How to Make Strong Shelves Out of Cardboard | DIY Shoe Storage or Mini Bookcase

I’m one of those people who likes to keep cardboard boxes because they’ll come in useful one day, and I always have so many ideas for what I could use them for. I won’t tell you how long I’ve had this cardboard box stored away, ready to be upcycled into storage, because the important thing is that it finally happened :D

I read a quote recently about how creative people "don’t have mess, they have ideas lying around"….too true.

Anyway, these shelves are made from multiple layers of cardboard to make them super strong and sturdy, and then I pretty-fied them with wallpaper and self-adhesive vinyl for a much smarter finish.

I hope you enjoy this cheap, useful & fun shelving project!

- A Cardboard Box; the same size as the shelves you want to make. If you can’t find one, you could construct it from scratch instead, it’s just easier to use a box as the starting point.

- Double-Walled Cardboard Sheets; you can recycle sturdy packaging for this or buy a pack of large sheets. You need at least a couple of sheets the same size as the sides of the cardboard box you’re using. The sheets I used were 50 x 35 cm and I needed about 9.

- Glue; I used wood glue for the cardboard and PVA glue for the wallpaper.

- Old Paintbrush; to apply the glue.

- Utility Knife

- Metal Ruler

- Cutting Mat

- Scissors

- Pencil/Pen

- Self-adhesive vinyl; I opted for a woodgrain effect.

- Wallpaper (or other paper); to cover the cardboard walls on the inside. I had some leftover.

- White Mat Board; this is strong, stiff card. You’ll need a piece large enough piece for covering the front edges of your shelves in the last step.

- Books; or other objects to use as weights.

- Bulldog Clips (optional); to hold cardboard layers together as glue dries.

Decide which side you are going to cut out - which will then become the front of the cupboard - and leave 2 flaps attached at the top (as shown). I used scissors to do this.

Then cut 5 cardboard sheets; 1 the same size as the inner base, 2 the same size as the outer sides, 1 the same size as the inner top, and 1 the same size as the outer top.

For these pieces, I marked out the sizes I wanted onto cardboard sheets, then used a utility knife and metal ruler to cut them out. On top of a cutting mat of course :)

Brush wood glue onto the inner base and attach the corresponding cardboard piece. Add weights on top whilst it dries.

Then glue the underside of the 2 top flaps and attach the corresponding piece underneath (holding it in place with clips), and then attach the top piece in the same way, adding weights on top until it dries.

When the glue has dried, you can repeat the same steps for the 2 side pieces to attach them onto the sides (on the outside of the box).Lay the box on its side and add weights until these dry too.

Next, measure and cut out 3 more pieces of cardboard, all the same size as the inside of the box. These will be the same size as the piece you used for the inner base.

Note: I made my shelf a snug fit, but if you want it to be removeable later on, make sure the pieces can slide in and out of the box easily.

Glue these 3 pieces together with wood glue, put a weight on top and leave to dry.

I recommend drawing an arrow on the underside of this shelf to show you which way it is supposed to slide into place (in case it's not exactly symmetrical).

For the 2 inner side walls, cut out 3 cardboard pieces. You want 3 pieces the same size for each side, and you should make them the same as the width as the inside, but the height should be (the height of the inside - the depth of the shelf you just made);

So when you put the pieces inside the box, as shown in the photos, there should be a small gap at the top.

Label the side of each piece which will be in contact with the outer cardboard box - to show you what side the piece needs to go on, which end is up etc ... where it needs to be positioned basically.

Take one set of 3 cardboard pieces (i.e. 3 for the right side or 3 for the left side) and cut them all in half. Make sure you keep the matching pieces together and orientated in the same way throughout, so they don't get mixed up.

You'll then have 6 pieces; 3 which will go at the top and 3 which will go at the bottom of one side of the box.

Glue together the 3 top pieces, and glue together the 3 bottom pieces. Use wood glue and add weight on top until the glue dries.

Repeat the same for the set of 3 cardboard pieces for the other side of the box.

Definitely keep these sections labelled throughout, so you know which piece goes where, and in which direction they need to be orientated.

You'll then have 4 rectangles of cardboard, each 3 layers thick.

You can see my labels and arrows on the cardboard sections in the first photo.

At this point I used wood glue to attach the lower side pieces to the inside of the box, as shown. However, what would have been easier would have been to cover these sections, and the inside back of the box, with wallpaper first - as seen in later steps. Either way works, but it would be a bit neater to glue the wallpaper to the cardboard pieces before glueing the cardboard pieces into the box.

Leave the glue to dry.

Meanwhile, cut a piece of the woodgrain vinyl that's a bit bigger than the shelf you made, peel off the backing, and then attach it to the top of the shelf.

Take note of which way you want the woodgrain to go. I used the arrow I drew on the underside of the shelf earlier as my guide.

Smooth out any wrinkles with your hands.

Turn the shelf over onto a cutting mat and use your utility knife to carefully cut away any excess vinyl for a neat finish.

Repeat the same concept for the 2 sides and then the top of the box.

So cut a piece of vinyl a bit bigger than one side, peel off the backing, attach the vinyl, smooth it on, then cut off the excess vinyl. You'll want the woodgrain to run vertically up the sides.

Repeat for the other side, then add the top piece last.

Roughly cut a piece of wallpaper bigger than what you will need for covering the back, and then push it into position inside the box

Fold the wallpaper inwards to show you where you need to cut to make it the same size as the back.

Use scissors or your knife to cut along these folds (I used scissors).

Once it's the right size, apply a thin layer of PVA glue underneath and smooth the paper down on top.

Then repeat this same method to cover the 2 side pieces already glued in. If you haven't glued them in yet, cover the fronts in wallpaper first, then glue them into the box.

Leave the glue to dry.

Next, slide the shelf into place inside the box - so it rests on top of the lower side pieces. No need to glue, especially if you want it to be removeable.

Test if the upper side pieces fit into place above this shelf, and if they don't, now is the time to trim them down until they fit perfectly.

Then apply a thin layer of PVA to the front of each of these pieces, add pieces of wallpaper that are a bit too big, smooth out the paper and leave the glue to dry. Then use your knife to trim off the excess paper.

Glue these upper side pieces into place (with wood glue).

To tidy up the front edges, I then decided to cover them with a single piece of white mat board.

To do this, I traced around the outside of the box onto the back of the mat board. Then I used my ruler to measure the openings on the front of the box and transferred these measurements onto the board.

Err on the side of caution, as it's better to remove too little material than too much. Cutting out too much board will leave parts of the cardboard edges exposed and look messy.

Note: If you want the shelf to be removeable, you can do that; you'll just need to attach a separate piece of board to the front of the shelf. The rest of the mat board can be in one piece.

Glue the mat board in place on the front of the box using a strong glue. You can use wood glue again, but I used UHU all-purpose adhesive this time.

And that's it, the project is finished!

I use mine as a mini bookcase, but I think it would also make a good shoe cupboard :)

I hope you enjoyed the Instructable.