdoor spaces, consider using climbing plants or forming a garden into your privacy screen by hanging pot attachments.
Photo by: The Garden Grove
Materials:
- Measuring tape
- Hammer and nails
- Screwdriver/power drill and screws
- Structure pieces (bamboo posts, fencing, wooden planks/panels)
- Desired plants or climbing vines
- Paint (as needed)
- Pots (as needed)
Directions:
- Find your desired set up location (backyard, lanai, porch).
- Measure the length of your space using the measuring tape.
- Configure your structure materials into a wall formation, fitting the size to the measured width of your space. Use nails and screws as needed to construct a sturdy base.
- Once you’ve developed the wall for your privacy screen, paint, sand, stain, and decorate as desired to complete the base of your screen.
- When your privacy screen wall is completed, you can begin planting climbing vines to add a green feel, or reuse another material you can find, such as old curtains.
- For households that wish to add a gardening aspect to their screens, we recommend fastening smaller planning pots along the posts or incorporating planters in the structure. Produce plants that may work best for privacy screens include herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and other smaller, low maintenance plant options.
Source:
The Garden Glove, Trash Free Hawaii, Storm Water Hawaii