FO: Crates!

A Little More Home Improvement

We had a blank wall in our dining room that looked something like this...

Then, I asked my dad and step mom to pick up some antique blueberry crates for me. Jersey is big on blueberries and they live in Jersey so I was able to find a farm that had a barn full of crates. Only, it was an hour away from their house. They got lost, there were some arguments and then when they arrived at the farm to find the six, old, worn crates they had just driven over an hour for they thought I was officially nuts.

My dad came up to help us with the photo shoot and along with him came my new (old) crates! We quickly nailed them together and then onto that blank wall. So now, it looks like this...

He doesn't think I am so crazy anymore. Now, I can't take credit for this idea. I saw a similar shelf in a Country Living magazine but I knew it was a project that would be perfect for my recent crate obsession and to show off some of my vintage collection. Blueberry crates are great for that because they are only a few inches deep so nothing gets 'lost' and little things display nicely. I anticipate changing the items often but the crates are there for good. 

**UPDATE** Greg just posted some new pictures of the baby chicks over on our Farm Blog! Head on over to check them out.

Comments

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I LOVE IT! ~

[Kara]

CUTE! I love this idea. I might steal it.

[Jennifer]

Love them so much!! Really cool look and functional, too.

[Abi]

Thanks Jennifer! I bet you could get your hands on some old crates in Maine too ;)

[Abi]

Thanks :) !

[Abi]

Thanks Kara!

[Renee]

Love this!! What a great idea. Now I want to go raid the barn and see if there's any crates in there. We used to have a stash of grape crates...

Looks terrific ~ you're definitely not crazy. :)

[JJ]

Love it!!! I had a wall of old apple crates for many years and found it beautiful, useful and wonderfully adaptable to many locations.

[Zonda]

Those are awesome!

[Rima Aranha]

Just great!

[meg]

hey there! mind if I ask how you nailed the crates together and what you used to fasten to the wall?? I totally loved this and ordered my own crates :) the wood is so thin and not being the least bit handy, I'm not sure what the best hardware is to use?! Thanks for the inspiration!!

[Abi]

hi meg :) my husband and my dad put them up. first they nailed two crates together vertically side by side using small penny nails. make sure you use a nail that doesn't poke through.

then they nailed, not screwed, each pair directly to the wall through the back of the crate one on top of the other taking care to make sure they were lined up. again, be sure to use a nail that is unobtrusive.

let me know if you have any more questions and i would love to see your crates up! :) have fun!

[Laura @ 52 FLEA]

This is so beautiful! I adore your crate shelf! I have a lot of old apple boxes from my grandparents long gone farm....except that before they used them for apples....flower bulbs from Japan were shipped to NY in them. Anyways....I have them and use them stacked on their sides to hold things...but these are much better because as you say...they are not as deep.
Really nice. How fun to keep changing the displays!
:)

[Laura @ 52 FLEA]

This is so beautiful! I adore your crate shelf! I have a lot of old apple boxes from my grandparents long gone farm....except that before they used them for apples....flower bulbs from Japan were shipped to NY in them. Anyways....I have them and use them stacked on their sides to hold things...but these are much better because as you say...they are not as deep.
Really nice. How fun to keep changing the displays!
:)