What to do with this Antique Tri-fold screen?

decorative paper would be a great idea. then add any embellishments you like. I did this with old embroidery rings and sold them at a craft show.

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/folding-screens/

A lot depends on where you're going to use it. You could put corkboard and pin pictures on it. You could put mirrors in a few of the panels. You could put some type of artwork- whether it be on canvas or foam board or something you printed off of the internet and mounted to a piece of cardboard.

I agree that it really depends on where you plan to use it, and your personal style/tastes. Other ideas I would suggest are chicken wire (for rustic decor, it's an awesome choice) or (plexi-) glass panels, either frosted or embellished with glass paint, or that deco-glass product that gives you a stained glass look.

Thin sheets of wood might be easiest. Then paint,with latex, maybe in school colors and post kids pictures, report cards, etc.

I too have a frame to an old folding divider. I have been holding on to it until I found the time and the perfect fabric, etc. Thanks for the reminder and ideas.

Take it to a glass store and see how little it would cost to have glass panels cut to fit the screen. You could pick from a variety of different glass styles, etched, textured, plain, etc. I think etched glass would be attractive. You could get plain glass and etch it yourself using a stencil made from mactac. You would have to make the stencil yourself, but that is just a matter of tracing and using a utility blade to cut it out, isn't it.

How about decoupage or hardware screen and hang jewelry or your favorite photos?

It really depends on your decor and what you want to accomplish with the screen. Rice paper would provide privacy that light would be defused through. If your decor is more rustic, chicken wire would give you a place to display photos and kid's art work with clothes pins so you could easily rotate the display. This time of year you could use it to show off your Christmas cards.

I love seeing all the ideas, gives me new ideas. What I'm doing with a screen I'm working on right now is putting in a french wallpaper, it has old fencing with birds, ($45.00 eBay) painting the trim, adding paper mache molds from primo, i just got these and I'm having so much fun, they have a Victorian look, or just very vintage. Sooooo many ideas, so little time, lol.

Emobssed metal panels. Home Depot had some that were made from plastic but looked pretty good in metal tones.

Send it to me....LOL

I'd get the light weight canvas on frames most dollar stores sell them. Just make sure the measurements are right so they fit your frames. You can paint anything you like on the white side. Leave them white, paint to match the décor of the room you're planning to use it in. Paint birds, flowers, footprints, handprints of family members ... the possibilities are endless. You can turn the back into a corkboard, use light weight wood with hidden hinges to create doors on the other side. Use small hooks or whatever to hang scarves, jewellery or other small light weight treasures .... again the choice is yours. The simplest one is to hem fabric to make simple curtains, sew simple hems on either end and run small curtain rods or wires through them. You only need to get the length right as the fabric can be gathered to fit each panel. You've likely seen the fabric ones used in hospitals. The advantage of using fabric is they are easy to take down and wash. I'm sure you are overwhelmed with ideas, start with something simple. That gives you time to figure out what you'd like for long term ideas. Maybe you want to use chalk board paint on light plywood if you plan on using it in a child's room. It cost a friend a small fortune to repaint his 5 year olds room. His budding artist had drawn a mural on the bedroom wall. The first thing you need to decide is where it will be used then choose a theme romantic, practical, rustic to match all the wonderful ideas you are receiving.

When redoing a guest room for my young neices, I tacked dotted Swiss fabric into the panels and finished them off with fabric trim and ribbons. I put it in a corner and mounted pegs on the wall behind it

so they could hang their night clothes there. I also used the dotted Swiss to make skirts for the bed side tables.

Oh, I also painted the frames before adding the fabric.

Use wallpaper you love on board but aren't comfortable using on a whole wall. Or you could use wallpaper on foam-core if you aren't sure about using on a wall as a try-out. My vintage screen has a different pattern on each side, so I rotate it when I want a small change.

Here's an off the wall idea. Bubble wrap spray painted a metallic color would give it a vintage look.

Styrofoam tin look ceiling tiles. They come in a wide variety of patterns, can be painted and are around $3 -4 per 20" x 20" panel. This would make a dramatic statement in any room. Or, you could back them with mirrors and use them as a dressing mirror. One more idea, if you have little ones, you could put wood inserts painted with chalkboard paint! :)

Photos or Needlepoint panels

I've seen small wooden slats, stained or painted placed horizontally. Here we'd call them wood shims found at the hardware store similar in size to paint stir sticks. There's a local cabinet doors maker here that sells these strip as scrap wood and I love to craft with them !

I think string art would be a great idea....Tack small nails evenly along the top and bottom and weave string (any color will do) choose an appropriate thickness and just weave back and forth....You can make it as private or open as you want by the distance between the small nails.