TikTok Is So Impressed by This “Phenomenal” IKEA Room Divider Hack (No Reno Needed!)

Making the most of a small apartment and its tiny layout, you’re often working with minimal square footage — and you have to get creative with how you divide up a personal space. Leave it to the masses of TikTok to help find creative solutions that save money, time, and just make sense.

A mother of three girls took to the platform to share how she successfully divided a single bedroom into two. How’d she do it? Using IKEA KALLAX shelves to hack a divider, of course. Now, her eldest daughter has her own space, and the result looks so professional while giving the younger girls so much storage space for toys and clothes.

“We split one room into two using IKEA KALLAX units, and I still get asked so many questions about how we’ve done it [and] how the girls get on,” Danielle from @daniellejohnstonex on TikTok said in her recent video, which has attracted nearly 500,000 views. She explained that she hopes to one day be able to give the girls their own rooms, but for now, this divider hack is doing the trick.

Danielle stacked several KALLAX shelving units together in the center of the girls’ room and then installed an MDF “fake wall” on the backside of the units to set off a completely separate space for her 12-year-old daughter. She painted the faux wall to match the rest of the walls in the room, and it looks like it’s been there the whole time.

“We did just use a curtain here,” Danielle said, explaining the entrance to her daughter’s space, “but you could put a door.”

On the other side of the shelves, there’s a set of bunk beds for the two younger daughters. They also have access to all the KALLAX cubbies, where Danielle has stored clothing, toys, arts and crafts, and more.

“Is it the biggest? No,” Danielle admitted. “But it works really, really well for what we need, and I just love it.”

The KALLAX units are firmly secured to the wall and ceiling using weight-bearing bolts, as is the MDF faux wall, so there’s no chance of the room divider tipping. And because the KALLAX cubbies are filled with toys and clothes, it also works as a sound buffer between the two spaces.

Danielle said this was an easy and affordable way to give her girls separate spaces without needing to do any major renovations. And if their needs change later down the line, the room divider can be easily dismantled, and the room will return to its original state.

“What a phenomenal job of making it special for them,” one person commented on Danielle’s post. Another said, “This is so innovative! You did an absolutely amazing job!”

So rather than plan a major remodel, use this IKEA hack to turn one space into two. And the added storage is a major plus!