Every hallway needs a big box. Handy for all sorts of uses like putting stuff on, sitting on, tying shoe laces on, putting more stuff on and even putting stuff in. We had some leftover counter-top from a collection of rescued items from an office clear-out, and it needed to be used as this material can warp over time if left standing around. The laminate coated counter-tops that are sold these days are very hard-wearing and well suited to this application (even after serving a previous life somewhere else) as it needs to take some heavy wear from shoes. The rest of the box was made from laminate pineboard sheets (18mm thick) with some leftover timber odds and ends to make the feet and the internal structure needed to give it strength. The hinges were left over from the doors of a TV cabinet that was to later become the kids play kitchen (see our other project).

We use a wood burning stove in winter and so this box became our firewood storage box as well. It’s still being stocked with timber off-cuts from our timber frame construction in 2010 as part of our plan to dump zero waste from our construction project, and at the rate we are using it, we have another couple of years left to get through it all.