Skip to Content

DIY Wood Crate

Hey all, thanks for stopping by Bitterroot DIY!

For more project ideas, you can find me on Pinterest. And to stay up to date with the latest shenanigans, follow me on Instagram.

Aren’t all those wood crate projects all over Pinterest just the cutest! You can use them for center pieces, outdoor décor, shelving … the list goes on. I’m not sure why I thought I’d start learning woodworking with a coffee table and then a set of stools. I guess it’s 115% or nothing at all, ya know. Anyways, I thought maybe I should take it down a notch and do a simpler, more fun project. So here we have a DIY Wood Crate – a.k.a. the new diaper holder basket to go on top of the baby dresser!

The dimensions of this crate are 12” x 10” x 6” (L x W x H). If you want a different size, just adjust your materials and cut lengths.

Tools & Materials:

  • 15’ of Wood Lath
  • 1 |  1/2” Square Dowel (Home Depot sells these in 3’ lengths, which is enough for this project)
  • 1 |  1 x 2 – 6ft (that’s the shortest length Home Depot carries, so you’ll have some extra)
  • Wood Glue
  • Hammer & Nails (or brad nailer/finishing nailer)

Cuts:

  • 8 |  Wood Lath @ 12”
  • 8 |  Wood Lath @ 7”
  • 4 |  1 x 2 @ 12” (base)
  • 4 |  Square Dowel @ 6” (upright dowel)

Step 1.

To create overlapping corners on your box, offset one end of each wood lath strip about ¼” from the end of the dowel. Alternate overhanging edges, as shown below. Apply wood glue to both sides of the wood lath and adhere it to the dowels. Let the wood glue set for a minute to prevent the wood lath from sliding around.

Continue gluing the wood laths in place, alternating overhanging edges and leaving approximately 1/2″ clearance between the slats. The top and bottom slats should be flush with the ends of the dowels.

Repeat for the other end of your box.

Step 2.

Position the long slats across the dowels and attach with wood glue. Alternate overhanging edges to line up flush with the short slats.

I placed the crate on top of some spare pieces of wood lath in order to save my counter from wood glue … please ignore all those random pieces laying around 😉

Let wood glue set for a minute, and then continue gluing the long slats in place.

Once you have attached all the long slats on one side of the crate, let it sit for about 20 minutes. Once the wood glue has set sufficiently, flip the crate over to add long slats on the other side.

Step 3.

Step 3 is optional. Wood glue is definitely strong enough to hold your box together, however, I decided to add nails along the edges for aesthetics.

If you have a nice staple gun, that would finish this up nicely also. I’m still in the market for one, so I just used a hammer and some small nails. Works perfectly! … just takes a little extra time and TLC 🙂

Step 4.

Space the 1 x 2 base pieces approximately 1/2″ apart and attach to the ends of the box with wood glue.

 

One the wood glue has set, add a couple finishing nails into each 1 x 2 base strip to solidify the bottom of the crate.

 

And that’s all she wrote …

Stain or paint as desired and enjoy!

 

 

 

DIY Rustic Wood Crate

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.