There’s the honorable practice of buying expensive furniture that you’ll have for a lifetime and pass down to your grandkids, and then the perhaps more reasonable short-term alternative of just buying really cheap stuff that’s totally recyclable. That you’ll have no problem trashing when its time has passed. A three-month sublet that you’re leaving too soon to consider investing even $50 in a nightstand? When you have a toddler who’s just coloring on everything? For that, there is cardboard furniture, which is more lightweight, easy-to-assemble, and trashable than even Ikea.
We first learned about the possibilities of cardboard through the Australian brand Karton that sells real beds and dressers made out of cardboard that are kind of unbelievably intricate, and then we went in on Amazon and discovered even more fully recyclable designs. For those in temporary spaces, for those with small kids, and for those who love DIY, see below for the best Amazon has to offer in cardboard furniture.
A nightstand that can also be a stool that can also folds up and hide in the closet when you’re having a raucous house party.
We’ve also written about another cardboard standing desk called the Oristand.
Buy just one or stack these into a full-blown bookshelf.
An organizer that’s pictured in a classroom, but would add nice color and storage space to a kids’ room.
A simple wall divider that can fold up and disappear under the couch. You can also spruce up the plain black by drawing on it with chalk or accessorizing with stickers. This is cardboard, after all!
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