The Crate Table... I did it!

Well, it took a little while for me to find the time, but I finally attempted to make the Pinterest idea I mentioned on our Facebook page... the Crate Table.

Here's the original post I found about the crate table (click on picture to view):

These are the things I needed to complete it:

4 crates (I got these at Home Depot for $1 each on clearance awhile ago)

Stain (I used English Chestnut for mine)

4 casters

4 two-foot long 1x3 planks of wood (bought cut already at Lowes)

Lots of nails and screws

basket insert

Wooden stir-stick :)

All told, even with the $1 crates, it probably was a $40-$50 project, but it's so cool and I can say I did it all by myself (yes, that sounded like a kindergartener proud of his clay pinch pot, but I don't care.)

First, I reinforced all planks on the crate.  There seemed to be some loose ones (perhaps why HD had these so daggone cheap?), so I added one nail to each end of each plank.  For those math-minded people (like me)... that's 104 nails... 13 planks per crate, 2 nails per crate, four crates.  And I only bent and messed up maybe two.  :)

Second, I stained each crate individually... I opted not to put any fancy labels on the sides and just keep them plain.  I had debated putting "wine" decals on them, but seeing as though this was join in my kids' loft space, I couldn't justify cute alcohol-advertising labels.  Since these were purchased, they had big stickers on the sides.  I did rip off what I could, but I didn't worry about the label/pricestickers leaving some gooeyness... I just made sure those ends were the ones butted up against other crates.

Here is the stain I used:

It was a rich, dark color that looks just awesome!

Then I assembled the four crates, with the opening pointing out.  A few screws at each "crate-butting" held them together.

I needed a base to add some sturdiness and to give me a place to screw in the casters.  I hate using a saw, and Lowes' associates were busy that day.  To my surprise, I was able to find four two-foot-long planks that were 1x3's.  They were exactly what I needed to make a 27" square.  (I believe the crates, assembled, made a 29" square.)

I also stained those and made a square frame for the bottom:

Here's a closer view:

 This is a straight-on shot of what the frame looked like.

 I wanted to put a basket in the middle (I had measured to find that the middle opening was around 8.25" per side and found the blank "trashcans" at Hobby Lobby were exactly the right fit to set inside.)  I wanted something to secure the basket to keep it level at the bottom.  Since I forgot to find something for that purpose, I simple stained and used a wooden paint stirrer stick!

Then, I attached the casters:

 Then I stained the plain trashcan I bought:

 I had also found a cute little metal planter at Ross that would work as well...

 Here is the basket, in place inside the hole of the table:

However, since I really wasn't sure what I'd stick in there that would be THAT deep, I decided to see if the planter would fit inside of that trashcan well.

And... it did!

So, now the middle "hole" wasn't nearly as deep and could hold things... oh, like the REMOTE that is always somehow disappearing... or the Wii controllers... or DVDs... or pretty corks like the picture at the top... or whatever!  Hmmm... wouldn't it be cool to fill the metal planter with ice and chill a wine bottle in there??

Anyway, here is the final project:

I apologize... I was just too excited to be done with it, that I didn't "stage" it like a proper decorating blogger should do.  I did take the time to set the remote in the middle.  No cutesy stacks of books in the cubbies;  no corks or flowers or ice-chilled-wine-bottles in the middle.  Nope.  Quite frankly, it's in need of a nice sofa to go with it, too, rather than the current Ikea chairs... but that's another day and another post.  (I hope!!)  One word of caution that my hubby warned me of... tell the kids they cannot SIT on this table.  Despite it being wood, the planks at the top would never support a child's weight.  Mine have been warned MANY times now... here's hoping it lasts!!

How stinking cute!  

So, I do believe this goes in the "I did it and it worked" category instead of the Pinterest-Fail category.

What do you think?