We’ve seen plenty of cardboard furniture designs, but there’s still something about a cardboard bed that’s really impressive. We mean, how the heck can cardboard support that much weight? As if being a cardboard bed isn’t impressive enough, the Pro Idee Paper Bed can also compress in size much like an accordion, allowing you to free up floor space whenever it’s not in use.
That’s right, this cardboard bed just might prove to be the perfect spare bed, as it can squeeze down to the size of a relatively flat board (just four inches thick), allowing you to push it into a corner or hide it under other furniture. Alternatively, you can use it as a bench for the bedroom when you don’t need the extra bed, as the accordion design also lets you compress it to any depth that you desire.
When fully stretched out, the Pro Idee Paper Bed measures 78 x 35 x 14 inches (depth x width x height), making for quite a comfortable bed for one (and a likely uncomfortable bed for two). It comes with a three-part foldable cushion that’s 2.2 inches thick, so while it’s probably not the kind you’ll want for a permanent bed, it should work well enough for a spare like this one. Even better, you can fold the mattress in three, then compress the bed to the same depth, allowing you to make a cushy bench for the bedroom. You can even push the bench up the wall, unfold one section of the cushion, and use that for a backrest to make for an even more comfortable seating furniture. The bundled cushion, by the way, comes with its own linen cover that can be removed and machine-washed, so there’s no need to purchase any extra beddings.
Both the headboard and the foot end of the bed are cut in bamboo wood, with the whole frame between them consisting of the corrugated cardboard that’s clad in an accordion shape. The cardboard, by the way, takes up the entire floor space covered by the bed, so you won’t be able to hide boxes and crates underneath the way you could with a traditional bed frame. Cutouts on the bamboo serve as handles that provide a comfortable grip, whether you’re stretching the bed to full length or pushing it into a more compact form.
Despite the cardboard build, the Pro Idee Paper Bed can support weights of up to 660 pounds, so the whole thing can handle even three people, although we doubt there’s enough cushion surface to accommodate them, even in an uncomfortable manner. And yes, this is supposedly the same corrugated cardboard that’s used primarily as packaging material, so it really quite impressive, especially since it uses no slatted frame whatsoever. According to the outfit, the secret to its payload capacity is just how tightly folded the cardboard is, essentially distributing the weight to a whole lot of material. The whole thing weighs just 32 pounds.
The Pro Idee Paper Bed is available now, priced at £369.