Upcycle Inspiration: Spiral Staircase

As I mentioned in my last blog post, the base of my lamp is inspired by a spiral staircase. The spiral staircase I was directly inspired by was from a DIY (Do it yourself) video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd-Z7OTAjJ0, by Ben Uyeda on Facebook I saw a couple of months ago (You can find Ben Uyeda and his work at https://www.instagram.com/benjaminuyeda/?hl=en) . In the video he makes a spiral staircase out of thin sheets of wood as seen in the cover photo of this blog post. In my…

Upcycle Progress: Cardboard Lamp

For this project I knew what object I wanted to create, but I did not know what I wanted to make it out of. To determine what I was going to make it out of I used my go-to design-process. This process always begins with an initial idea and I then ask other people for their opinions. I try to ask as many people as possible such as my parents, roommates, friends, class mates etc.. After asking people I mull it over for a couple…

Upcycle Final Report: Cardboard Laptop Case

Hello everyone, Here we are at the end of the upcycle project, after many mistakes and design looping for many of us. The following is all of the steps and thoughts contained in my project: the cardboard laptop case! I did not google this idea before I began (honestly!) but Fig.1 is something I found that is closest to what I’ve done. Figure 1: Cardboard laptop case, a more professional version [1]. The Vision When I started the project, I began with cardboard lamps (Fig. 2). I…

Design Loop: Cardboard laptop case

Idea change! My last post was about the creation of a cardboard lamp. Since then, I saw that a few other students had started their projects in the same topic, and I’m not that interested in it anymore, so I’ve decided to go in a new direction. This new idea was actually the first one I had, then I went to lamp, and now I’m back. Anyway, it’s a cardboard laptop case instead. I’m excited about this project because I think it will be easier…

Upcycle Progress: Oyster Box

I wanted to create something that had a function, but still looked good.  For someone living in a small apartment, having something that serves a purpose is important.  I decided that I wanted to create a bowl as a place to store items like my keys and wallet, but I was stuck on a design.  While visiting my grandma a few weekends, I noticed that her bedroom had an ocean aesthetic.  She had a window curtain was of an underwater scene, with dolphins and fish…

Upcycle Progress 1: Cardboard Lamp

I have not as yet made any huge leaps and bounds in terms of project progress. Last Sunday I went to ReSource in Boulder and it’s awesome. they have a whole outdoor yard full of furniture, tubs, glass, particle board, tiles, and miscellaneous junk. I didn’t think to take any photos while I was there-lesson learned. I’ve been struggling with the idea of upcycling in terms of how much new stuff you are allowed to add. If you glue two things together, but you had…

Origami Nightstand

I wanted to design and create something useful for my upcycle project. I have wanted a nightstand for a while, so I decided to make my own. The desk in my bedroom is covered with stacks of homework assignments and exams from last semester, and I wondered if there was some way to incorporate old papers into my design. Origami was brought up in class once, and brought back childhood memories of folding paper cranes and boxes. So, I decided to figure out if there…

Cardboard Furniture Progress

I have chosen to create a piece of cardboard furniture since I have always wanted to do it as a project. Thankfully, I also have an excessive amount of cardboard at my house just waiting for its time to shine. My current concept is for a bookshelf that doubles as a night stand. However, I might make a multi-functional bookshelf and chair combination since the idea of a load-bearing cardboard structure interests me.