Make a Coffee Table from Cardboard - Simple DIY furniture

1. Intro video: Hi everyone. Welcome to this class. Here we will make this table. What is special about this table is that it's made of cardboard. Yes, that is cobbled. But although it's just paper and glue, you can still use it as a regular table. We will learn all the steps, how to make sturdy furniture from cardboard, and how to paint it like that so it can look like wood. If you have questions, post them in the discussion. And that's it. Let's get to work. 2. Tools: For making furniture, we use double wall, cow gated cardboard. The current that is used in packages or flowers or electronic utilities like TV screens, air conditioning units, washing machines, etc. We need the cutting knife, whole craft knife, a knife with a lock. When the blade gets bland, we replace the blade like that. So we also need pliers and replacement blades. We need a ruler. You can use a little one like this, but it's much easier to use a long one and it's not expensive. We use PVA glue or school glue and hot glue and hot glue gun. You will also need an L-shape roller or triangular ruler. Some ruler that has a 90-degree angle. Sandpaper. Acrylic varnish for wood furniture, damped paper tape, a sponge in some kind of container for water, a cutting mat like this one with the grid. You don't have to. You can just use some kind of cardboard to lay down to protect the table. That I highly recommend buying this because it's very useful and I use it for a lot of projects. Acrylic paints and a brush. For the table, I will use white, dark titanium and burnt amber. And finally, Caesars. A pen or pencil and masking tape. 3. Planning the table: I start by planning my table. I measure the place that I wanted. The table will be, I think about what I will use it for. This would be a coffee table and should be roughly the same height as the seat of my sofa. The length of the table would be 78 cm, the height 37 cm, and the depth 50 cm. The measurements of this table are in the projects and resources section that you can change the dimensions to your needs. I recommend that the length of the table will be no more than 70 or 80 cm. In cases of very long tables, there should be some more support in the middle. So I prefer to keep it under 80 cm. I also included measurements for a kid's table. That one is 50 by 50 and the height is 50 cm. The first part that we need will be the front panel. This is the front panel. This is the back banner. And there will be two more in the middle to distribute the way that will be on the table. So the beginning is very simple. I need to cut a piece of cardboard that is these measurements. And I will need four of them. The next video, I will cut the panels. 4. How to cut safely: Before we start to cut, we have to talk about some safety rules. Even if you have experienced with cutting knives, please pay attention to this very important rules. Maintain a sharp knife so you don't have to struggle with cutting. Sharp knife is safer. When you cut. Stand. Don't sit down. You don't have enough control on the blade. When you sit, the cardboard is very thick. Don't try to cut it in one. Go. Stand in front of the ruler along the line. When you start to cut, don't just start cutting because the knife may get out of line and cut your finger. So the role of firmly feel the ruler with the blade. When you feel it, just then start to cut. Don't use a lot of false. Again, feel the ruler and start to cut. When we made this, we can put the ruler side, hold the cardboard firmly, the hand in a respect and respectful distance. Respect the knife and don't get too confident. Repeat these steps every time you cut cardboard as if it's your first time. Even if you are very experienced. To find a straight line, we use the natural lines of the cardboard. Sometimes it's very easy to see the lines in cardboard like this. The lines are very obvious. But when we use smooth cardboard, sometimes it's harder to see the lines. If you don't see them. Hold the cargo hold in all kinds of angles to the light until you see the lines. Lock the first point on the line. We lack the next point. And then we can base all our lines on that first line. 5. Cutting the main parts: Now I will cut the main parts of the table to make the first line. I use the natural lines of the cardboard. Now I have one side that is a clean straight line. From here, I measure 17 cm, and I cut my second line. I locked the knife, the blade one to align the ruler to the line that I marked. I put the knife in contact with the ruler, certainly to the cardboard. And then I start to cut. If you didn't watch the previous video about how to cut the cardboard, safety, please do so before you cut the cardboard yourself, it's very important. Now I have two straight lines. To cut this side, I will need to measure right angle. I can use a triangular ruler. We say 90 degrees corner of an L-shaped rulers over T ruler. If you don't have any ruler of this kind, you can use other object that has a 90 degrees angle. I always speak this video app, this point, but please do not rush when you cut. Do it slowly and carefully. Now when we measure 37 cm, that is the height of the page. The thickness of the leg is three-and-a-half centimeters. But they found out that the width of the ruler is about that size. So to make things simpler, I will use the ruler to measure the week. So now I have my first panel. At this point. It doesn't look like something that you can make a table out of. It looks so small and flimsy. But don't worry, you will see the magic late. I need three more panels like this one. I can use. The first one is a stencil to mock the waste. If it had a complex shape, that would be the perfect solution. But because it has a simple shape with straight lines, I'll measure the rest is a date, the first one. So we have full Panels. Choose the ones that will be in the front and on the back, depending on how smooth and clean the cardboard is. Give them numbers to avoid confusion later on. In the next video, we'll make the paths that connect them. 6. Cross sections: First I will make a stencil to help me mark the notches. For this, use, a thick piece of paper. Its height should be the height of this margin. The width doesn't matter that much. I'll make it 6 cm. So we need a piece like this one. Now I will find half of the height, because the height is three-and-a-half centimeters, the meet point is 1.75. And now I have to cut a hole here. The thickness of the cardboard. I put it in the middle and mock the thickener. And I will cut this part. So this is the stencil that I need. Now I will check if it is indeed in the right size. It goes in without pressure, but it's the right size. It's not too big. I want to make notches, one in the middle and two more on the sides. He doesn't have to be exactly in the center. But for good measure, I prefer to be in the center. So I measured to find the middle point, mark this line. And now I will take my stencil, place it so that it's in the middle. So I can see the line from below. And with the pencil or pen, I will mark the hole and I will cut it out. So this is the first one. Now we will do another one here. This time we will do it with a notch facing up. In 1 mol. Here. I will only make two notches, not three. And also on the other side. Now I will do the same for final number three as well. So I placed part two on top of part three. Check that it is exactly straight and mark all the notches. So 2.3 have these notches parallel. And in part 1.4, which is the front part, in the back part, we won't cut the notches, but we will mark them. I want to mark the notches on part one, but on the backside. So I paint them together, flip them over. And now I marked an artist in part one. The notches are marked on the backside. And adult Catlin. Also in part four, there will be marked on the inside, which is default facing us now. So now I have these four pieces. In part one. The notches are marked on the inside too. And fast three. The notches up cutout in part for the notches are marked in the inner part. Now we can go to the next day cutting the cross-sections. The cross sections will connect these four panels. The depth of the table should be 50 cm. According to my plan. The cross sections will be between the front and the back panels. And we have to take into account the thickness of the cardboard itself of these two panels. Therefore, the path between them will not be 50 cm methylator lists, let's say 48 cm. So I need to cut such a strip whose height is 3.5 centimeter. Or in my case, the rulings height and the width is 48 cm. We will need seven of these, three of them to enter here and fall more to enter here and here. The most important thing is that the broad side will be the side with the waves. I mock seven of these. The width is 48 cm. Because I have two panels in the middle of the table. I will need two notches here. I want them to be roughly equidistant. So Mark 15 cm from the side and 15 cm from the other side. I will use the template again to lock the notches to be the same size. And I will cut the notches as I did in the notches of the time. In the meantime, the blade has worn out, and this is a good opportunity to show how I changed the blade. I turn it to unlock it until the school comes out. You should take it out carefully so that the parts don't fall apart and weight will be clear how to put it back again. I've pulled a new blade Dean and scroll Bugzilla. We have seven of these and there are no chairs should be parallel. The next video, we will connect the paths to create the frame or the base of the furniture. 7. The main frame: In this video, I will assemble the base of the table. I start with the central parts 2.3. I put them up in set one of the cross sections to connect them on the other side. Now I can leave it because it can stand on its own. I pulled the cross-sections on the sides. Here were the notches at the bottom. I put a piece of masking tape to hold it in place. Here's the front panel and the backbone of a check that I haven't forgotten any part. Or if there is something that is too long or too short. This is the time to fix things before we glue on the parts. If everything is okay, I can assemble these parts again, but this time with PVA glue. Before I leave it to dry, a check that everything is tracked in that the parts are in the middle and don't stand out. After the glue has dried sufficiently. It's time to glue the front panel and the back panel. The notches I marked in these panels will help me place them exactly in place. These are narrow paths, so I prefer to use hot glue because it dries quickly. Because very important not to touch the hot glue with your fingers. If there are drapes, do not clean them with your hand. You can use a small piece of cardboard to clean up the glue residue. The base of the table is ready. In the next video, we will add the inner parts of the table. 8. Supports and outer parts: The frame is ready. If we put too much weight here, it may collapse because there is nothing to hold it from below. Our next step is to make these parts. They will be connected to each other and support each other. After that, there will also be a part on top that will hold it and that will make the whole thing stable. I always start with the inner parts. If I do the auto parts, I flip it over. I have these two pieces, the leftovers. When I cut the pants, they are exactly the height of these inner parts. I will stick them here on the sides. After that, that will measure the distance left here because it is an inner part and will not be seen. I allowed myself to use leftovers of two pieces of cardboard that I have. But of course, one large piece is better. So I will do this down and wait for them to dry before I proceed to glue the rest of the pieces. I use a combination of PVA glue and hot glue because it is faster that you can't apply them in the same place. So I will apply hot glue here and there. And PVA glue everywhere else. Despite all the measurements that I tried to make it accurate, it is not a perfect rectangle. I will glue a piece of cardboard that is a little bigger. And after it dries, I will cut out the leftover. This is the best way to be precise and get clean corners. Since this is a flat and white part, I will use PVA glue. If I was in a hurry, I would use the method of combining hot glue and PVA glue, but I have time. Now, I will place heavy flat objects on the books are perfect for this purpose. I would like to dry for a few hours. After they're completely dry, you can cut out all the protruding and unnecessary paths, make a cut adjacent to the line. And as much as possible in a straight line. Make the first cut slowly and patiently to get a straight cut. Before we glue these pieces on the sides. And on the top, It's important that we add supports. If we will put this part here, there is enough support with all these cross-species. And it will be enough if we use the table only four broad things. Because there are large empty spaces here. If someone will lean on the table here, if someone places something small but very heavy, it may then to the table in this weak spot. That's why we will add more support. In this stage, I want to glue these two parts with paper thing. I will do it on the inside as well. So these are the pieces that we will use. The height is the same as the height of the cross sections. We will cut them to length as needed. What is important is that the Abroad side is the side with the waves. I take a piece like this one and cut as much as I need. And I will stick it in place with PVA glue. The shape doesn't matter. I prefer diagonals because they take up more space. You can also make triangles curbs. The main thing is to divide the area into small spaces. So this part is dry. I did not add support on the sides because there will be no heavy weight on them. But you can add support there if you want to. In the next video, I will add this path. And this path. Only after that, I will add the top, which will be over everything, including this side panels. 9. Outer parts - part 2: I cut two pieces that will be here. I caught them a little bigger than they should be. I prefer the part facing out to be the part with the waves because it looks nicer. Because I want it to stick fast and use hot glue. But because there's a large area here, I also use PVA glue. Now quickly put it in place and I'll use its weight to attach it better. Both parts are glued. It wasn't rolled out to mark the cutting line. The cut along that line. Because of the new side panels, I will add more support to connect them. Now the table top, this is the white piece, so I will use PVA glue. I use a little piece of cardboard to spread the glue over the entire surface. In the meantime, when it dries, I can glue those parts of the legs. I will use PVA glue on the long lines and hot glue on the two narrow lines. The table is almost ready. In the next video, we will check that the table is level. We will fill holes in Santa colonists. 10. Smoothing, leveling and filling: Before we continue, we should check that all the connections are smooth and there are no bumps. With my fingernail. I check well, they are protruding parts and cut them out carefully. And after that, use sandpaper to smooth it. Use a spirit level to check if the table is level. If it's not, put a long piece of cardboard and then one of the legs to level the table and stick it in place with glue. Another thing you should do is to check if there are big holes or gaps and fill them. I use shavings of cardboard, but you can also use little pieces of tissue paper. Mix them with some glue, and push it inside the hole. After it dries. Use sandpaper to smoothie. In the next video, we will do one more important step before painting the table. 11. Paper tape: The next step is to use paper tape. There are two reasons. One is to add more strength to the connections, and the second is that it looks cleaner and smooth. We use gummed paper tape. It comes in different sizes. I use one that is 4.5 cm wide or 1.7 ". You can use plain paper instead and apply PVA glue, but the results are nicer with this paper tape. The paper is perfect for cardboard. It has a similar color and it's glue is very strong. The shiny side has an adhesive that gets activated when you wet it with water. That's why it's important. So keep it away from water so it doesn't get wet accidentally. The stains here, a water spots. I recommend starting with the inner part to practice using this paper. I mentioned how much I need. It's better to cut it too long than two short. Keep it away from the water container. To get a nice corner, I fold the paper in half because it's an inside corner. I folded with the glue on the outside, do it with dry hands. I use a wet sponge because it's easier to apply the water that way. Make sure to apply the water all over the paper. Now I touch the cornea of the paper to the corner of the cardboard. Don't stick it yet laid down. Find the center and from there outwards. If there is a crease, pick it up, strengthen and grow it again. With my finger. I press the paper well into the corner. After that I do the other side in the same way. First from the center outwards. Here, it didn't stick. I probably didn't put water here with it and ***** again. Occasionally wipe your hands and the surface. This was an inner corner. Now I will show an outer corner. Sometimes it's difficult to manage long pieces of paper. It can also be divided into small parts. When the colonists outside folded paper out in the corner along the entire length. Then one side. At the same time a stretch the paper lethal so that there are no wrinkles. And now the top part from the center outward, now the other half on a corner like this. If I put paper tape here and here, I will have an open spot here. So I'll cover that part first. I got the square and glue it roughly in the center. Make a diagonal cut here. That way you can have a neat corner. After I have done all the inside parts in the side, I also arranged the corners of the talk. The next step isn't necessary, but I like the clean look of it. I take the paper tape which is about the width of the leg, or cut the length of the leg. I mark a diagonal here in the corner. About 45 degrees angle. Cut it and paste it down. And also on the other leg. And the fact that between this is the before and after. The next step we will paint the table. 12. Paint and Varnish: We paint cardboard furniture with acrylic paints because it protects the furniture for moisture. Before I paint and make several samples of paint on pieces of cardboard to see what combination. Unlike this table, I chose dark titanium and burnt umber. For the best layer. I paint white. I prefer to use a light color for the base. We need several layers because acrylic paint is a little transparent and we also dilute it with water to make it easier to apply. There is also printing on the cardboard. Here. It's white, but also black. So we need several layers of paint to get a uniform look. As usual. I start with the inside. You can use a brush or a sponge painting with a sponge, it's smoother and with no brush marks. To apply the second layer, wait until the first layer dries. Otherwise the brush may remove color we just painted. You should paint two to three layers to cover everything in an even layer. When the pen drives, you can move on to the next column. I paint with dark titanium. Likelihood and defend the strokes in one direction. When the color is dry. Decide if you want to stop here or get to the next step. I want to get with texture. So I put a little burnt sienna in a container and the little water can dilute it. This is about the resulting color that I want. For this texture. Use a brush, not a sponge. Paint, some strikes. Why the color is still wet. Go over it again to blend the color. Painting small sections so that the paint won't dry before time. If the color is too dark, headwater. Do it from end to end in straight lines. This is the pattern I want. It's okay to have paths that there's a little lighter or darker. It gives a more organic look. Here, I paint the top of the table, but of course it's better to start on the hidden parts of the table to practice the technique. It's easier to make straight lines when you paint back and forth, rather than side-to-side. When you get to the corners, you can paint as usual with straight lines. But I want to keep the diagonal corner here. So I use washi tape. You can also use masking tape. The main thing is that the tape comes out easily without pulling the paint underneath. When you get to the tape, dot, push the brush in this direction, but do it on the top towards the outside to get a clean and sharp line. If the texture is too wet, clean the water from the brush and blend the color. Now I do the other corner. And the path between. I really like this technique. It gives a clean and organic look. Another advantage of painting texture is that it hides imperfections. If you paint a furniture in layers of solid color, then you can leave the furniture as it is. But when making textures, the top color layer is very thin. And it may comes off when the furniture is cleaned with a cloth. That's why I apply varnish, mix it well. I start with the inner sides to avoid unpleasant surprises, such as if you find out that the vanishes, the shade that you did not expect any would vanish will do. I prefer to walk on a water-based varnish to avoid the fumes of an oil-based varnish. It can be applied with a brush or a sponge. Pay attention to drapes and wipe them. I prefer to use the varnish that doesn't have a tint so that he does not change the color of the furniture. This color looks milky, but when it dries, it will be clear. Wait for the first layer to dry completely. Before you apply the second one. Read the instructions on the package to know how many hours you have to wait between layers. After the varnish has dried completely. You can clean the table with a damp cloth. And if you put hot dishes though, you should put a coaster to protect the furniture from the heap. 13. What next?: I also included the measurements of this table. After I made this, I decided it needs a little chair. I painted the dread and added some white circles. So it's a Marshall said. Of course you can paint it any way you like. He allows some ideas that I had. I'm interested to know what are your ideas. So post them in the discussion. We come to the end of the class and I will really like to see what you made. So post a picture and tell something about what you did. Upload it to the project section. Just hit that green button. If you want to learn how to make other furniture from cardboard, check out my full class about it. If you want to stay in touch and learn about new classes, then follow me. And please leave a rating and review. So others will know about this class and I will know what to do better next time. So post your project, share it with us, and I will see you in my next lesson. Bye.