Random Recast: Egg Cartons Day 1

An egg carton certainly isn't the first material that comes to mind when you think of chair/seat construction. But then again, the story of how this stacked egg carton stool came about is a serendipitous one.

And it goes like this: Andrew Wagner (yes, you know him-he was the editor-in-chief of the incomparable ReadyMade) had found the stack of egg cartons while walking around New York's Chinatown neighborhood. It looked exactly like this...


When Andrew saw the nice stack, conveniently tied up with red ribbon, he didn't exactly have the resources to pick it up and take it home. (Meaning: His hands were full.) So he tucked the stack in an alleyway and hoped for the best while he came up with a good use for this goldmine of egg cartons.

The answer was: A stool. The stacked cartons already kind of resembles a stool as it was, and a test sit proved that the composite cardboard material was surprisingly comfortable. And since the cartons nestle together nicely already, he didn't even need to add any sort of adhesive to keep the stack together.

To balance the seat, Andrew cut "feet" from the bottom of the stack. Criss-crossed straps added a final aesthetic detail that further unified the piece. Here's a closer look at the feet and straps.


We have to say, we're pretty impressed!

Did this project inspire you to take another look at everyday objects? If so, you might want to check out previous installments of Random Recast...
Random Recast Round-Up: 5 New Uses For Map Pages
Random Recast: Wallpaper Round-Up
Random Recast: T-Shirts Round-Up