6 Unusual Yet Practical Uses for Cardboard Boxes

Cardboard boxes have many conventional uses, whether that’s storing items in your garage or packaging for businesses there are literally endless uses for the humble cardboard box. However, there are much more creative and less-conventional ways that you can use cardboard boxes if you simply think outside the box (pun intended). Here are six of the more unusual yet practical things you can do with them.

1) Decorative Storage

If storage is a problem in your home, then cardboard boxes are an obvious solution. However, they aren’t exactly the most attractive items to have on show. This needn’t be a problem though as they can easily be transformed into something that looks fantastic and that you are proud to have on display. If you want to coordinate the box with your décor, it is simple to cover it with the same wallpaper or paint you have used on your walls. Alternatively, you can cut fun and colourful images out of magazines and cover the box with these.

2) Keepsake Box

Everybody has photographs that are important to them and if you’re like a lot of people those photos will be littered all over your house, in drawers, cupboards and who knows where else! You may also have a huge photograph collection from your travels and postcards you have collected from each location. If this sounds like you, then you can easily turn a cardboard box into a classic keepsake box so that you can keep all those things together and you know exactly where they are when you want to reminisce with friends and family.

3) Play Items for Children

Children are so much more imaginative than (most) adults. Give a child a box and they will pretend it is a house, a car or a space rocket – you don’t even need to do anything, they’ve already done the hard work for you in their head! But why not take the lead from children and get creative yourself – turn your unused cardboard boxes into something fantastic for the children to play with. Try making a spaceship, a robot, a fire engine, a doll’s house or a puppet theatre. Just get out the paints and involve the children in your design. It will be a fun activity you and your children can do together, just remember to share!

4) Desk Tidy

A tidy desk is an excellent way to boost productivity and avoid the stress and distraction that comes from the chaos a lot of people experience in their workspace. A good solution to a messy and disorganised desk is a desk tidy. It is easy to make one of these yourself from a cardboard box and tailor it to your own needs. Cut out the lid and one side of the box. Create dividers within the remaining structure using the pieces of cardboard you have removed. Try to make the compartments a variety of sizes that will fit different sized stationary inside. A toilet roll holder, or the inner tube from a kitchen roll, can be added to one corner as a pen pot. Use either poster paint or spray paint to decorate.

5) Jewellery Box

If you are constantly losing your jewellery and accessories then another creative idea is to make your own customised jewellery box. Like the desk tidy, you can create sections for all your different types of jewellery. Decorate the exterior of the box to your own taste. Beads and crystals look fantastic and can easily be fixed in place using a hot glue gun. Another idea is to paint the box first and then cover with pretty buttons. Create a design and colour scheme of your choice that either reflects your personality or matches the colour scheme of your bedroom.

6) Children’s Toy Box

A large and sturdy cardboard box is ideal for turning into a children’s toy box. These are a great place to store smaller toys from all around the home, such as toy racing cars, lego and dolls. If you are artistically talented, you can paint your child’s favourite characters on the outside of the box. Even if you are not the best at drawing, you can still make the toy box look great. Cover with wallpaper or wrapping paper and then cover in clear varnish so that the paper won’t get damaged. This will also add some extra strength to the box.

Here at Flexistore, we use cardboard boxes to store your personal items from just £1 per box per week if you’re using our student storage service! We also provide full size storage units for the larger items in your home that we bring to your door for you to load and lock. Once loaded we’ll collect the vault and take it to our secure warehouse. Simples.

 Also, make sure you read our previous blog post about the fascinating history of the cardboard box.

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