Hmmm . . . Upcycled Couch? Any thoughts?
POST: Hmmm . . . Upcycled Couch? Any thoughts?
| Topics: |  Upcycled Furniture |
Our house here in Oaxaca is más o menos all decked out and very comfortable. We only lack one important element: a couch. We've been thinking since we moved in (6 months ago) about trying to upcycle one . . . we have thought about cardboard with paper mache or maybe building with filled PET bottles and adobe or combined with the paper mache . . . but we really just have no idea. One of our concerns, of course, is that we will need to be able to move the thing once we construct it. It cannot be too heavy, as I imagine plastic bottles filled with sand would be. The other thing is that it has to be durable, and comfortable too. I've seen some furniture made out of cardboard boxes but I've never seen anything very big and sturdy from paper. I've just been searching around looking for examples of upcycled couches and I can't find anything! I did manage to find this chaise lounge on Instructables made out of cardboard. It's cool, but I have to say that I have some doubts about its comfort. There are some other examples of bigger chairs out of cardboard on the same site . . . and I suppose I could just experiment with widening these a bit. The only other thing that I found is someone who already had a couch frame and re-stuffed and upholstered it with woven plastic bags stuffed with trash and used balloons (see below). That's a cool idea, but I don't have a couch frame . . . nor do I know where to find one.
Anyway, I just wondered if any of you upcyclers out there have any suggestions on building a couch from garbage. What we have a lot of is plastic bottles, newspaper and plastic bags. It would be great to be able to make something out of the trash we already have!
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Posted by Manuel Schacht on August 24, 2009 6:10 pm
Hi there.
I'm affraid the the materials you have are quite a challenge, unless maybe we could rethink the concept of "sofa". And stil... I'd suggest, meanwhile, that you consider using pallets. Theres all sorts of furniture you can make ot of them (tables, shelves, chairs, Sofas, etc) and they are readily available at cargo terminals, factories, big stores... also interesting is the fact that you can make these things without even transformin the pallets much, or not at all, or you can opt by dismantelling them completely and just use them as wood... but I'll try to come with something for the materials you have. Good luck, Manu
Posted by Manuel Schacht on August 24, 2009 8:09 pm
Well... I don't think I would love this sofa very much, but I suppose you could cut your plastic bottles transversally just below where the neck begins to form, in order to get CILLINDERS, one end closed, one open. Lots of them.
Then you would have to use wire, or equivalent, to bind them, one by one, side by side, so that the open mouth is facing up. I believe you can even sew them together, but whatever you do it should be TIGHT. You will need to make your own measuring, but a 8 by 16 frame of bottles bound in this fashion should form a nice first base.
Then make a second one just like the first, and proceed to bind both frames toghether bottom to botom. I dont think you need to bind every bottle, but again, it should be tight. The next step is filling.
I am thinking that you could crumple up a good bunch of bags inside one bag, then suff it up-side down inside the bottle so that it comes out at least a couple of inches. Fill each bottle that way.
Now, for the next step at least I'd rather use a nicer material, like cloth, but if you insist on using what you have, and you REALLY have the heart of an artisan, try this:
Open a plastic bag's sides so that you get the longest possible surface, then twist it tight so that it forms a cord, making sure you leave three threads at each end. These you use to knot it up with the next bag, and the next... until t's long enough to go round the frame transversally, and then some. You will need lots of these chords, and lots of even longer ones, to go round the frame longitudinally; the idea is to weave a cover that is to be stretched all around the frame, covering it completely except for the smaller sides, where the sofa's arms will be attached.
The sofa's back is a piece similar in every respect to the one you just made, and so are the arms, except that back and arms are attached vertically to the horizontal frame. And you may want to use some extra filling for the top part of the arms, where YOUR arms actually rest. I suppose you can cut some bottles nearer the bottle bottom for this part. If you got this far you allready know what I mean better than I do.
It's ready now, unless you want to use the bottles' lids for buttons. But that will be a lot of work and we can discuss it later, if you get to actually build the thing. Of course I'd love to know if you do, and see it too. Of course, there is NO guaranty that it will work at all, or at least that this design won't have to be modified or otherwise augmented, like say, more filling needed between bottles. Its your experiment, and you have to sort out the difficulties, using at least as much patience as plastic bags. Again, best of luck!! Manu.
Posted by Aerin Dunford on August 26, 2009 11:03 am
Hey Manu. Thanks for this awesome idea. It may take a little time for the idea to sink in . . . but let me ponder it. We don't have the quantity of bottles for this idea right now. But it might be possible to start collecting from other people more conscientiously. I also like the pallet idea and saw some pallets here in Mexico just yesterday. I would need to do a little research on where we could acquire them (and hopefully for cheap or free). Thanks so much for your suggestions and I will let you know if we decide to take the plunge and experiment with our own couch!!! Aerin