Like in Switzerland: we make a cardboard folding bed with our own hands

Not everyone has large apartments or houses. Wardrobes, bedside tables, tables, chairs, beds take up a lot of space. And sometimes there is physically not enough space to put an additional sofa. In this case, you can use your ingenuity and build a folding bed. Moreover, this can easily be done from ordinary corrugated cardboard with your own hands.

Of course, in terms of strength and reliability, the material is inferior to wood, any metal and plastic. Paper furniture even sounds childish. But still, products made from it can also withstand serious and regular loads.

When starting to create furniture, you need to take into account some nuances. The thicker the material, the more difficult it is to work with. But the resulting objects will be much stronger than when using thin material.

What you need to create a cardboard clamshell

To create a folding bed, you will need sheets of 7mm corrugated cardboard, which is commonly used for packaging goods, and woven tape or braid.

The advantages of using corrugated cardboard are lightness and low cost. This type usually consists of three layers. Its structure makes the material durable and quite rigid, making it possible to withstand heavy loads.

Making a pattern

Before you start assembling, you need to draw a pattern.To do this, you need to decide what size the folding bed will be. The optimal height is 25 cm, length is 2 meters, and width is 1 meter.

Using simple mathematical formulas, you need to calculate how much material you need to take. If the distance between the folds (zigzags) is 20 cm, then for a two-meter folding bed you will need a piece 5 meters long and 1 meter wide, respectively. The second piece should be 2 meters by 1 meter in size.

Assembling a miracle folding bed

1. The cardboard needs to be folded like an accordion, bending every 20 cm, according to the pattern. Then you should fix the zigzag structure. To do this, you need to stretch the woven tape from one edge to the other, thus fixing the folds. This should be done on both sides of the future folding bed. At this stage, you should try hard to prevent the bed from moving apart.
2. Next, you need to place a second sheet on top of the structure. It serves both to horizontally strengthen the folding bed and is the place on which the mattress will be located.
3. If you use it for a long time and constantly, you can glue the folding bed for its reliability. But on the other hand, the product turns out to be light and mobile. This makes it possible to assemble and disassemble it in a matter of minutes.

Perhaps the idea of ​​​​creating such furniture seems, at first glance, absurd. But that's not true. Moreover, large European companies offer beds, sofas, armchairs, cabinets and shelves made of corrugated cardboard at very impressive prices.

Of course, the material for such interior items differs from the usual “boxed” ones: it is stronger, more reliable, and even repels water. And this furniture looks interesting and modern thanks to the efforts of leading designers.

And yet: cardboard remains a light, practical and inexpensive material, from which absolutely anyone can make a comfortable and practical folding bed for themselves.