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Holiday Crate x10

Welcome to a special DIY tutorial! Today I’m teaming up with 9 other DIY bloggers to bring you an inspiring selection of Holiday Crate Makeovers. What’s a crate makeover, you ask? It’s where decorating meets organization, two of my favorite topics! We’ve each taken on the challenge to transform a plain wooden crate into something beautiful and useful.Holiday Crate x10

When I think of the holidays, I think of decorating, baking, shopping for gifts, and making memories. What I don’t usually think about is organizing. And since I don’t think about it, my house ends up in a bit of a mess. This year, I’ve come up with a better plan, thanks to this Holiday Crate x10 Project.Holiday-Crate-Blankets

One of my favorite activities this time of year is to curl up on the couch with my girls and a fluffy blanket, and read our Christmas books by the light from the tree. We have several beautiful story books, and I pack them away every year with our decorations, so they keep their special magic when we pull them out again. The problem is I need a place to display them, so they don’t get scattered and lost when we’re not reading them. This crate proved to be just the thing I needed to keep books and blankets handy by the couch.

Here’s a look at how it started. Not very cozy, as my daughter would say.Holiday-Crate-Before

But I knew all it needed was a little TLC, in the form of chalk paint, and we’d be good to go. (You can find crates like these at several home and craft stores. I got mine at Home Depot.)

First up, a little sanding. Chalk paint doesn’t need much prep, but I did want to remove the extra chunks of wood so no one would get a splinter picking this thing up.Holiday-Crate-Sanding

Next, a quick coat of DecoArt’s Chalky Finish paint in “Primitive.” I love this stuff because it covers anything, usually in one coat.Holiday-Crate-Chalk-Paint

Now for a little decoration. I’m loving grain sack stripes right now, so I decided to add some in a cheery Christmas red. I started by taping off the stripes.Holiday-Crate-Grain-Sack-Pattern

Hint: Once you get your stripes laid out the way you want, add a strip of tape to both ends. This will hold them together in their pattern when you peel off the tape after painting, so you don’t have to measure out the pattern again on the other side.

It took a couple of coats of craft paint to get a nice dark red.Holiday-Crate-Painting-Stripes

Once the craft paint was dry, I peeled off the tape, being careful to keep the pattern in one piece.Holiday-Crate-Removing-Stencil

The handle looked a little lost, so I painted the inside red as well, and now it blends in nicely with the stripes.Holiday-Crate-Paint-Handles

I repeated this process on the other end of the crate.Holiday-Crate-Reusing-Stencil

Something was still missing, so I painted the tops of all the wooden slats, and the top edges of the crate.Holiday-Crate-Paint-Edges

Finally, I covered the whole thing with a good coat of dark finishing wax to age it a bit, and give it a nice soft sheen.Holiday-Crate-Apply-Dark-Wax

Now it’s ready for blankets and books.Holiday-Crate-After

It fits nicely right next to the couch, but I hate to tuck it away in the corner. I may have to bring it out and set it next to the Christmas tree.Blanket-Crate-Makeover

Time to make hot chocolate and curl up with a good book!Holiday-Crate-in-Use

This is just one idea of how to style a crate like this. Check out these other talented bloggers’ crates for more inspiration:

Carole @ Garden Up Green

Patti @ Garden Matter

Bon Bon @ Farmhouse 40

CD @ CD’s Country Living

Nici @ Posed Perfection

Jami @ An Oregon Cottage

Val @ Love My DIY Home

Karen @ To Work With My Hands

You’re next! what will you do with your holiday crate?

Holiday Crate x10 – Garden Up Green

Thursday 3rd of November 2016

[…]  It was a treat to work with such a talented group of ladies. Patti @ Garden Matter Meredith @ The Palette Muse Bon Bon @ Farmhouse 40 CD @ Cd Country Living Nici @ Posed Perfection Jami @ An Oregon […]

Wood Crate Turned Faux Planter: Holiday Crate x 10 - To Work With My Hands

Tuesday 20th of September 2016

[…] Karen, what a perfect use for your crate! It looks beautiful and so festive with the bow and all that greenery. What a great way to welcome guests at the front door! Meredith @ The Palette Muse recently posted…Holiday Crate x10 […]

Erica

Wednesday 9th of December 2015

You really are creative, Meredith. I personally love crates. I'm not very organized and I like to just be able to quickly put things away. So, for me, crates are the perfect answer. I can be messy within the crate, but then the rest of my house looks more organized!

Meredith

Tuesday 15th of December 2015

I totally agree! I love to be able to compartmentalize the projects I have going on into different crates and bins so it's easy to start and stop a project.

Susan cooper

Friday 4th of December 2015

Hi Meredith, wow, that sure us a big difference in the before and after shots of that crate. Is amazing what a lot of creativity and a little time and paint can do!! Nice.

Meredith

Tuesday 8th of December 2015

Thanks Susan! I'm always amazed at the power of paint!

Jeri Walker (@JeriWB)

Thursday 3rd of December 2015

Great idea. These would work great at my family's cabin.

Meredith

Tuesday 8th of December 2015

Thanks Jeri! These really would be great for a cabin. Now I just need a cabin!

ABOUT MEREDITH


Creating a color-filled life. Conquering my little world one DIY project at a time. With lots of coffee and chocolate. Albuquerque NM. Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Facebook