Remodeling Guides
How to Divide an Open-Plan Space With a Half Wall
Want to separate areas without losing the expansive feel? Pony walls can help make an open floor plan work
Is your preference for an open plan, but not quite? If you’re in favor of its spacious feel, extra light and views through to the outside but wonder how to subdivide the area, that’s where the half wall, or pony wall, can come in.
As the following photos show, a horizontal or vertical mini wall can separate without enclosing to satisfy both a desire for a contemporary layout and a need for cocooning areas, a little privacy and a place to position furniture or hang things.
As the following photos show, a horizontal or vertical mini wall can separate without enclosing to satisfy both a desire for a contemporary layout and a need for cocooning areas, a little privacy and a place to position furniture or hang things.
Warm both sides. The divider is vertical, rather than horizontal, in this home. Again, it creates more intimate areas within an open layout. The bonus is the inset fireplace, which is double-sided and a cozy focal point for this seating area and the one beyond.
The firewood storage alongside also allows glimpses from one space to the other, maintaining the open feel.
The firewood storage alongside also allows glimpses from one space to the other, maintaining the open feel.
Employ a multitasker. In this bedroom and bathroom space, the divider is a headboard that allows bathroom access to one side and leaves the draped ceiling visible. Notice how it’s fitted with a glass panel to let light through.
The strategy leaves space for wall-mounted items, such as the cast-concrete bedside lights.
Browse one-light wall sconces
The strategy leaves space for wall-mounted items, such as the cast-concrete bedside lights.
Browse one-light wall sconces
Create a dressing area. In this bedroom, a dressing area lies beyond a half wall (see the next photo for the view of the other side). This divider again does double duty as a headboard while leaving the closet cabinetry on view from the bedroom.
Check out the carpet in here. Soft texture to treat bare feet is bound to make early starts less painful.
Double the effect. The combination of a half wall and a height change divides a fireside seating area from a book-lined sofa area in this home. The wall delineates without depriving areas of daylight from the windows on both sides. A stove can be an open-plan divider in itself, of course, but teaming this one with a wall helps make the cozy area even more distinct.
Finishing the top of the half wall with wood puts a natural material on show and warms up a cool-toned space.
Finishing the top of the half wall with wood puts a natural material on show and warms up a cool-toned space.
Provide a view. In this home office, a half wall creates a workspace that has a view down through the house and that shares light from windows on both sides. The clever trick gives a boundary to the desk area without boxing it into a tight spot. See this space from the other side in the next photo.
Keeping the flooring consistent — in this case, wood across the office and staircase — is another way to enlarge a space visually.
Choose what to reveal. Both vertical and horizontal half walls allow you to manage what’s seen in different parts of an open-plan space, so take advantage of this in your planning. In this room, for example, the elegant freestanding tub is center stage, with the more mundane areas of the bathroom hidden.
This room also exemplifies the space-stretching effect of white, with the lengthy room appearing even longer as the half wall and the far wall visually recede.
This room also exemplifies the space-stretching effect of white, with the lengthy room appearing even longer as the half wall and the far wall visually recede.
Incorporate storage. A division that’s halfway up and halfway across separates the bedroom from the bathroom in this barn conversion. It’s another multitasking example, this time adding a closet to the room.
The color palettes are a visual separator for this open plan too, with the dark tones of the bathroom set against clean white in the sleeping area.
The color palettes are a visual separator for this open plan too, with the dark tones of the bathroom set against clean white in the sleeping area.
Speed up table setting. Storage space also is an extra benefit of this half wall, which separates the dining and living areas. Shelving for glasses and vases on this side facilitates table setting. The other side features shelving and a place to mount the TV.
Note how the divider’s placement allows the air to circulate and the light to flow.
Note how the divider’s placement allows the air to circulate and the light to flow.
Install a niche. Half walls come in all sizes. Here, a wall the length of the tub partially conceals the shower. Fitting it with a niche keeps bath products handy — an idea worth remembering if you’re hankering after a freestanding tub that doesn’t provide space for potions along its edge.
The other half wall, to the left of the bath-shower partition, hides the toilet from the rest of the room.
Where to Put Your Freestanding-Bathtub Necessities
Tell us: How have you used a half wall? Let us know in the Comments.
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Rethinking the Open-Plan Space
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The other half wall, to the left of the bath-shower partition, hides the toilet from the rest of the room.
Where to Put Your Freestanding-Bathtub Necessities
Tell us: How have you used a half wall? Let us know in the Comments.
More
Rethinking the Open-Plan Space
Open Plan Not Your Thing? Try ‘Broken Plan’
Another open-plan dividing trick is employed here too. The bed is on a platform, enclosed but not shut off by glass, so it’s both apart from and above the living area, adding another level to the small home.