Vintage Soda Storage Crates

Hi guys!  We're working on a major overhaul of our boys' bedroom right now and I can't wait to reveal the finished space. We spruced it up a bit 5 years ago and it has remained basically the same since then.  We're going for a lighter, brighter feel, while maintaining a healthy dose of the vintage industrial look they already had going in there.  I originally shared the tutorial for these Vintage Soda Storage Crates on Reasons to Skip the Housework last summer.  I absolutely love them so we decided to make a few more and use them as the focal point of the new built-in storage unit we are building in the room.  They ended up costing about $6 each and took 30 minutes to create both of them. That’s my kind of project!

Begin by purchasing unfinished wood crates at your local craft store.  With a coupon on my phone I got 2 for $11 and change.  Remove any price tags and stickers that may be on them.  I didn’t bother to sand the rough edges at this point because I liked the rustic look they had.

Using  any paint you have handy, roughly paint the interior and exterior of the crates.  I do mean roughly, too.  I really wanted them to look like they have seen better days.  You can paint them as much or as little as you like.  I find that the more inexpensive the brush you use, the better this style of painting will turn out.  This is a perfect opportunity to use those super cheap chip brushes, but I would steer clear of foam brushes for this.  The rough wood will shred them.

I was serious about making these crates look old and used, so once the paint was dry I sanded it off a little in some places and used a distressing ink pad to darken up the edges and add some grunge to it.  They are starting to look exactly how I want them!  Now we just have to add the vintage soda labels.  You can find a bunch of cool designs in this Flikr set.  Katy Beck has made them available for personal use under a Creative Commons license. {Thanks so much Katy!}  Just download and print your favorite designs right on your home printer.

My husband is Canadian so we HAD to use the Royal Canadian label for one of them!  Cut out the label , then paint a thin coat of matte finish Mod Podge onto the front of the crate.  Position the label on top of the Mod Podge and press into place gently.  It’s OK if the paper ripples a little bit — that just adds to the aged look.  Seal the image in place by painting another thin coat of Mod Podge on top and allowing it to dry.  If you want to age the crate even further, once the Mod Podge is dry you can gently sand the label to distress it a bit.

You could also dry-brush over the label like I did on the Squirt crate.  Dip a very dry paint brush into your paint then brush almost all of it off onto a paper towel before gently brushing across the label to dull it down and make it look older.

I am in love with these funky Vintage Soda Storage Crates!  They will be perfect for keeping my boys’ junk stowed away on the shelves in their bedroom and they are so much more fun to look at than plain old baskets.  They’ll really add to the vintage industrial vibe we are trying to create in there.    

Come back soon -- we'll be sharing the industrial built-in shelving project and some cool decorating ideas for teen boys.

Have a great day, friends!
Amy