A friend was renting space in the living room of an apartment, using Chinese Shoji screens to divide his space, and canvas taped to the ceiling to fill the four-foot gap above them — not a pretty, private, or quiet solution.

I had the idea to use styrofoam insulation boards, which come in different widths (2′ or4′) and thicknesses (.5′ to 2′) and are 8′ tall, to create light, temporary walls. Since foam insulation is used to dampen sound and insulate against temperature changes, it would have that added benefit.

Foam walls

Tools and Materials needed:

• Foam Board (we used 10 pieces of 8′x2′x2″ Dow Styrofoam Blueboard)
• Furring Strips (we used 16 pieces of 6′ strips. Although 8′ would have been ideal)
• Screws (3.5′ self-drilling screws and 2′ self-drilling screws)
• Drill
• Saw
• Metal L brackets

1. Line the boards next to each other on the floor,
2. Place a furring strip on the top edge, above and below the board (so the board is sandwiched between two strips)
3. Drill a screw through the top strip, foam, and bottom strip.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the bottom edge and in the middle of the foam boards (to add rigidity to the  wall.

The total time to buy the materials and assemble is 2 hours. If you can build Ikea furniture, you can handle this.

Building a foam wall

Creating a Corner

To make a right angle, you can screw foam-into-foam and also screw metal L brackets into the foam on the inside. Having a corner enables the walls to be free-standing. (Otherwise, you can screw an L-bracket into the furring strips and then into the wall. Use anchors before screwing into drywall or plaster.)

Wall Color / Style