Crabby Fruit Crate Makeover diy

 Crabby Fruit Crate Makeover

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Stacks of old Fruit Crates

What would you do if you had eight crates delivered to your door and stacked ever so nicely in your foyer?  

Well, you’d probably move them out of your foyer. That had to be step one. But then what?

Let me back track a bit.  My oldest son, Keith, called me a couple of weeks ago. It seems that the company he works for was in the process of renovating a house. The previous owner had left some stuff in the garage and Keith was invited to look through the leftovers before the house was cleaned out for rehab.  At least, I think that was the story.  The only thing that really got my attention when he called was, I have a bunch of crates and would you be interested?

Of course I was interested.  But two weeks later I had sort of forgotten that conversation and now I had 8 crates stacked in the foyer.

Pinterest and the internet were my next move. I was looking for inspiration.  I was looking for that crate to hit me over the head and tell me that this was my next project.

http://janecoslick.blogspot.com/2011/03/paddles-paws.html

This crate caught my eye, it had that blend of shabby and chic, rusty and dusty and it had a crab.  Being from Maryland, I think there’s a law that we have to love crabs.  

I had found my inspiration! I don’t know if it hit me over the head, but it came close.  Unfortunately, the site didn’t come with a diy, so I’m bringing you one myself.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

This is the crate I started out with. not quite like my inspiration piece, but doable.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Grabbed some pallet wood from my wood pile in order to make a lid. Marked and squared off the edges.

Two 5 1/4 inch pieces and one, 3 inch piece were all that was needed to make a lid.

With a hand sander gave the entire crate a good sanding as well as my new lid.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

To give the lid something to attach to, a portion of a  2×2 deck baluster was attached to the crate.  Used a miter saw to cut 45 degree angles in the corners. Finish nails held the baluster in place while screws were inserted from the back.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

The smaller piece of pallet wood  for the lid was attached with finishing nails to the newly inserted deck baluster.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

The remaining two pieces of pallet wood for the lid were glued together and scrap wood was used for cross supports to hold the lid tight. The cross supports were also glued and nailed into place.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Used more scrap wood to fill in the larger gaps on the sides of the crate.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

The outside was stained with American Walnut stain and the inside of the crate was painted white.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Over top of the American Walnut stain, a layer of gray (leftover wall paint) was added.  Could have used blue like my inspiration picture, but it wouldn’t have matched anything in my house.  This was my crate could fit anywhere.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Once the paint was dry, the entire crate was sanded once again with a palm sander.  You can see the stain peaking through again.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Being from Maryland, I had to have the crab logo on top like my inspiration piece.  This one was found online. If you would like to visit the Blue Crab Bay Company, you can find them here .  They have lots of crab related gifts for the crab lover in all of us. 

I transferred the image to the top of the crate. For more info on my easy transfer method, check out my Raven sign here.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

 Once the logo was transferred it was just a matter of filling in the lines.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

 For the crab…painted the entire crab white first and followed up with the blue outlines.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Holes were drilled in the sides and rope was inserted and tied for the handles. Hinges were also added to the top lid. 

The outside of the crate was finished off with a coat of tinted wax. 

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Had to show you the before and after picture.

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

Painted Crate diy, Wooden Storage Crate, Repurposed Fruit Crate

My youngest son thought he should catch some crabs in my new crate to give it an authentic aroma.  Not sure that is going to happen.

Upcycled Fruit Crate Ottomans

Upcycled Fruit Crate Ottomans

The same crates were also transformed into ottomans.  You can find that full tutorial here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

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Upcycled Fruit Crate Ottomans diy Easy Pallet Wood Frame diy Junk Fish Upcycled Life Boat Supply Trunk
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