DIY cardboard furniture for home decor

Between 20 and 25 percent of municipal solid waste, which should end up in dedicated bins but often ends up in the wrong places, consists of paper and cardboard boxes. Yet, using cardboard boxes of any size, creative recycling can create highly useful and original home furnishings: coffee tables, armchairs, bookcases, shelves. And even furniture for children's rooms or the office.

Table 

Photo by Smart Cardboard via Facebook

This simple yet effective cardboard coffee table is easy to make from a sturdy box. It's fairly simple to make and versatile because it can even be used in the living room. Alternatively, you could make a bedside table . If you want to make one, follow these steps.

• Take a cardboard tube and divide it into 4 equal parts, each 25 cm long: these will be the table legs. Then, get two pieces of cardboard and cut two equal rectangles, 58 x 30 cm.
• Take a drill with a hole saw and make two large holes at the corners of both rectangles, 2 cm from the edge. The hole saw should match the outside diameter of the cardboard tube. Using the smaller hole saw (the diameter of which should be as large as the inside diameter of the tubes), cut out 8 cardboard discs.
• Then cut out 8 paper discs the same size as the cardboard ones and glue them onto the cardboard ones. Then, apply white glue around the edges of the discs and insert one into each cardboard tube: these will become the bases of the table legs.
• Insert the remaining 4 discs inside the tubes (after brushing the edges with glue), until you reach a conventional mark you made on the outside of the tube. This will also act as a small container. Now, take one of the rectangles of cardboard and on the part that will be the upper one, cut off a strip of about 2cm which will contain the tablet.
• Place this rectangle on top of the other, making sure the holes line up, and draw a small section inside the strip on the second rectangle. Now you can cut the section: you'll have created the hole for the cable. Then, draw and cut a 6x2cm strip 2cm from the right edge of the top rectangle.
• Repeat the same operation on the other side: you will have created the handles to lift the tray from the rest of the table structure. Now draw a 30x10cm rectangle in the center of the lower rectangle and outline a grid with lines spaced 2cm apart.
• Using an awl, make holes at the intersection points of the lines and then widen the holes themselves: here you will position the pcNow you can insert the tops of the tubes into the holes in the lower rectangle. Brush the tubes with white glue, near the cardboard rectangle.
• Rest the table on its legs, leaving 1,5 cm of free space at the top of the tubes. Finally, insert the top rectangle over the bottom one, already placed on the table, right into the free space left by the tubes. Press down: the two rectangles should touch, and the first should be flush with the edge of the tubes. Your bedside table is ready!

bedside table

Photo by Smart Cardboard via Facebook

Another simple DIY cardboard furniture option is the bedside table . To make it, you can use a sturdy cardboard box and decorate it however you like, with various writings and appliques.

Shelf

Photo Credit | Facebook Altrinubi

We conclude with the easiest project to put into practice, even for those who aren't too familiar with DIY. With minimal effort, you'll have a perfect cardboard shelf ready for use.

Armchair

Photo credits | Facebook Adolfo Lugli

If you want to build a cardboard armchair , you can take inspiration from the model above. Alternatively, you can get some thick cardboard, a saw, and some white glue. So…

• Cut the cardboard to create the shelves for the seat base and the backrest (remember that the seat must be half the size of the backrests, to ensure a certain balance in the proportions).
• Then, join the pieces with glue, using cardboard corners that you can make yourself. glue it should be placed in abundance both on the outside and on the inside.
• The legs are made using the same procedure, which are very wide and made of very thick cardboard, because they have to support a considerable weight.

Chair

Photo Credit | Facebook Carton Project

There are several options for creating a cardboard chair . You can take inspiration from the model in the photo, or you can layer several cardboard rectangles, gluing them together to create the frame, and then glue thinner rectangles to create the backrest and armrests.

Belief

Photo Credit | Facebook Arte Nastro by Andrea Labadini

Have you ever thought about making a sideboard out of cardboard? Here's one to inspire you, complete with little windows that make it a perfect display case to show off at home and store party favors and other goodies.

Wardrobe

Photo credits | Facebook Petra Di Grazia

If you want to build a cardboard wardrobe you need to get 6 corrugated cardboard boxes measuring approximately 33x33cm.

• Cut out the flaps of each box and arrange them in two rows of three boxes each. Then, assemble the boxes by gluing the sides together using glue and wrapping paper.
• To strengthen the structure, add some tie-downs inside some of the created compartments. Finally, lift the boxes, and your functional and aesthetically pleasing closet will be ready for use.
• Feel free to customize it with colors or whatever else matches the style of the room where you want to place it.

Library

Photo credits | Facebook Impianti Padova – Electrical and plumbing systems

Children's room furniture

Using pressed cardboard and discarded packaging, you can make a series of cardboard furniture for children : a chair, a playhouse, a mini-kitchen. Here 's the coolest little house to build for their playtime.

Office furniture

Cardboard Furniture Photos via Facebook

Then there's the Karton website, which produces exclusively cardboard furniture . Its designers create products that fold, stack, and glue, creating practical and beautiful furnishings for the home and office. The company's designers recycle used packaging and pizza boxes with imagination, in the name of eco-sustainability . This creates bedside tables, tables, bookcases, and much more. Karton furniture is incredibly easy to assemble because it comes with a convenient assembly kit and instructions, including tutorials.

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