We do have an ottoman and a trunk (used as one of my two coffee tables) for storage in our one-and-only living space in this house!

And --- of course -- there is a couple of sideboards with drawers AND a buffet in the dining room and one in the kitchen too!

And our night tables all have drawers too -- very very handy!

As for boxes -- we just use plastic ones found on sale or at Big Lots stores ....

I've never made a big box, but I did glue foam board (or foam-core board, whichever you call it) together to make a smallish one.

The toughest part is getting square cuts so that it's easy to glue the sides together so they're straight.

Tacky glue is the best bet for making them stick, bcs it's really hard to clamp. Or, maybe contact cement, but I don't know how it will react on the foam core of the board.

You could probably add reinforcing strips inside each joint (just cut a 1/2" wide piece, and glue it to the bottom of the box, and to the side, pressed firmly in place.

One thing I *don't* like about plastic bins is that the sides angle down (so they'll nest during shipping and while in the store), and I'm so greedy about storage space that I keep wishing I had that space back. Plus square things don't sit well in the bottom. And the rims and handles take up space I begrudge as well.

The thing I don't like about cardboard is not that they break--they're sturdy enough in every instance I've dealt with. (in fact, plastic gets brittle & can shatter). But the corrugations can create homes for bugs. I haven't had much trouble w/ them, even though I live in the Cockroach Capital City of the World. But I'm always aware of it.

I guess I could have my boyfriend make ones shaped specifically for the shelves. It's just so much easier to be able to pull out a bin, then go rooting around things on the shelf. But without square spaces to put square bins, they'll have to be homemade.