Vintage Wine Crate Coffee Table

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**** ~ GREAT NEWS!!! For all you Non-DIYers out there. The Crate Coffee Table is now FOR SALE! Go to my For Sale page for more information! ~ ****

New: Check out the new Inspiration Page! See what other readers have created.

At last! I've finally finished my coffee table and I'm so excited to reveal it! I'd love to say it's perfect but like with any art project, given the chance to do it over again I would change up a few steps. But it's still pretty cool! ;)

A leg of our old coffee table is about to give out. The reason why? My kitchen table is where my laptop sits along with my printer, usually parts/materials to a half dozen upcoming projects, unopened mail... and opened mail, magazines for ideas and well, you get the point. Our coffee table is the "dining room table". So the legs get a lot of wear and tear from being pushed in and scooted out for meal times.

The leg is a little wobbly.
Check out the update here!

Regardless of whether your an artist or creative, I refuse to pay $500+ for a new coffee table. My first thought was making a pallet coffee table. Pallets are free and with a few scrapes of wood you could throw it together fairly easy. BUT, everyone's doing that now, so I had to find something unique. ;) I started sketching out some drawings for building my own table and then the idea came to me and I knew it was something original. I saw online someone had taken an old wine crate and put casters on the bottom. I believe they were using it for some kind of storage container but it got me thinking.....

Materials:
~ 4 Wooden Crates ~ I already had one on hand from Michael's so I bought 3 more. Using their 40% coupon for each crate they came to just over $7 each. (I'd love to make a table with actual vintage wine crates) Crates are 12.5"W x 18"L x 9.5"H.
~ Two 1x4 ~ I used Pine but it shouldn't matter
~ 4 Casters ~ {Update: check out how I've made rustic looking casters here} I already had these on hand but this is one thing I would change. I thought about trying to rust these a little but I actually wanted the functionality to be able to un/lock the wheels and I was afraid intentionally rusting them would cause some problems. So next time I'll look for casters that are all black or have a rustic look.

Optional Materials:
~ Images (not necessary if you use a real wine crate) - I found one on The Graphics Fairy and a few others online
~ Mod Podge ~ Matte Finish
~ Stain ~ Vinegar, steel wool and brewed tea {See my Stain Tutorial for more options}
~ A variety of screws, nails, L brackets, and bolts
~ Satin Polyurethane

Final Dimensions: 27"W x 27"D x 17"H
Total Cost: $7 (x4 crates), $8 worth of wood for the frame and $7 per caster = $72
*price does not include screws, nails, stain or finish. 

I'm not intentionally being vague but unless you go out to buy these exact crates from Michael's then your measurements are going to be completely different than mine.

I figured out the arrangement of the crates. Don't worry about the hole in the middle, I'll get to it.

My first step should have been to stain all the crates before I started screwing them together. Would have made that job a whole lot easier. However, I started by building a frame. This would not only be a solid foundation but it would give me a piece of wood much thicker than the crates to screw in the casters. You'll notice I arrange the crates how I wanted them. I based my measurements for the frame on this. For extra support, where the sides of the frame connect I drilled holes in the sides of each board, filled the holes with wood glue, placed dowels into each hole and fit the pieces together. For the middle boards (that create the + ), I secured them to the frame using L brackets. 

I first nailed the crates to hold them in place temporarily. I then went back with screws and removed the nails when I was done. Now, thanks to Bob Ross, "There are no mistake, only happy accidents." That hole in the middle... what to do with it? Make it one of the features! At first I thought about making it a planter box but remembered all the times we've throw magazines, books, PS3 remotes (Honey!) onto the table and figured a plant wouldn't survive. So I thought I'd tie it together with my River Rock Side Table. Unfortunately I'm out of rocks so I had to improvise. I flipped the crates upside down, used a few scrap pieces of wood and L brackets. I only wanted the hole to be about 4-5 inches but you could make it taller depending on where you place the brackets. Just remember it's upside down, so the closer your L brackets are to you, the deep hole you'll have.

Next I transferred over my wine images. Again, I need to change the order of this step. Once I stained the wood the images were almost completely gone. But at the time they looked great!

The Graphic Fairy provided this graphic

I also used this border from The Graphics Fairy with our fav
winery, Chandler Hill in the middle

*** UPDATE
My Transferring Images to Wood Tutorial has now been posted.

Stain time! One week before staining I put about 2 cups of vinegar in a container along with a steel pad (SOS pad) and let it sit for a week. Right before I planned to stain I heated about 4 cups of water until it was almost boiling and then steeped 2 bags of tea. (I'm guessing the flavor of tea doesn't matter considering a used Lipton's Mango Team. Definitely made the basement smell good.) After the tea has steeped for a bit use a paint brush and coat your wood with the tea. The 4 cups I used was just enough to cover all the wood and a little more.

It's a little hard to tell but the wood be a little darker from
the tea

Grab another brush and use your vinegar/wool solution. It should be a nice, murky brown by now. Start painting the wood. Please don't freak! The wood will look almost black. I had a slight panic attack and tried to quickly wipe away the stain (which, by the way, doesn't help).

Don't plan on reusing your Tubberware container... unless
you're staining something something else

Feeling defeated I continued on, counting the amount of money and time I'd already invested only to have to start over. Don't stress too much if it's darker than you think you'll like. Over the next 24 hours the stain really soaked into the wood and the color lightened. {Check out other staining options.}

Honestly, when I put the stain on the wood looked
black, but it lightened up quite a bit

Next, sanding.... *insert major groan*! I don't know why but this is the worst part for me. Maybe it's because every year since turning 25 my allergies get worse and worse. But in all honesty I hated it before that. I think my hatred has only increased since then because now I know I HAVE to wear a mask which I always considered optional before.

I tried to smile and look happy but 1) I'm wearing a mask and
2) I wasn't very happy.

I threw the casters on the bottom and was starting to get pretty pumped about the table. Just a few more steps. {Update: check out how I've made rustic looking casters here}

I really wish I had more rustic looking wheels. :/

I went back and tried to redo my wine label transfers. Some of them worked. I had one side so messed up I was about it pull my hair out! This side will face away from the main traffic in the living room. ;)

I think I might have been too excited. I printed a reverse image
and then covered the print in Mod Podge and waited for it to dry

Or at least I thought I waited. The Graphics Fairy imaged turned
out the best out of all of them.

Last but not least, polyurethane. I used a Satin finish. Next time (if I choose to create another for some reason) I would use a lighter stain and I would like to try a beeswax sealer. I haven't found it in any store but I did find how to make your own on Pinterest!

Tada!

I've scoured the internet trying to find a Wine Crate Coffee Table and have not been able to find one like mine. (I'm going to feel like an idiot if one of you come back saying you found one) While this project cost more than I typically like to spend, it was definitely NOT anywhere close to crossing over into double digits never mind closing in on a grand!

This is about as close as I could get. I do love the wheels on this
table and it's made from reclaimed wine crates. You can find
it online at Hudson Goods. But can you believe the price tag?

Here are a few more shots with some of my New Addition items added in.

A few books from Goodwill

A few of my favorite inspirational magazines. Also included
are my "coasters" also known as cheap tiles from Lowes. They'll
be revamped this week and get their own blog.

More magazines to flip through. And every artist's dream
catalog.... Dick Blick. It's almost the size of a phone book!
LOVE IT!

Here was my thought with the coasters. When people use
them and the coasters themselves become soaked, what do
you do? Well, now I have a way dry them off for a while.
I think it'll work a little better once I have rocks but the
corks should do a pretty fabulous job in the meantime.

See how I created casters with a rustic look.

Rustic casters replaced the shiny casters.

Check out how to update your table for Christmas time with my Christmas Coffee Table. Or other variations; pinecones, throw in some pink and red rocks with some decorative hearts for Valentine's Day, Easter eggs.

Side table is COMPLETE and also for sale!

A quick tip for fixing a crate slat

Check out how to create a Whitewash Finish

Featured on: Gadgets4guys & O Globo.

Thanks for stopping by!
Becca

Linking up with: Knick of Time's Tuesday Link Party, Restore It Wednesday with Restore Interiors, Fridays with Redoux., Furniture Feature Friday with Miss Mustard Seed, Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday.