Wooden crates are the cheapest real furniture you can buy. A craft-store crate costs $8 to $20, a wine shop will often give you one for free, and a stack of them screwed together is a bookcase by the end of the afternoon. These 20 DIY crate shelf tutorials each have a materials list and written steps on the maker's own page. There are no video-only posts and no photo roundups, and most need nothing more than a drill.
A few notes before you buy crates. Craft-store crates (Michaels, Walmart, Home Depot, Jo-Ann) are the same size from one to the next, so they stack neatly. Thrifted produce and wine crates are cheaper and have more character, but check them for splinters, loose slats and old labels. The one rule every maker below repeats is screw into the thick end boards, not the thin slats. The ends are usually 3/4 inch thick and the slats only 1/4 inch. And anything taller than two crates should be anchored to the wall, especially in a child's room. Each entry says what tools you need.
Stacked crate bookcases
This is the classic: crates stacked on their sides and screwed together into one freestanding bookcase.
DIY Wooden Crate Shelf — Haute & Healthy Living. Six Michaels crates for a nursery bookshelf, about $90 in crates. It's joined with Chicago screws for a rustic flat-head look, stained Weathered Oak and anchored with two wall brackets. Drill and screwdriver. Easy.
Super Easy DIY Crate Bookshelf for $100 — Making Manzanita. A crate wall that doubles as a room divider, built from $9.99 crates with a brad nailer and 1-inch nails. It's the most useful page here on technique: nail only through the thick crate ends, and angle the nailer so nails don't blow out the side. There are separate anchoring steps for walls with and without baseboards. Brad nailer. Beginner.
How to Make a Wooden Crate Bookshelf — Smoky Mountain Farmhouse. Two layouts for a playroom: three crates side by side, or eight crates in alternating horizontal and vertical positions. The screw-length guide alone is worth bookmarking (3/4 inch slat-to-slat, 1 inch side-to-slat, 1-1/2 inch side-to-side). Drill. Beginner.
DIY Crate Bookshelf Tutorial — Tara Michelle Home. An eight-crate bookcase for about $120, sanded and anchored to the wall with an L-bracket. The designer admits the crates never line up perfectly in the middle, and explains how she dealt with it. Drill and sandpaper. Easy.
DIY Modular Crate Shelves — Home Depot Canada. The no-drill option. The crates are half-painted in a colour-block look using painter's tape at the midpoint, then clamped together instead of screwed, so you can rearrange them whenever you like. Ten steps. No power tools. Easy.
Easy Crate Shelves — Dream a Little Bigger. A tall, skinny, three-high unit on a tapered plywood base that holds a basket. Plywood shelves on 1×2 supports are added inside each crate to double the storage. Made from crates and scrap wood the builder already owned. Circular saw and drill. Intermediate.
DIY Wood Crate Bookshelf — Sew Much Ado. A kids' room bookshelf where the crates are screwed to a 1×4 board running along the back. Each crate back is lined with birch-print peel-and-stick wallpaper, which makes it look finished and store-bought. Drill and clamps. Easy.
Wall-mounted wine crate shelves
Wine crates are shallower than craft crates, which makes them good for hanging. They're often free if you ask at a wine shop.
Affordable Industrial Wine Crate Shelf — Casa di Aria. Four wine crates hung spaced apart on galvanized angle-slot strips, so you can reach into every crate. About an hour of work, with the brackets at about $13 each. Drill. Easy.
Wine Crate Shelves — DIY Inspired. Three crates stacked and joined with 1/4-inch threaded rods and cap nuts through the corners. It's a clever industrial look that needs no brackets inside the crates. There's also a hair-dryer trick for peeling off old labels. Drill. Easy.
Crate nightstands
One or two crates on legs make a bedside table with a built-in book shelf. Most of these use store-bought hairpin legs.
Easy Wood Crate Nightstand (and Bookshelf) — Pretty Handy Girl. One 18-inch crate with the slats removed from one side and a 1×10 board added as a base. The legs are homemade from a closet rod, but the builder recommends buying a leg kit, which also means you won't need a saw. Drill, saw optional. Easy to moderate.
DIY Nightstand From an Old Wine Crate — Pillar Box Blue. A lidded French wine crate on 16-inch hairpin legs. The lid is cut down to make an inside shelf that rests on four screws, and the inside is lined with wrapping paper and Mod Podge. Saw and screwdriver. Easy.
DIY Crate Nightstand — Sugar Bee Crafts. Two Michaels crates in an ombre yellow-to-white spray-paint finish, with flat metal connector plates on the front as decoration. The loose top board has blocks glued underneath so it can't slide off. Drill and saw. Easy.
Crate Nightstand — DIY Darling. A boho two-crate nightstand that takes half a day. Useful for the stain test: one popular natural stain "did nothing" on the crate wood, so she explains which one she used instead. Glue and clamp before you screw. Drill and clamp. Easy.
Crate Nightstand Plans — More Like Home. The only project here where you build the crates from scratch, from 1×12, 1×6 and 1×4 boards. It has a full cut list with finished dimensions, two styles, and cut-out handles. Pick this one if store crates are too flimsy or the wrong size for you. Saw, drill and spade bit. Intermediate.
Crate TV stand and closet storage
Easy DIY Farmhouse TV Stand — The Crafting Nook. Two large crates set between long pine top and bottom boards with a middle shelf, on four casters (two locking). She gives a formula for sizing the boards to whatever crates you find. Drill and level. Easy to moderate.
DIY Sliding Wood Crate Storage — Fix This Build That. Crates wall-mounted on full-extension drawer slides, so they pull out like drawers. There's a plywood spacer jig for lining them up. It's written for a closet, but it works just as well in a garage or pantry. Miter saw and drill. Intermediate.
Rolling crate carts and toy storage
Add four casters and a crate becomes a cart. These are the quickest projects on this list.
Wood Crate Rolling Cart — The Shabby Creek Cottage. Two produce-market crates and four ball casters make a printer cart in about 20 minutes. The gaps in the back slats let cords through. Drill. Very easy.
DIY Rolling Wood Crate — Do Dodson Designs. A pantry-floor crate on low-profile rollers that slides under the bottom shelf, with a white gel stain and cabinet pulls for handles. Good for potatoes, onions or bulk bags. Screwdriver. Easy.
DIY Wooden Crate Toy Box — A Night Owl Blog. One large crate painted in black-and-white stripes on four swivel plate casters. The page gives the exact caster and screw sizes. Drill. Easy.
DIY Rolling Crate for Book Storage — Practically Functional. A picture-book crate on wheels with a stencilled "Books" label. It's under five minutes unpainted, or about an hour with one coat of paint. Screwdriver. Very easy.
Making it look finished
Stain or paint crates before you join them, because it's far easier to reach every slat. Sand the corners, especially for anything in a child's room. Line the backs with wallpaper, fabric or wrapping paper to hide what's stored behind. And if you'd rather have soft storage inside the crates, crochet storage baskets sized to fit a crate's opening look lovely.
For a taller build that fits a narrow wall, see these DIY ladder bookshelf plans, or build a pallet bookshelf from free reclaimed wood. For more wood projects to make, see the DIY spice rack, pallet shoe rack, dollhouse bookcase and barrel table ideas. For quick room makeovers, try the no-sew curtains and a macrame wall hanging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy cheap wooden crates?
Craft stores like Michaels and Jo-Ann sell unfinished crates for about $10 to $20, and are much cheaper with a coupon. Walmart and Home Depot sell similar crates for $8 to $10. For free or nearly free crates, ask a wine shop, a liquor store or a farmers' market stall.
How do you attach crates together?
Use short wood screws through the thick end boards. The Smoky Mountain Farmhouse guide gives exact lengths: 3/4 inch where two slats meet, and 1-1/2 inch where two thick sides meet. Clamps, threaded rods and zip ties work too, if you want to rearrange the crates later.
Are crate shelves strong enough for books?
Yes, if the weight sits on the crate's bottom and the unit is anchored. A single craft crate holds a full row of paperbacks easily. Anchor anything taller than two crates to the wall with an L-bracket or furniture strap, because a tall stack of books tips forward easily.
How do you hang a crate on the wall?
Screw through the crate's back or ends into wall studs, or use heavy-duty wall anchors rated for the load. Metal angle strips, as in the Casa di Aria shelf, or a French cleat carry more weight than screws through the thin back slats.
