When a room remodel needs to accomplish many tasks in the same space, moveable interior walls can create flexibility.
A trend coming to the United States from traditional Japanese design, moveable walls allow a single room to fulfill many functions. Usually done in bedrooms or larger great rooms, the moveable panels can close off areas for enhanced privacy or be opened up for large, formal functions. Typical uses of moveable walls include closing off or opening up a kitchen for entertaining, isolating a home office from a master bedroom space, or separating a single bedroom into two separate rooms for children.
Barry Berkus, president of B3 Architects, uses moveable walls in some of his designs. "It allows you to use a room for creative and flexible functions," he says. "But be careful of acoustic transmissions, because moveable walls are not acoustically effective. It’s a visual barrier, not an acoustical one."