41. Use Crates to Expand Your Bathroom Shelves
Organize your bath or laundry room with this handy idea for wooden storage box shelves. These floating wooden crates bring warmth and interest to a sterile looking, white tile bathroom, while keeping your towels and rugs organized. Imagine placing these over a washer and dryer to keep soaps and home goods easily at hand. A stud finder, drill and screws are all that’s necessary to upscale your cleaning areas from boring to shabby chic.
42. Tabletop DIY Wood Crate Projects
So you’ve hunted everywhere, and the cool, vintage, wooden crates with the amazing lettering are ridiculously overpriced. The whole point of DIY is to save money, so what’s a shabby chic enthusiast to do? Create your own wooden storage boxes from free pallets, of course! This great DIY tutorial will take you step by step through the process of choosing the best pallets, constructing them into wooden crates and giving them that authentic, vintage look. With a simple print-your-own transfer tip, you’ll just use wax paper you’d find in your kitchen to apply any theme you can print to your rough wooden boxes. Finish off these boxes with a simple wax rub made from aromatic beeswax. No noxious chemical stains to be found in this fun project. Customize these crates as gifts, and enjoy the expressions when recipients realize you made something just for them.
43. Customized and Functional Crate
Sometimes you’ll find a wooden storage box with great patina, but it just doesn’t fit into a composite design. Dress up an oddball sized crate with a custom stencil and hang it as an entry way key rack. This cute crate is designated with a key stencil, but would be equally charming adorned with your monogram, family motto, or favorite pet. You could dress this up with vintage mismatched hardware for a shabby chic look, or pull back to an industrial look with hand-forged iron nails to hang the keys on. Add a few accessories, like a potted succulent or perhaps a tiny framed blackboard for notes, to tie together your rustic theme.
44. From Wood Crate to Rustic Nightstand
This unpretentious nightstand is perfect for completing a guest bedroom on the cheap. If you’re a DIY queen, you may have already spent hours working on refinishing dressers and headboards, only to be stuck without the essential end table. This ultra-thrifty option takes just an hour to put together and stain, and will give guests plenty of storage room. If you love a cottage look, this little table will delight your heart and your pocketbook.
45. Easy DIY Personalized Toy Crates
Toddlers love to push anything with wheels. This personalized rolling toy crate gives your little one a fun way to go cruising with their favorite toys. Check out the color coated wheels and cheerful paint job. No need for perfectionism here, the happy smiley face and lumpy pink polka dots look adorable in a nursery. This tutorial is easy to follow and you’ll find this idea simple to customize to any theme.
46. Repurposing Crates into Wine Racks
Add a European flair to your kitchen with this easy wine rack made from a wooden crate and a few leftover boards. Sometimes the simplest ideas look the best, and certainly that’s the case for this decoration with a wooden crate. Stained with a Minwax classic gray finish, you’ll find this project takes just minutes to assemble. Just a few cuts for the crossover board are the only carpentry work you’ll need to accomplish. Fill this cutesy rack with your favorite wines, and you’ll be ready for that holiday party or Bunco night with the girls.
47. Re-imagine Bedroom Storage with Crates
Rustic serenity will await you each night with this recycled wooden crate bed. Simply crafted from rough sawn boards and a bead board headboard, this bed showcases the ultimate creative use of salvaged wood and wooden storage boxes. Complete this simple look by choosing natural fabrics, like linen and cotton, and dream of blissful country vistas in this comfy up-cycled bed.
48. Decorative Storage for a Child’s Room
What an awesome organizational method for these wooden crates! These kid-friendly storage compartments are color coded so that even a small child could identify their space. This shelving unit is super simple because only the insides of the crates require paint. A little painter’s tape will give your project those crisp lines that look so professional. Whether you use the multi-colored idea to separate siblings’ belongings or just to add a fun pop of color to a playroom, this is a great DIY wooden crate idea.
49. DIY Side Table on Casters
You’ll need to scour the architectural salvage spots for a larger crate to give the right scale for this rolling end table. Just a little cleaning can bring to life the rustic character of an antique crate and castors will make this little side table easy to change out. Bookshelves often make a room look busy and cluttered, but this table stores the books handily while keeping them from being the focal point of your living room or den. Matched with either a modern or a country sofa, this table will bring rustic charm to your home.
50. Simple and Unexpected Book Storage
This floating bookshelf is excellent for the small child who loves their books, but cannot handle lining them up on a shelf. This project required cutting a wooden crate in half, which makes it perfectly proportioned for those thin Dr. Seuss books. A piece of matching plywood in the bottom will keep things from falling through while retaining the cutesy look of a milk crate. To complete the look for your nursery, paint this floating bookshelf to accompany the DIY rolling toy crates featured above.
51. Built-Ins Re-envisioned
This classy built-in bedroom suite was designed to be thrifty and fabulous, and you can create this custom look, too. With some used bathroom vanities to up-cycle and a number of wooden storage boxes, this amazing DIY bedroom can be yours in just a few days. You’ll need to invest in some spray paint or a painting rig to complete the finished look. A few nails attach these stacked wooden crates to the walls, so that there’s almost no construction skills required to complete this amazing bedroom makeover. From nautical to cottage style, the possibilities for finishing this look to fit your decorating theme are endless. Fill these built-ins with personal mementos and family photos, and you’ll fall asleep smiling at the love that surrounds you.
52. Unique Upcycles: Wood Crate Jewelry Displays
Chances are that your little one leaves their Matchbox cars scattered everywhere. This Hot Wheels DIY parking garage is so easy to build and so easy to use. Every little child loves pipes and things with holes, so what better use of mailing tubes than to keep his favorite cars organized and neat? No construction is necessary to create this decoration with a wooden crate. You’ll simply cut the cardboard tubes into short sections and glue them within the craft store wooden crate. A piece of cardboard can be cut to keep cars from rolling out the back. Customize the front with a hand painted wooden garage sign, and your little guy or gal will have an easy and fun way to put their toys away.
Are you Ready to Start Experimenting with Wood Crates?
You’ll find rustic, unfinished wood is prominent in many of the hottest decorating trends this year. Whether you love Transitional, French country, or industrial decorating styles, this comprehensive list of projects utilizing wooden crates provides you with fabulous furniture and accessories. Build a complex wall unit, decoupage a French country end table, hang a simple key stand, or completely remodel your bedroom. The options within this collection of DIY projects range the gamut from simple hacks to complex multi-day projects.
Up-cycling and reusing discarded materials, like wooden storage boxes and pallets, is good for the environment and easy on your furniture budget. Find yourself a few vintage wooden wine boxes to beautify your home with this weekend, or build a crate from scratch with pallets. You’ll find extensive instructions for the most novice builder, as well as home safety tips on how to find wood that has not been treated with toxic chemicals.
The helpful suggestions and DIY step by step instructions give you the tools to create amazing custom finishes and patinas which will have your wooden crates looking like charming, vintage, flea market finds. Many of these ideas use basic household supplies, like vinegar, beeswax, wax paper, and steel wool. Whether you’re organizing your child’s room, sprucing up a mud room, creating a country chic home office, or completing a rustic bedroom retreat, you’ll find this curated list full of amazing, creative ideas to get you going. So what are you waiting for? Hit the wine store for leftover wood crates, check out the salvage yard, or make a craft store run and get started on a project this weekend. You’ll love showing off your creative talent and your home will look amazing.
