Vintage Revamp with Crate Shelf DIY

I've been thinking about changing a few things up in my house lately. Actually, I've started a list for summer projects. Planking the inset wall behind the tv is at the top of the list, and my mess of a bedroom is a close second! 

This week has kind of made me stir crazy. I was sick over the weekend and it was so terrible that it left me really weak for the first half of the week. Then one of my daughters got it, and now my other daughter might have it. We've had lots of movies and what seems like non-stop couch time.

I decided today that I would use my time cooped up at home to make a few changes with stuff I already had. 

 First up, I wanted to mount this BIG (it's much bigger than it looks in the photo) crate on the wall as a shelf. The problem was, there was a phone jack mounted to the wall here. We don't even HAVE a home phone anymore because we just use our cell phones.

I decided to try to remove it. In the past, I just covered it up with various things that didn't have to sit flush to the wall. It was easier than I thought!

I used long screws and a stud finder to mount the shelf securely to the wall. You find studs in the strangest places when hanging heavy things, so my screws are actually dead center through the crate back wall. If my metal tray wasn't in the photo, you would see the screws.  I bought that huge frame at a junker's paradise in Capitola. The cream chalkboard I'd made awhile back and never used.

 I then started pulling stuff from other places in the house to arrange the crate. It's tall so it looks weird if there isn't color going up high inside it. I planted some succulents in an old floral tin that I thrifted last week.

 Here's kind of a wide angle of my dining room. It's actually bigger than it looks, so I guess I didn't stand far enough back.

 I scored some old glass milk bottles at a yard sale last week and they came in this small crate. I turned it on its side and put it on the kitchen counter. I found that cute little blue jar at World Market and I use it to store my chia seeds for smoothies.

 I bought this little old mint tin at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago. It makes the perfect quirky planter for a succulent.

I feel like I'm finally starting to make my house look the way I feel on the inside. It might be a little strange to some people, but I just LOVE old stuff mixed with new. You don't have to wait around for your bank account to allow for you to make your house the way YOU want it. You just have to think outside the box.

Decorating with Crates

I redecorated one of my "top shelf" areas today. I'm ignoring the fact that our A/C return vent is here. Big eyesore, but it's actually better blended-in now. It could almost pass for a shutter now, I just noticed that! What USED to be here were a set of two giant, dark wicker hamper baskets. I've had them since we got married (almost 9 years ago!) and they are completely faded on the back sides because the "top shelf" in our last house had lighting behind it. I've been gathering wooden crates, and I had no idea what I'd end up with today when I started pulling all of this together, but I. AM. IN. LOVE. with how it turned out!
Yesterday was my second trip to one of my best friend's mother in law's house. She is a antique dealer and has oooooodles of treasures. They might not LOOK like treasures when you're digging through dirty piles of cobwebs and spiders, but they are like gold to me. ;) This big frame is the larger of the two I bought for $5 total. All I did was wash it off, I left the crazy paint the way it was. I actually like it that way. The bottom drawer I bought for $2 and added a metal knob from the BAG of knobs, pulls, and metal pieces I bought from her collection! After we treasure hunted there, my sister in law and I went to Rocky Hill Antiques in Exeter and I found the top greenish/tealish crate. It was actually from my friend Luci's section in the store!

The green crate standing on it's end was $2 from my friend's house. The bottom crate on the right was one of the crates I made and stained for the wedding I did last year. I needed to give height to the smaller turquoise crate that I got for my birthday last year. I believe it was from Marshall's or Home Goods. I love how you can marry old and new when you are buying distressed pieces. You can't tell the difference. The tall piece in the back I got from my first trip to the antique dealer's property. It was also $2.
Here is what it looked like with only crates. I toyed with the idea of only doing an arrangement of empty crates, but once I started adding things from other areas of the house, I liked it better. The tall piece on the right is a chippy, architectural-type of candlestick.


Keeping it REAL... here's what the other side now looks like because I pulled so much stuff to finish it the way I wanted. And LOOK at that pile of dust! Ahh! Now I've got some work to do to make the other side equally satisfying. I may have to buy some more stuff from her when I go pick up my new big furniture piece I'm buying for the dining room! I'm SO excited, I can't wait to get it!

One last look... I'm in love!!