Multipurpose Cardboard Table! 2026

Multipurpose Cardboard Table, I looked for ideas to make one, but I wanted to make mine using cardboard, or recycling something else. I also wanted it to be quick to make.

I saw Shazni's 3×1 folding whiteboard tray and that inspired me a lot. I wanted mine to have more than one purpose too, so I finally came up with an idea.

My nightstand is:

• A tablet stand.
• A laptop tray
• For a mobile phone
• A pencil holder
• A cup holder and a bottle holder
  So let's say this is a 5 in 1 tray

The top layer of the tray is also removable. This way I can put it on the table and have a perfect support for my tablet.

Step 1: Materials and tools

• Long cardboard tube (or a couple of short tubes): mine is 8 cm (3.14 inches) in diameter
• Thick corrugated cardboard – I used the 3-ply type, which is about 1.5 cm thick (0.59 inches)
• Sierra
• Drill
• Cutter
• Rule
• Pencil
• White glue
• Paper
• Scissors
• Punch/screwdriver or something similar to make holes

Step 2: Cut the legs

Let's start making the legs for the table. I decided mine would be 25 cm tall (9.84 inches). You can make them as tall as you prefer.

• Make shapes on your cardboard tube by measuring the correct size for your feet (25 cm in my case). There should be 4 equal sections.
• Cut them with a jigsaw or circular saw, trying to be very precise.
• I painted mine white because the cardboard tube was dirty with dark signs, but I think the natural color of the cardboard is good too.

Step 3: Cut the flat surfaces

Let's cut the flat surface now which is made up of 2 rectangles of the same size.

• Draw a rectangle on your cardboard measuring 58 x 30 cm (22.83 x 11.81 inches). I combined these sizes taking into account the size of my laptop and the space the tubes would have taken, but you can adjust it to your sizes.
• Cut the rectangle with a cutter and cut another identical piece.
• Make some marks at each angle to see exactly where you want your tube legs to be. I decided to put mine 2 cm (0.78 inches) from the sides.
• Make sure you don't put them too close to the sides, as the cardboard tears easily that way.
• Use a hole cutter and drill to make the holes for the legs in both rectangles.

Important:

The hole cutter should be the same diameter as the tubes you are using. Believe it or not, I used a hand drill, and that was much slower and harder to use, so I recommend using a regular drill (if you have one).

Step 4: Make some records

• Cut 8 cardboard discs with a smaller hole cutter. This hole cutter should be as big as the inside of your tubes.
  Mine has a diameter of about 7.5 cm (2.95 inches).
• The hole punch left a hole in the middle of the discs, so I decided to cut out some other paper discs and glue them onto the cardboard discs. Paper discs should be as big as cardboard ones, of course.
• When the discs are ready, glue one to the bottom of each tube. You have to insert it into the tube as if you were putting a cork in a bottle!
• Now decide what you want to put inside each tube/leg.
• I decided that one would be a container for cell phones, one for pencils, one forfor bottles and one for glasses.
• So, starting from the top of the tubes (the empty part), measure how big you want your containers to be and make a shape. For example: the container of the bottle is larger than that of the glass, so the sign of the glass is much closer to the top of the tube than that of the bottle.
• Now apply white glue around the 4 discs you left and insert them into the tubes, keeping the signs you made as a reference for where they should be placed.

These disks will be the bottoms of the different containers.

Step 5: Make the tablet stand

The tablet stand is placed in what will be your first rectangle (at the top of the table).

• All you have to do is draw a strip on one of the cardboard rectangles.
  I made mine 2 cm thick (0.78 inches) and the length of the longest side of my tablet, which is about 20 cm (7.87 inches).
• This size doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it is larger than the length of your tablet.
• When you finish drawing it, cut the strip from the cardboard.
• Now place this rectangle on the other, making sure the round holes match up perfectly, and draw a smaller section on the second rectangle through the strip you cut on the first.
• I made it 3×2 cm (1.18 x 0.78 inches) and placed it in the middle of the tablet strip (see photos).
• Cut out that small section too.

This will be the hole for your tablet's cable (in case you need it).

Step 6: Cut the handles

I decided to make 2 handles on the first layer of the table.

• The handles are 2 simple strips cut from the 2 sides of the cardboard rectangle, so you can easily lift it up and away from the rest of the table.
• So, draw 2 strips about 2 cm (0.78 in) from the sides (left and right) and cut them out with a cutter.
• My strips are 6×2 cm (2.36 x 0.78 inches).

The first layer of the table is ready!

Step 7: Make some holes

The second layer of your table is that of your laptop.

Laptops tend to get very hot while working, so I decided to make some holes that would help air pass through the surface.

• Draw a grid in the middle of the second rectangle, just below the hole you made for the tablet cable.
  Make it 30 x 10 cm (11.81 x 3.93 inches). The horizontal and vertical lines are 2 cm (0.78 in) from each other.
• Now use a long needle or scratch punch to make holes where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect.
• When you're done making holes, run something thicker through them to make them a little bigger.
• I used a screwdriver, but a pencil would work well too.

The second layer is done too!

Step 8: Insert the legs

Now turn your second rectangle (the laptop) upside down and insert the top of the tubes into the 4 round holes.

• Apply a little white glue around each tube, close to where the cardboard is.
  Turn the table over on its feet and press down on the cardboard a little, leaving about 1.5 cm (0.59 inches) clear of the top of the tubes.
• That space is actually the thickness of the other cardboard rectangle, so insert it into the top of the table as well, but remember NOT to put any glue this time!
• Press down until it is level with the edge of the tubes.

Step 9: Done!

Your multipurpose tray is ready!

Finally you can use it as a computer table, a tablet stand in bed or on a table, and the tubes can hold whatever you want!

Tip: Apply some plastic contact paper to the top of both layers.

Your table surfaces will be protected by this and will be much easier to clean!

Enjoy!

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