Day 14. Cardboard Cabinet (or: sometimes you need to know how to screw up!)

Ever since the day I first found out about the magical world of building with cardboard (remember the cardboard puppet theatre that I posted hundreds of years ago?), I really wanted to build a small cabinet for the kids play room or for my craft room. So I did. It took me something like three years, but I did. The problem with these kinds of projects is that they cause a massive mess, so the kids have to be asleep. Meaning I can only start working around 8:30 pm (which also means really bad pictures for you. sorry :) ). That reduces the number of days I actually find the energy to work, so what was supposed to be a 4-5 hours work takes 3 years to finish, but that's just me :)

Anyway, building with carboard technique isn't that complicated. You need to first build a framework, that is actually a crisscross of cardboard sheets, and then cover it with more cardboard. Unfortunately, I didn't write a complete tutorial for that cabinet (come on, I hardly finished it as it is!), but you can find many of these on the WWW, just google it.

After lots of scribbles and sketches I decided to make a wheeled 3 compartment cabinet.

Step one was building the framework.

Then I covered the framework with more cardboard sheets

Framework is ready!

Now we use gummed paper on all edges to smoothen things up.

On the next step I used wallpaper paste to paste simple brown packing paper all over the cabinet. The idea is to strengthen the furniture and to make everything look smooth and clean. Guess what? I can't find any photos of this step. You'll have to use your imagination...

After it dried, it was time to paint and apply lacquer. I actually don't like how the colors came out, but at this point I was so exhausted from the whole thing and I just wanted to get over with it, so I left it that way.

It all sounds pretty simple, isn't it? So why did it take me so long to finish it?!

As you can see, something was wrong with my framework design, or maybe I should have added wheels also on the compartment in the middle as well, because it got this funny 'belly', from the weight of all the fabric (did I mention screwing up?...). And as you can also see, somewhere in the middle of the process I just couldn't care less anymore, so the brown paper cover is all wrinkled... Maybe I was hoping it'll get fixed by itself. Well, it didn't... :)

So I know, that is not exactly what I had in mind, and I know, it took me 3 years to finish, but it is a cardboard furniture and I built it, and I like it even with all its flaws :) Can't promise I'll build another cardboard furniture anytime soon, but I just saw this kids cardboard bed shaped like a racecar, Big Boy would love it!