DIY faux pallet crate

i want to start of by saying that i love pallet furniture.  i love pallet chairs, pallet tables, pallet gardens, pallet beds, you get the idea.  but most of all, since i love organizing and storage, i love pallet crates.  i love the rustic worn look they have, and if they have casters even better!  storage with portable pallet-y goodness!

unfortunately, whenever i look for pallets they always look like they're in really bad shape.  and i tried taking one apart once and it was really rather unsuccessful...in fact i have the sad remains still on my lanai to remind me of what a horrible failure it was lol.  i also read some articles about how some pallets are chemically treated and it can be really difficult to tell which ones those are.  and since i have 2 bunnies who have to nibble on everything i decided that maybe using pallets wasn't the best option for home decor.  

but i still wanted some storage crates.  so i went and bought some pine lumber and made this bad boy:

first, apparently city mill really only sells pine and mahogany.  and i wasn't gonna shell out for mahogany when i was going to make it look old anyway so i was stuck with pine.  which is probably for the best because it still ended up being about $15 just for the lumber!  already way more than i wanted to spend:/

i bought (1) 1"x10"x48" and (1) 1"x12"x48" here's how i had mine cut: (keep in mind that lumber is actually smaller than what it's marked so instead of 1" it's actually more like 3/4")

the 1" x 10" will be the sides-first, i had them cut it into (2) 23.5" x 10" pieces.  then i had them split both those pieces in half (hotdog style).  so you should end up with 4 pieces that are 23.5" x 5" (technically a little less than 5").  originally i had them cut the pieces to 24" because i forgot that lumber is actually smaller than marked, so when i got home and double checked i had to take an extra 1/2" off all 4 pieces.  super annoying when you're working with a leatherman tool...

the 1" x 12" will be the front/back and bottom.  i had them cut (2) 12" x 12" and (1) 22" x 12" pieces.  you can cut holes to make handles in the front/back like i did or you can buy handles from the hardware section.

i stained and sealed all the pieces first then put it together.  i started by attaching the front and back to the bottom piece then added in the sides.  the construction is really pretty simple.

and i had to spend $12 on casters so the project was already almost $30!  which again, was way more than i originally planned on spending.  but i still liked the way it turned out.  city mill also has this little cart in the lumber section of scrap wood for 50 cents a piece.  when i was there they had a lot of chemically treated 2x4 pieces so you might be able to make a crate for much cheaper.



as for the finish, i ended up using minwax driftwood stain.  i like the way it turned out but i wish it had more of gray tone.

i had originally planned on using the vinegar/steel wool technique that is supposed to oxidize the wood and give it a really aged appearance.  well i put one piece of superfine steel wool into apple cider vinegar for one day and tested it out.  when i took the wool out it looked the same but i could definitely see little pieces of it floating in the vinegar and it smelled pretty rusty.  the first few pieces i tried had more of a brown finish rather than the gray i was looking for.  i waited a couple days and it was slowly starting to turn a light gray color but it was still really inconsistent.

then i stumbled across a post where the writer would leave the solution sitting for weeks!  well i didn't really feel like waiting around for weeks with a pile of wood in my kitchen so i just bought some stain instead.  i still have the solution though so maybe next month i'll make something else that i can try it out on...

linking up here

have a great weekend!!

P.S. if you're interested, you can find the anthro rosette pillow here and the chevron blanket here

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My entry into the Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles is sponsored by Appliances Online and their best Range Cookers.