Furniture from Gypsum Board Made by Yourself

Outlet Boxes for Gypsum Board

Let's start with the obvious: we will make a hole for a socket in a gypsum board sheet.

After marking the location on the gypsum board sheet, use a special mounting knife or a special corona drill to make a hole, keeping the working tool strictly perpendicular to the wall surface.

Since the outlet box must be mounted firmly, it is attached to special feet, embedded in the prepared hole (the feet press against the inner surface of the gypsum board by screwing in the fasteners).

IMPORTANT! There are many descriptions that say you can install sockets for gypsum board directly on the sheet, running cables openly. However, craftsmen insist on concealed wiring, laid in channels behind the gypsum board.

Photo 1 — Making Holes for Outlet Boxes in Gypsum Board

Gypsum Board Cornice

We move from technical work with gypsum board to creative tasks. Installing a removable cornice with backlighting is one of the most common ceiling works using GKL boards. Such a structure can only be mounted on a metal frame; the frameless method is not applicable here.

Photo 2 — Ceiling Cornice from Gypsum Board with Hidden Lighting

After completing renovation work, unexpected plans for room reconfiguration sometimes arise. For example, you decide to change curtains or hang blinds. But how do you mount a cornice on gypsum board?

Two Ways to Install a Hanging

Photo 3 — Cornice Hanging with Niche (Diagram)

If the cornice for curtains was planned in advance, then in the second variant, when walls are already covered with gypsum board, regardless of whether you hang a cornice for curtains, a base for blinds, or another bookshelf, it must be mounted using special fasteners for gypsum board — butterflies (see photo below). Thanks to their construction, these fasteners are reliable both for the suspended element and the gypsum board sheet.

Photo 4 — Expansion Fasteners for Gypsum Board 'Butterfly'

Shelves from Gypsum Board

When covering walls with gypsum board, you can build many useful structures, including shelves. These can be shelves embedded in the wall thickness or independent from the cladding structure. Both types can only be made on a framed basis.

Photo 5 — A Good Idea — Gypsum Board Shelf with Wooden Shelves. Quick and Quality Work

IMPORTANT! Gypsum board is not a super-strong material, so when constructing the frame of such a structure, consider the expected weight of elements that will be placed on this surface. For storing aquariums, home libraries, and other heavy interior items, it's better to replace gypsum board with a more durable material like wood or stone. Similarly, if you plan to make kitchen elements from GKL — for example, a countertop — kitchen furniture must be water-resistant. However, even GKLV sheets do not compare to acrylic panels, MDF, or stone surfaces in terms of water resistance.

Photo 6 — Suspended Shelves from Gypsum Board

A gypsum board cabinet (moisture-resistant) is a good idea for a bathroom if you are confident in following the installation technology of gypsum board in humid environments (such as a bathroom), and if the shower cabin does not touch the prepared surface and there is a powerful exhaust fan in the bathroom. An example of such an object's organization is provided below.

Photo 7 — During the Renovation...

Photo 8 — ...And After Its Completion

Door Openings from Gypsum Board

If making shelves is manageable for you, you can move on to more ambitious projects. For example, interior structures made from properly shaped gypsum board are built using the same principle as small gypsum board forms: on a framed basis. Among frequently used ones is a gypsum board portal, built either in the place of an existing inter-room passage or anywhere else in the room for reconfiguration and changing the distribution of zones in an apartment. A simpler variant is an arch instead of an inter-room door.

You can easily make the last one:

The arch is ready!

Photo 9 — Two Ways to Bend Gypsum Board

How to Bend Gypsum Board by Yourself: VIDEO

Thanks to several bending methods, any shapes from gypsum board without protruding angles are possible: oval, wave, circle from gypsum board, fantasy shapes and patterns from gypsum board, which can be used to create a sun made of gypsum board with backlighting for living rooms, a flower from gypsum board for a child's room, a spiral ceiling for an office or conference hall, etc.

Among large gypsum board forms, flexible GKL is used to construct columns from gypsum board and platforms.

Photo 10 — Preparing the Element for Installation

Photo 11 — After Completing the Work

Wardrobe from Gypsum Board

For such structures, the frame (flooring) is better made from wood and then supplemented with metal guides.

Connections between guide profiles and other surfaces (floor, wall, ceiling) should be covered with reinforcing mesh. Reinforcement is needed to dampen wall and floor vibrations.

Stanchion elements of the frame are mounted into guide profiles.

IMPORTANT! The larger the wardrobe, the smaller the step between profiles must be.

A wardrobe can be covered with one or two sheets of gypsum board. After completing the mounting work, the surface of the gypsum board can be painted in any color, covered with wallpaper, or plastered.

A wardrobe does not necessarily require a free corner in the room. Think about which part of your apartment you use inefficiently? For example, a wardrobe space can be allocated under the staircase with a clear conscience. As a result, you get: a compact storage area for items, a previously unused space that is now put to good use, and the staircase will be covered with sheets of gypsum board.

On a larger scale, the entire apartment can be divided into zones or the entrance hall can be finished with gypsum board, connecting the living room and kitchen, bedroom and balcony (by organizing a new partition or finishing the span in place of the demolished wall).

Photo 12 — Example of Organizing a Wardrobe from Gypsum Board on a Loft

False Fireplace from Gypsum Board

To imitate a fireplace in home conditions, use a frame made from gypsum board, in which you can 'embed' a false fireplace (whether it's a glowing panel or a wall painting).

More about installing a false fireplace can be read in the article: Installing a Fireplace from Gypsum Board by Yourself

Photo 13 — Frame for False Fireplace

Photo 14 — After Completing the Work

Some methods of zoning using gypsum board structures were mentioned above. Here is another one — a bar counter made from gypsum board. The photo below shows how such a simple structure fits into the interior of both small and large apartments.

Photo 15 — Simple Interior for a One-Room Apartment — The Partition and Doors Between the Kitchen and Room Are Removed, the Bed Is Separated from the Dining Area by a Gypsum Board Counter

Photo 16 — Bar Counter for a Spacious Apartment

Ideas from Gypsum Board

What other items made from gypsum board can you find in an interior? Look: wall and ceiling designs from gypsum board.

Photo 17 — Complex Chandelier from Gypsum Board

Photo 18 — Complex Ceiling System from Gypsum Board

Photo 19 — Interior Composition — A Gypsum Board Circle Above the Bed Headboard Echoes the Shape of the Bedroom Portal

CONCLUSIONS

In principle, an interior made from gypsum board is a quite practical thing, based on the spaciousness and variety of forms in working with the material.

However, it's not advisable to build a house from gypsum board: surfaces exposed to constant mechanical loads should be made from another, more durable material. That is, a gypsum board loft (in terms of finishing), a wall made from gypsum board behind a TV (in terms of modern flat TVs) — yes, please, but walls higher than 10 meters, shelves from GKL for an entire library collection — no.

$ Cost of Gypsum Board Work

Depending on the type of gypsum board work, their price is:

• In Moscow: ceiling works — from 280 rub./m², wall works — from 190 rub./m², partition installation — from 300 rub./m².

• In Kiev: ceiling works — from 65 UAH/m², wall works — from 45 UAH/m², partition installation — from 80 UAH/m².

Figured gypsum board works are significantly more expensive, and a separate price list should be made for their execution based on the project provided to the team.