Hooray Cardboard Furnishings
I’ve been moving apartment for the past few weeks, packing, repacking, jettisoning kit, repeat. Ikea furniture is quite terrible for non-drivers, its heavy, often one-time use, and in switzerland its difficult to get rid of.
Swiss apartments often have built in cabinetry and closets with shelves in the walls. This makes purchasing bookshelves and clothing closets superfluous.
Desks and chairs which are foldable and thus stowable (on the balcony for instance) make limited floorspace accessible, cleanable, and reusable.
Beds are typically heavy, but if one restricts themself to mattresses which can be stowed upright during the day, the floorspace is again available.
For random things like stereo and lamp fixtures, the idea is to have the item at hand/eye level and nothing more. However, accomplishing this in a car-free lifestyle has been difficult, as most commercial solutions involve plywood or other heavy, wasty materials.
I’ve grown fond of using cardboard for this type furniture, for instance, prefab ikea-boxes to seat my stereo unit, 2 boxes near the door to prop up keys and wallet, etc. Its good to keep things at eye-level to avoid the situation of hiding things rather than storing things. Using empty boxes is ideal as well, because they’re easy to acquire and dispose during any move.
Cardboard is also craftable at home, enabling people to make custom solutions for their own needs, not being manipulated by the designers at IKEA labs in Jönköping or Beijing. For instance, I saw this prop-up stand for a macbook and was very inspired:
Check out the prop-up stand for the IPOD next to the laptop pedestal, wowsers. Cardboard furnishings, coupled with foldable “hard” furnishings like folding chairs and tables, clever apartment design (large built-in closets), and a minimalistic approach to bedding (mattresses), render a completely car-free lifestyle entirely possible.
Some of these great ideas and more are available at unclutterer.
This post written in part for the group writing project “design you love” contest at DESIGNER-DAILY.
#1 - Permalink 4 days left to submit your entries to the “Design you Love” group writing project | Design daily news October 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pm[...] Hooray Cardboard Furnishings by Will Anderson. [...]
#2 - Permalink Design you love: a group writing project with awesome prizes | Design daily news October 28th, 2008 at 6:55 pm[...] Hooray Cardboard Furnishings by Will Anderson. [...]
#3 - Permalink Lennart October 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pmHi Will,
why did you move to a new apartment? Time for family life?
#4 - Permalink 23 designs you’ll love | Design daily news November 16th, 2008 at 10:41 pm[...] Hooray cardboard furnishings by Will Anderson. [...]
#5 - Permalink Results from the Design You Love Group Writing Project } Group Writing Projects November 27th, 2008 at 7:02 pm[...] Hooray cardboard furnishings by Will Anderson. [...]
#6 - Permalink ooopinionsss December 3rd, 2008 at 3:49 amHow you think when the economic crisis will end? I wish to make statistics of independent opinions!
#7 - Permalink Design You Love: Group Writing Project April 8th, 2009 at 6:40 am[...] Hooray Cardboard Furnishings by Will Anderson. [...]