Cardboard, in the form of cardboard sheets, cardboard boxes, cardboard packaging and all sorts of other pieces lying around, and of course rather than just throwing them away or leaving them for eventual recycling you can make use of them in your very own office environment, using some of these fantastic ideas and designs for a variety of desk organisers that are sure to provide you with effective and attractive additions to your working environment.
If you want to do something environmentally friendly, and useful for your office these ideas can be a great option.
The Magazine Box
{Image credit to instructables.com via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Very Easy
Needed; Cardboard box / cereal box
Process;
This is one of the easiest options available to you when it comes to producing a fantastic paper organiser for your office space. All you need to do is cut the top off a box, cardboard cereal boxes give you the best shape, but boxes with similar dimensions can be just as good. With the top flap of the box removed you can mark a few inches out on the top, and about half way up on the side, then cut diagonally from the two marks on both sides of the box to create the shape.
You can either leave this as it is, particularly if you used a plain cardboard box, or decorate using old materials, paper or wrapping paper. You can be as creative as you like with these, and they make an excellent option for storing and organising everything from scrap paper to client folders.
The General Storage Box
{Image credit to designsbymke.blogspot.com via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Very Easy
Needed; Cardboard box
Process;
This is possibly the easiest option available for recycling your old cardboard boxes. You can paint them, cover them with wrapping paper and even decorate them with material. There are a number of great uses for little boxes like these, for everything from storing little bits of scrap paper, to holding office supplies. These offer a decorative solution that are excellent for an office environment, particularly popular in reception areas for holding information booklets and magazines.
The Paper Sorter
{Images credit to scrapbook.com and familyfun.go.com via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Easy
Needed; Cardboard boxes / cereal boxes
Process;
You’re going to want some boxes big enough for A4 paper, and you can use pretty much as many of these as you like. Just cut off the top flap along one of the short edges and tape or glue your boxes together, then decorate. Like with the others you might choose to use paint, paper or material to decorate your organiser, and you can even create little labels for each shelf of your organiser using the cardboard from the top of the boxes.
Just fold it in half, decorate and write your label on. Leave about half a centimetre at each side which will fold again – the one at the front will be glued or taped at the front of the organiser to keep it in place, and the one at the back will be glued or taped on the shelf with labelling – which will hold the arch of the label up securely.
The Decorative Shelf
{Image credit to homeandgardern.craftgossip.com via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Medium
Needed; Cardboard sheets & Cardboard box
Process;
If you happen to have a lot of cardboard lying around and you really want to do something impressive with it then this is the choice for you! No – you’re either going to want particularly thick cardboard, or a lot of it, because this shelf will need to be well supported but one or two sheets probably won’t make it secure enough to hold some of your slightly heavier items.
To start with you’re going to want to decide on the shape your shelf will take – something bigger than the box you’re using by at least two inches on each side. Stack your cardboard sheets, one on top of the other, until they are at least one inch deeper than your box. Draw around the back of your box (the part that will be against the wall) on the top sheet of cardboard, then around that draw your shape.
Cut out your shape on all the sheets of cardboard, then cut out the spare for your box. You can use the top sheet on which you drew your shapes as the template and just draw around the cuts on all of the cardboard after that. Check that your box fits inside the shape – you might have to sand the edges down slightly to get it to push in smoothly. With everything cut out you can now decorate your shape, and the inside of your box if you want to, either with paint, paper or material – the choice is yours. You may want to glue or tape the cardboard together before decorating, depending on how you have chosen to decorate.
Now all you have to do is slide the box into the hole you have made for it. Because this is an inch deeper than the box you don’t need to glue it in place, it should sit there perfectly fine – but you can if you choose to. You can now hang this on the wall to impress all of your visitors.
The Desktop Stuff Holder
{Image credit to Mary Elizabeth Cantu via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Easy
Needed; Cardboard Scraps
Process;
Regardless of whether you use it for pens, pencils, scissors or just about any other little bits and pieces you might have sitting around on your desk this is an ideal selection.
These are a particularly great option for using up some of those smaller bits of scrap cardboard, and you can decide whether or not to decorate them. Measure out how large you want each slot and cut your cardboard accordingly, then just glue it all together. You can make these as simple or as complex as you desire, and they’re really quick and quite attractive.
The Super Desk Organiser
{Image credit to saifou.com via Pinterest}
Difficulty; Hard
Needed; Cardboard Scraps
Process;
While this makes excellent use of your cardboard scraps it is one of the more complicated selections available. Of course if you want to produce something particularly attractive, effective and impressive then this is the ideal option for you.
The important thing with this particular selection is the measurements, unfortunately the original creator of the fantastic organiser did not provide templates, so a good deal of your ability to reproduce the item effectively will depend on your particular skills with measurements and design. Perhaps you have an engineering or architect friend that could help you.
Regardless of whether you get there alone through trial and error, or you find a genius to help you, this is certain to provide an impressive and attractive addition to your desk space, and can be decorated in just about any way you choose.
