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Home » DIY Home Projects » How to make a bookshelf

How to make a bookshelf

October 8, 2015 By Jamie Dorobek 24 Comments

Note: This is a sponsored post for The Home Depot Foundation. Every thought, opinion, and experience is 100% my own.

For the Celebration of Service event this year, I had the honor of creating a storage unit for Richard Hutchison and his brother, John. See, John was hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed from the chest down 10 years ago. Richard, a 20 year veteran of the Army, has been taking care of his brother ever since.  As Mr. Hutchinson gets older, it is harder and harder for him to take care of his brother whose bedroom is upstairs. In the last year, if Richard needs to take John out of the house, he has to call the fire department to move him. Team Depot heard about their situation and came up with a plan to help. Together, they decided to turn the downstairs living room into a bedroom for John and create a wheelchair accessible bathroom downstairs. Currently there was only a half bath off of the living room. Richard and John asked if I would be willing to help with storage solutions for the new bedroom. They have a ton of books, family pictures, and a giant model car collection that they both adore.

I’ve always wanted to test out the unfinished crates from Home Depot and finally I had the perfect project! I love that the crates are already made, can be painted or stained any color, and fit together to form a storage solution for any space. Here’s what I came up with for John’s new bedroom.

How to make a bookshelf out of crates!

 

This might be the easiest piece of furniture you ever build! Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 5 large crates (For the record, you can use crates of any size, I used large crates.)
  • Stain or paint of your choice (I used Rustoluem Ultimate Wood Stain in weathered grey)
  • Purdy paintbrush (Purdy brushes are the best!)
  • Drop cloth (To stain or paint the crates on.)

So, how to build a bookshelf? Give each crate 2 coats of stain with a paintbrush. The end! Well, then decide how you want to stack them. Now, if you have small children, I would recommend screwing the crates together and attaching them to the wall. But, if you don’t have kids (or pets), they are sturdy enough on their own. I also like the idea of not screwing them together so that you can easily rearrange the shape whenever you’d like! I did not screw them together for the Celebration of Service event since kids do not live in the Hutchinson’s home.

How to build a bookshelf

Here is the crate storage solution all set up in John’s new bedroom! Cleary the walls still need a little paint and the outlet covers needs to be screwed back on, but you get the point.

How to add extra storage

I wanted to show you a few more ways you could possibly arrange the 5 crates. Here’s a stair step idea that stores all things Maxwell.

SAMSUNG CSC

 

And here are the 5 crates stocked with shoes. Maybe for a closet, laundry room, or entry way?

Milk crate furniture ideas

And a simple square 4 crate option, just for fun!

Milk crate furniture ideas

I’m excited to share more details about the Celebration of Service and exactly what we did to improve the function and beauty of their home next week! Oh and have you ever made crate furniture? I’d love to hear!

Filed Under: DIY Home Projects, Wood Crafs

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Comments

  1. Krystell says

    June 17, 2019 at 1:53 am

    Being wanting to do this for a bookshelf but been having trouble finding crates. Where did you get yours at?? Thanks.

    Reply
    • natalie says

      July 23, 2019 at 6:28 pm

      Home Depot, JoAnne’s, Michael’s

      Reply
  2. Gabriela says

    January 28, 2019 at 10:36 pm

    What an amazing idea, I wanna use this to make a bar for our kitchen and a changing table for our little boy

    Reply
  3. Ayushi Mody says

    April 18, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    Do you think I could add roller wheels to this?

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      April 19, 2018 at 2:02 pm

      As long as you attached it all together, I wouldn’t see why not. If you have kids or pets, I would be careful not to make it too top heavy so it doesn’t fall on them!

      Reply
  4. Uneeda Phipps says

    February 12, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    I’ve been looking for the perfect solution for a bookshelf for my kids. I think this would be great for toy storage too. Thank you so much for sharing! I featured your pin on my website for my readers to enjoy too. Here is the link to the article: https://www.uneedacraftycreation.com/top-10-pinterest-picks-february-2018/

    Reply
  5. Dorothy says

    January 25, 2018 at 11:47 am

    I tried this with four crates, awesome idea. thanks!

    Reply
  6. Tiffany Nguyen says

    June 25, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    I love your tutorial . Thank you! I’ve featured it in my blog Obsessed with Apple Crates !

    Reply
  7. Jill says

    May 20, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    I love when I’m on pinterest and see something i love, click the link and it is one of your articles and im like dang i know her in real life lol. Love your creativity!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      May 22, 2017 at 11:14 am

      Haha! That is exciting for me too! Thanks for making my day and leaving a note! Also, if you make that bookshelf secure it to the wall, crazy toddlers will knock this sucker over in no time, ha!

      Reply
  8. Jake says

    August 8, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    What length screws do you use so they’re not poking through the other side?

    Reply
  9. Giuliana says

    May 4, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Thank you so much for this idea! I have a small room so I bought mini crates instead of large ones but it worked great and is such useful storage for my cluttered room!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      May 4, 2016 at 9:52 am

      So happy it was useful for you!! Love a good crate bookshelf… it’s so easy!

      Reply
  10. Sandra says

    December 27, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    Beautiful. What type of prep did you do and did the wood stain include a coating or did you add something.

    Reply
  11. Quinn Caudill says

    October 22, 2015 at 11:01 am

    Great job! Thanks for sharing with us at #Throwback Thursday link party. Hope you join us again tonight..

    Reply
  12. Linda says

    October 22, 2015 at 10:25 am

    I just love this, Jamie. What a super job you did, too. Pinning and sharing on my Facebook Page. Best wishes for a great week.. what a cute blog name. Linda @Crafts a la mode

    Reply
  13. Tina Peterson says

    October 19, 2015 at 1:17 am

    Off the top of your head do you think the 4 crate one would be to big for bedside tables? I think it would be cute but can’t picture how tall it would be…. Love this!!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      October 19, 2015 at 9:16 am

      Hmm… Not necessary too big… just depends on how much room you have on either side of your bed! If I were you, I’d go grab 4 from Home Depot and give it a test run! You can always take ’em back!

      Reply
  14. Sagan says

    October 14, 2015 at 8:03 am

    Very cool! It looks sharp – and I really like that you can do so many different things with the crates.

    Reply
  15. Pili says

    October 14, 2015 at 12:42 am

    Hi, Jamie! I recently made a round up of crates, but your idea is awesome! Pinned as well! Thanks for sharing with us at #OMHGWW, hope to see you next week!
    Hugs,

    Pili

    Reply
  16. creativejewishmom/sara says

    October 12, 2015 at 2:14 am

    Fabulous project and so happy to “meet” you on Craft Schooling Sunday! Hope you’ll be back with more projects soon!

    Reply
  17. Krista says

    October 8, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    I’ve been in the market for a new bookshelf and some shoe shelves.. I think you just solved both those problems, I’m off to get some crates!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. DIY Shelves Ideas That Will Make Your Home Creative • DIY Home Decor says:
    July 10, 2019 at 5:38 am

    […] image via Source […]

    Reply
  2. 20 Amazing DIY Bookshelf Plans and Ideas – The House of Wood says:
    June 28, 2019 at 2:39 pm

    […] Learn More About This DIY Bookshelf → […]

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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