We make furniture from cardboard

Dense packaging from household appliances and other products can be an excellent material for creating not only original handicrafts, but also practical home accessories. Furniture made of cardboard can be made by hand using simple diagrams and master classes. A variety of variants of drawings will allow to realize the most unusual idea. Cardboard has many advantages, thanks to which you can do a lot of functional things. Handwritten creations will be suitable for use, will last a long time, if you choose the right material and method of its processing.

Cardboard - properties and characteristics of the material

Cardboard is produced from waste paper, various wood pulp. The material consists of several layers - the inner space is filled with cheap mechanical chips, waste, outside covered with durable, more expensive cellulose with or without whitening.

Cardboard, like paper, consists predominantly of plant fibers. Its minimum thickness is 0.2 mm. Manufacturing technology is almost identical to papermaking. First, the crushed raw material is cast, then grind, pressed and dried. At the output, you can get two types of products - brands A and B. Characterize the products the following parameters:

• Weight.
• Thickness.
• Humidity indicators.
• Electrical insulation properties.
• The ability to absorb moisture (water, gasoline, oil).
• The degree of deformation during wetting and drying.

Types of cardboard

Cardboard varies in density and characteristics. Each type of material has its own purpose. It is mainly used for packaging to preserve the integrity of the content. Also from it make containers for packing, decorative, gift boxes, individual sheets. According to the composition and purpose of the cardboard is divided into the following types:

• Packing. Used in manufacturing for packing products of any group and dimensions. Corrugated cardboard is divided into classes depending on the number of layers and their density. It has high strength and shock absorption.
• Polygraphic. It makes folders, booklets, covers, various layouts. The surface of the cardboard is perfectly smooth, whitened. Products have increased strength to mechanical damage, they are not pressed when pressed without force, do not stratify.
• Chromerzac. Such cardboard boxes are made from purified wood and cellulose plain or bleached. Mainly used for packaging retail goods (jewelry, perfumes, detergents, confectionery, etc.). Inferior in popularity of corrugated board due to the high cost. It has good density, despite the small number of layers (maximum 4).
• Decorative design. Produced from high-quality expensive raw materials. The material can be of different shapes, sizes, colors. Received the greatest popularity in advertising. Business cards, flyers, booklets, personalized invitations are made from it. Also used for packaging high-end coffee, spirits, sweets.
• Shoe. Used in shoe factories and repair shops. They make insoles, heels, half insoles. It is made of synthetic materials and leather waste.

Advantages and disadvantages of cardboard furniture

Independent production of furniture from simple and more than affordable material is a great way to diversify the interior, to make temporary changes to the design of the room. You can make functional items, such as a table, chairs, a sofa, shelves or decorative toy crafts in origami style, dolls houses, children's airplanes and cars. Cardboard products have the following advantages:

1. Economic benefits. Raw materials for the manufacture of furniture do not have to buy, spend money on delivery, installation. You can use the packaging from household appliances lying on the balcony or in the garage or simply ask at the warehouse of any store.
2. Original design. You can create unique things for unusual patterns. Beautifully look sofas with small honeycombs, doll houses in the full growth of the child, tables on curly cardboard legs.
3. Ease and mobility. Furniture made of cardboard can move even a child. You can easily change the location of a massive sofa, made on the template of a large living room.
4. Safety for people and animals. The composition of the cardboard does not include harmful chemicals. Defective parts can be disposed of with benefit and without harm to the environment (use for igniting the furnace, fire).

A significant drawback of the furniture row of cardboard is the rapid loss of shape in a wet environment. Even a drop of water caught on a paper table, rack or cabinet can ruin the look of the product.

Where to use cardboard furniture

Cardboard items fit perfectly in a rustic, Scandinavian, eco interior. Furniture for the rest there is always a place in the spacious living room, on the loggia, closed terrace of a country house. Hanging hammocks from paper tubes and mobile chairs can be taken along for a picnic or fishing.

Designer tables and cardboard chairs are increasingly found in cafes and restaurants. Cheap beautiful items can last for several months without losing the original look. They can be quickly and simply replaced by similar ones without disturbing the overall style of the establishment.

Cardboard interior items can not be placed in open areas, near the roadway, fountains, ponds, lakes. The material quickly deteriorates in a humid environment, it is difficult to clean.

Ideas and options that can be made of cardboard

The strength of properly designed and processed finished products made of cardboard is not much inferior to furniture made of chipboard and plywood. Each room of an apartment or house can be successfully transformed with the help of original objects. On the windowsill in the nursery, you can attach a light house for Barbie, place a table and chairs made of cardboard on the floor. It will look great floor shelves made of glued in several layers of cardboard in the form of animals, men.

In the kitchen you can make the original dining area. The main and additional material in the form of fasteners, connecting brackets, in this case will have to spend much more. Author's stylish shelves will emphasize the personal qualities and professionalism of creative workers in the office.

Master class: create furniture with your own hands

Fashionable hobby with the benefit of recycle waste material at home has become very popular. You can create with your own hands not only furniture for your home or cottage, but also large-scale game rooms, attributes for recreation areas, comfortable armchairs, and functional shelving. You can use the most unimaginable idea. Furniture made of cardboard is not a simple hand-made article, but a long-sought-after trend in modern design. Before starting work, it is necessary to thoroughly study the master class you like and perform all the described actions in stages.

Required materials and tool kit

Furniture made of cardboard will be functional and attractive if you use quality materials for its manufacture. Novice masters will have to work with devices for butchering thick paper and methodological manuals with patterns, detailed diagrams. You can create complete items from the boxes using the following materials and tools:

• Cardboard. This may be old packaging, purchased sheets or shipping boxes;
• Scotch tape of different widths (transparent, color, double-sided);
• Office knife, scissors;
• Big ruler (minimum 50 cm), tape measure;
• Simple pencil, grater;
• Glue (PVA, superglue, glue gun);
• Kraft paper, tracing paper;
• Sandpaper for grinding cuts.

Schemes and drawings of the product

The process of preparation for work includes not only the choice of material, its cleaning and analysis, but also the creation of drawings. First you need to decide on the type of furniture and model. Then pick up the most successful scheme. Find a detailed description in any master class.

At the next stage, it is necessary to measure the area of ​​the room in which the piece of furniture will stand. Based on such data, it is necessary to correct the drawing so that the table or sofa looked harmoniously in the room. Now you can make a three-dimensional layout with the transfer of patterns, detailed drawing of all elements.

Formation of parts and assembly of products

Regardless of the complexity of the drawing and the size, features of the future design, the furniture of cardboard is made according to a single algorithm. Paper patterns are applied to the main raw material, encircled with a pencil and cut out. The obtained parts must be prepared for assembly - clean the cut-off areas with emery paper. Peeking corrugated cardboard texture can be stuck with adhesive tape, decorative paper.

After careful processing, proceed to the assembly and fastening of all the elements among themselves. You can connect the cardboard with special slots, tape and glue. To the product had a neat appearance, irregularities in places of cuts and joints sealed with putty.

All elements glued together in layers for the period of drying are placed under the press. It is necessary to organize pressure on all areas with the same force. For this you can use large books, other weighty items with a flat surface. Irregularities formed after gluing are masked with Kraft paper. After complete drying of the furniture, you can begin to strengthen and decorate it.

Reinforcement of structures

Each piece of furniture needs to be strengthened to varying degrees. Children's doll houses, chests, crafts for games can do without such a procedure. Shelves under the TV, tables, sofas, shoemakers should be necessarily durable.

Ribs provide additional fixation to all parts of any design. Without them, not to do in the manufacture of the cabinet, shelving and other dimensional items. The grooves of the connections of such items must necessarily be glueed with adhesive during assembly. This will extend the service life of products, save items stored in them. Also increase the strength of structures will help the following techniques:

• Well protect cardboard furniture from moisture parquet lacquer. Cover them already assembled, decorated design.
• Symmetrical furniture is more stable than objects of irregular shape, does not require additional fixation of supports;
• The strength of structures affects the number of transverse parts. The more of them, the more stable cabinets, tables or sofas;
• Two-layer parts will be much more reliable, especially if you combine the two parts with different directions of the waves of cardboard.

Dressing

At the final stage, they decorate the manufactured items. You can use a variety of methods - buy special finishing materials or use available tools. Proper decor and methods of its application will also help to strengthen the furniture. The following techniques are used to decorate cardboard structures:

1. Upholstery fabric. Matter can be glued, attached with a stapler or put on special pins;
2. Paint finish. With the help of acrylic compositions, you can paint furniture in one or several colors, apply any pattern through a stencil or make an author painting;
3. Decoupage The method will not only give the furniture an original look, but will also strengthen the paper material with an additional layer of glue and varnish;
4. Pasting by a film, decorative paper, wall-paper. You can use the same color or ornament that is present on the walls, ceiling, other surfaces, print any pictures;
5. Drawing a varnish, spangles. The shining houses for dolls, miniature teremki in the nursery will look fabulous, if you decorate their roofs with beads, beads, natural materials;
6. Glaze. With the help of various compositions achieve a deep transfusion of several shades.

Furniture made of cardboard triangles and sleeves

You can make original interior items not only from whole large sheets of cardboard. In the course you can put small boxes, sleeves from toilet paper. For the manufacture of functional chairs, tables of unusual shape will need to prepare many triangles. The technique is similar to modular modeling, but on a large scale. The cardboard is cut into strips, the width depends on the desired size of the triangle. Then fold several times in the technique of origami. The basis for the work should not be hard and multi-layered.

As a reliable material to create original furniture, you can use ordinary sleeves. To make dimensional functional objects, it is necessary to accumulate a large number of building elements.

These tubes create a beautiful cave design experience. Sticking them together in height, you can make original chairs and a table. On the surface of the table set designer organizer of the sleeves. You can also make an excellent hanging chandelier, a screen-partition, to collect a picture in the form of muzzles of cats, dogs and other animals.

For large crafts to collect the required number of sleeves problematic. They can be replaced by any cardboard tubes of different sizes, for example, from stretch films, baking sleeves, or made independently from a sheet of cardboard.

Care rules

The life of cardboard furniture is unlikely to extend the right and timely care. It will serve as long as possible without losing the original appearance, if you adhere to the following recommendations:

• Cardboard items should not be left in a wet room, on outdoor areas without a canopy;
• The cardboard lights up quickly, so tables, chairs and sofas should be at a safe distance from the gas stoves in the kitchen, fireplaces, fires;
• Fragile material is subject to even the slightest mechanical damage. With such furniture must be treated carefully and carefully.

Conclusion

Furniture made of cardboard can be made by various methods. Pliable material is suitable for creating structures of any complexity. There are many ideas for the manufacture of frame, modular models, in the technique of layer-by-layer gluing. The design of such furniture already seems strange to no one. Such interior items are suitable for creative, extraordinary people whose preferences are constantly changing.