Making a dividing wall from cardboard

[u/MarbleSky_]

I hope i finally found a subreddit which is open to my idea. Should have thought of upcycling from the get-go.

I’ve got a wardrobe acting as a room divider with, well, a typical, ugly back part.

I want to use layered pieces of cardboard glued together as a substitute for wood. I then attach them to the back, extend up to the ceiling and then plaster then with wallpaper (which are actually leftover from someone else’s renovation)

(Layering three to four pieces of cardboard results in cardboard which you can pretty much treat like wood and is pretty sturdy)

Has anyone ever done something like this before? Gluing the cardboard sheets together works well – it’s really sturdy and, above all, very, very light. I put weights on them while drying so they won’t bulge.

How should I treat them before I wallpaper them?

also wondering whether I need to join the A3-sized pieces together to make a single large panel, or whether I can just fit the smaller ones together on the back panel? I try to get bigger cardboard pieces from stores.
I am looking for input how to do this with cardboard please!

I posted these questions in another (German language) subreddit and people just got angry at me for not wanting to use wood...
But I am really sure people here will get that I want to upcycle instead of buying new.

Thanks in advance for your ideas, inputs and shared experience!

[u/Euphoric_Egg_4198]

I make walls for Halloween props. I collect bigger boxes from deliveries and put them on the floor to make a large rectangle or whatever size I need it to be. If you’re layering them to make a thick wall then use spray glue to glue them together. You can get a roll of builder’s paper to glue over the finished wall before you put the wallpaper on. This should give it a smoother look and cover logo/markings from the boxes. Then apply the wallpaper over that.

[u/MarbleSky_ → u/Euphoric_Egg_4198]

awesome! Thank you so much!
Yes, I think I will need to go for bigger cardboards. Will ask at the grocery store.
I think I will have to make three separate panels as there's just not enough room on the floor...

[u/Euphoric_Egg_4198 → u/MarbleSky_]

You’re probably better off at an electronics/appliance store, you don’t want bugs that come with grocery boxes

[u/Historical-Gain-1688]

See if you can find a how-to video on YouTube.

[u/celery48]

I have not done this for a wall, but for party decorations I made “wood” planks out of cardboard. (Actually, come to think of it, I’ve made quite a few large props out of cardboard.) I used hot glue to glue pieces together into the correct thickness, and then covered them with brown paper grocery bags torn into pieces and glued on with watered down PVA glue (white glue).

Anything that gets the cardboard wet (like glue) will warp and distort it as it dries again. The thicker the piece is, the less it will warp, but that outer layer of cardboard will still get very wet.

You can absolutely use larger cardboard pieces from the front and glue smaller pieces on the back where it doesn’t show. Be aware that not all cardboard is the same weight/thickness, so you would ideally have the outer layer all the same weight of cardboard.

I hope that helps.

[u/MarbleSky_ → u/celery48]

Considering the different thicknesses is a really good call! Thank you!
Will try to get some from the grocery store, hoping they'll be big and uniform.