A new bed for $10 in 5 minutes.

Having blown $300 on a mattress, I wasn't about to blow another $300 on a bed frame or box springs. I had all these archive boxes that I used for moving, so here's a cheap-ass substitute.

Its as strong as a regular bed, environmentally-friendly and great for people who move frequently. And you instantly have 10 boxes worth of storage space under your bed!

Step 1: Buy Materials, Assemble and Finish Construction (5 Minutes)

Ingredients:

1. 10 x archive boxes from Officeworks or Staples (about $10)
2. 5 minutes
3. Lack of shame
4. Mattress

Just arrange the boxes in 2 rows of five with lids on (if you're an even bigger bum, you could do without the lids by just flipping all the boxes). Was considering taping the boxes together, but that actually takes work, so I skipped that. The boxes are very strong, even when not taped together.

I put on the mattress and jumped up and down, but the boxes were really stiff and didn't deform at all. It was as if I had placed the mattress on solid concrete blocks.

Note the elegant blue stripe in the middle, which is very hip this season.

Step 2: Hiding the Shame

Picture of girlfriend covering the boxes with a bedsheet. I would have skipped this step too, but the girlfriend was adamant about hiding the ugly boxes (and using this cheap bed substitute).

I think this bed is great because you instantly have 10 boxes worth of storage space under the mattress.

Step 3: Add Mattress

Add mattress. The bonus is that this bed, with the mattress, is exactly the same height as the bed next to it (which is a standard bed frame from Ikea).

If you don't even want to buy a mattress, you can tape together a bunch of free padded envelopes from Fed-Ex, like this guy: http://www.fedexfurniture.com/

When you want to move, just flatten all the boxes, or you can use them to move!