By Jeri Dansky From Core77

Furniture made from corrugated cardboard has many advantages. It’s easy to move; it’s not too expensive; it’s recyclable. We’ve written about the products from Our Paper Life, but a number of other companies have entered this market, too.

Those who live in Australia can get the products from Karton; the company doesn’t ship outside of the country, though. Karton has a wide range of offerings, including some with storage options—such as this bed, with the under-bed drawers.

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Karton has both bookshelves and chests of drawers. Can cardboard shelves really work for books? The company says, “You will be blown away by the incredible strength of KARTON. Super high-grade corrugated paper board means that KARTON products are often stronger than you need them to be.” They’re made from a combination of virgin and recycled paper; the virgin paper adds strength.

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Karton products require no tools for assembly; they rely on “a clever system of folds and tabs.” The company provides both printed and video assembly instructions.

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And of course, the products can be painted; you can also use water-based polyurethane to add some protection and some waterproofing. (But varnishing the products would probably mean they’re no longer recyclable.)

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There are also a number of companies based in the U.S. that have interesting cardboard furniture. Chairigami began with the chair shown above. It’s quite a flexible product; turned on its side, it becomes a stacking shelf.

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Chairigami now makes three chairs, a sofa, two desks, a coffee table, and both a single and a double shelving unit. The furniture is manufactured from Triple Wall, a three-ply corrugated board made from 70% recycled cardboard and 30% FSC-certified virgin fiber

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SmartDeco was founded by Trent Mayol, who was inspired to make corrugated cardboard furniture when he “got tired of dealing with imported, ugly, overpriced, poorly made furniture that is a pain to put together and even more of a headache to move.” You won’t find any chairs in this collection, but there’s a desk and a number of storage options. Unfortunately, the dressers are currently sold out on the company’s website, but you may be able to find one on Amazon.com.

All SmartDeco products are tested to hold over 400 lbs. And they come with a waterproof Lid Shield that snaps on top.

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The cardboard furniture from Flatgoods includes chairs, tables and storage pieces. What especially caught my attention were two notable features I’m not seeing elsewhere. The first is the optional dry-erase surface on the tabletops—making this a dual-purpose item, great for small spaces where having a whiteboard would be nice, but isn’t feasible.

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The second is the ability to have the furniture printed with one of the company’s stock patterns (another feature being added to the website shortly) or one of the customer’s own designs. For customized products, the company provides a template which the customer then completes with Adobe Creative Suite.

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Of course, you can also make your own cardboard furniture. This end table was designed and built by someone on Instructables.

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