Old Fruit Crates into Nightstands

I love commissions out of the ordinary, especially if they involve working with old wooden fruit crates  -like this one!

The customers were looking for a pair of bedside tables for their shabby-chic decorated bedroom, and agreed on adapting two 50s big fruit crates from my stash. They wanted a rustic feel, but a clean, functional and even elegant design: no problem! I achieved this requests by adapting a couple of old solid beech drawers, two solid pinewood shelves and top surfaces, plus using reclaimed pieces of wood to support them and to build legs as well.

Those parts and the interior are stained in a dark chocolate tone, the sides are 'dry painted' in white, and the drawer fronts have a distressed off-white finish. I have also added a couple of ornate cast bronze handles to complete the 'French Cottage' look. Check the Making Of section for further details.

Measures: 39cm wide, 31cm deep, 59cm high.

MAKING OF: Here on the right, the various parts used to build the bedside tables.




BODY - Sanding the crates (then I would treat the wood, not shown) and cutting the shelves and top surfaces to measure

Rounding the edges, cutting the supports for the shelves (out of reclaimed wooden angles taken from other fruit crates)

Staining the inside of the crates, the shelves and top surfaces... you can also see one of the drawers in the background, its inner bottom side already stained.

Mounting the shelves, the rails for the drawers and the legs. Those bits will also be stained later on (not shown).

Varnishing and polishing the whole pieces.

DRAWERS - Cutting their lenght to adapt them to the depth of the crates. On the right, the parts, ready. I left the back board unfastened for an easier staining of the bottom surface.

Sanding and painting the fronts.

Distressing -I would varnish it later on, not shown. Cutting the slats that will make the supports for the drawers.

Polishing the handles, and attaching them to the drawer fronts.