SFA interior design students create cardboard furniture to learn about sustainability, construction

Stephen F. Austin State University interior design students built cardboard furniture to learn about casegoods (storage cabinetry) construction and sustainable design. The furniture is displayed on the second floor of the Steen Library on the university campus.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University interior design students recently put their skills to the test in a unique way: constructing furniture from cardboard.

Dr. Mitzi Perritt, professor in SFA's School of Human Sciences, tasked students in her interior materials and cabinetry course with building 3-D structures from cardboard and recycled materials. Students worked individually and in groups to create a variety of sustainable furniture designs, including dressers, end tables, bookshelves and more.

Rebecca Bumpurs, an interior design sophomore from Port Lavaca, created an olive green, leaf-shaped bookshelf using cardboard, paint, spackling and glue.

"I chose this leaf design to represent sustainability, and the materials show how this piece can go back to nature," Bumpurs said.

While working on their creations, students learned how to apply joinery and cabinetry construction knowledge to a 3-D form, investigated corrugated cardboard as a furniture construction material and practiced cradle-to-cradle sustainability by reusing discarded materials to design upgraded products.