Modern Side Table Made Out of Cardboard

I have wanted to make some sort of furniture out of cardboard for a while now. I felt like a table would be an excellent object to start with.

Tools you will need:

1. razor blade

2. Cardboard (corrugated is the best)

3. white PVA glue

4. a ruler

Any other tools are certainly helpful but not completely necessary to finish this project. Let it also be known that you could use the tools and steps in this instructable to make anything out of cardboard.

1st step is to find the shapes you want and then cut them all out of cardboard using your razor blade.The cutting is the longest and most time consuming step in this entire process.

2nd step is to assemble all of the parts of the table after you have cut them to shape and size.

For my project I wanted to make sure the thickness was roughly 2cm. I also used a tip I heard elsewhere that it adds to the strength of the piece to make sure the corrugation of the cardboard crosses. In other words make the grains of the cardboard alternate. You can see in my pictures that I did this.

In the pictures you can see that I just simply cut everything, and then using PVA glue (and some wood glue) I assembled the layers and put weight on them so they didn't bend.

For my project I ended up being able to use a cut off that was absolutely perfect for the legs of the table. I wanted to make sure they were well supported and could hold weight, so I put triangle supports inside the legs. I hope it is more evident from the pictures I added for you to see the process.

I saw another Instructable about making "the mix". It is simply water and PVA glue (aka Elmer's glue) and it was very helpful in figuring out how to get these parts covered so I could later paint.

In order to cover each leg and the table top I used regular kraft paper (Brown) that you can get at most stores, but I got it from work.

The best way to apply the "mix" is to use a sponge or paintbrush to apply it to the surface you want glued and to the piece it is going onto. You can see in the pictures how this was done. In order to get rid of any and all of the wrinkles that appear when you get the paper wet, you simply use a hair dryer on it's highest setting or a heat gun when it is halfway dry. I was actually impressed to how well it worked.

I was debating various methods on how to get the surface just right. There are many alternatives to what I did and it is purely up to the maker's choice. I got the idea to use regular old scotch tape. It added a texture that I really liked and it also added to the value of how this piece was modern but made entirely out of scraps of things you find in your own home.

After taping the whole thing I used some of the "mix" to keep it glued down. Sort-of modge podge style.

Of course the final step was painting it and I just used cheap old regular white and black acrylic paint to make a light grey.

I just used simple hot glue to get the legs secured.

And Voila!!! the table is done!

In all this project took me 14 hrs between three days of work on and off.