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How to Repurpose Wine Crates as Office Storage

Have you ever thought of wine crates as storage? Let me show you how to repurpose wine crates as office storage.

Crates are awesome containers to use around the house. They are the perfect size for storage of all kinds.

I’ve used crates and boxes for home decor, but I have never used wine crates as office storage. It was serendipity that I even have these wine crates. But I couldn’t let a good wine crate go to waste.

This entire project started quite by accident. The wine crates ~ four of them ~ dropped in my lap; well, actually, they landed on the curb several houses down from us.

Back in April, May, and June, people in our neighborhood were definitely cleaning out their homes. As Sweet Shark and I walked every day during those months, I waited for the 3rd week of the month when people put out their discarded goods.

This time was heaven for people like me who love to repurpose discarded items. I now have a cute cabinet, a wood chandelier, clay pots, and 4 wine crates.

How to Repurpose Wine Crates as Office Storage

This post contains affiliate links to products used in this project. If you should order any product from this site, I may receive compensation, but you don’t pay a penny more.

The wine crates have sat in my garage since last summer, just waiting for the light bulb to go off in my head on how to repurpose the wine crates and use them.

Last month, I picked up one of the crates and brought it inside. As I looked at the Billy bookcases in my office, I realized that the wine crate might fit in my cubbies. And it did!

I now knew exactly how to repurpose the wine crates as office storage.

Here is what the wine crates looked like. They are actually in good condition. The crates are 10 3/8 X 14 X 7 3/8.

four wine crates

The first step was to remove the lids and the small nails and staples. This is for safety as well as aesthetics. Sweet Shark did this for me.

removing nails from wine crate lids

We removed the slats from the lids and removed the wine supports on the inside of the wine crates.

I now had the 4 lids, 8 wood slats and 8 wine supports. You can bet that the wood lids and the wood slats will be saved for some future project. I’ll keep the wine supports too.

I’m sure you can imagine a project using these 4 pieces of wood which are 10 3/8 X 14 inches. I see a sign in the future!

These wine crates are made of soft balsa wood. There were definitely rough spots that could cause splintering. I used a 220~grit sandpaper to sand them. I concentrated on the corners, tops, and edges.

Next, I wiped down all the dust with a cloth rag.

PAINTING THE WINE CRATES

Now I was ready to paint the wine crates. Since the walls in my office are bright pink, white would be the best color for the crates.

I wanted the rough, rustic wine crates to have a bright, clean look. A gloss finish for the wine crates would give a modern look. I used Rust~Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in White Gloss.

For easy application, I always use the Rust~Oleum Spray Can Grip.

can of spray paint

I actually had to wait several days until the temperature warmed up enough to spray paint outside.
Then, I set up my Spray Shelter from Home Right; this one is a small size. I could easily have used the medium size. It was warm this day but very windy, so I faced the tent away from the garage door.

TIP: Always spray paint outside with plenty of ventilation. Move your cars out to the street. Even with a Spray Shelter, there can be overspray.

I started by giving the inside of the crates one coat of paint. Then I turned the crates over and began painting all the sides. One coat was enough for the bottom which no one would ever see. I gave the front and sides two coats.

On the second paint day, the temperature turned cold which is not good for spray paint. At least there was no wind.
To help the crates dry faster, I used a floor fan. I decided that the fronts of the wine crates needed a third coat for a smoother finish.

When the wine crates were finally dry, I brought them inside for the last step of the transformation of the wine crates into storage items.

FINISHING THE WINE CRATES WITH HARDWARE

Don’t the wine crates look awesome? I think the gloss paint totally dressed up the raw look of the crates.

To easily remove the wine crates from the cubbies, I needed a handle to pull them. A few weeks ago I saw some brass/gold pulls at Lowe’s that I really liked. Since I had several gold accents in my office, these would be perfect.

Now that I had a project to use them, I made a trip and picked up four pulls.

gold hardware pulls

First, I had to find the centers of the crate fronts. I measured the width and the height. I had the brilliant idea to cross 2 tape measures at the same time. This method is quicker and requires just one mark.

Here was an opportunity to use my electric drill ~ one of my favorite tools. I drilled the he for the screw on my mark.

Then I held the gold handle on the front of the crate and the drill and the screw on the inside.

Woila! My wine crates have been repurposed as office storage. Aren’t they pretty?

white repurposed wine crate
two white repurposed wine crates

Finally, I added furniture pads to the bottom of the crates.

This step ensures that the crates will slide in and out easily.

Here’s how they look in the bookcase cubby. This is temporary ~ just to show you where they will go.

Am I through with these wine crates? Not at all. My organization project is halfway done. Now I can use them as new storage in my office. I have some further work to revamp the bookcases with my repurposed wine crates.

bookshelves with repurposed wine crates

The moral of this story? Never pass up wine crates on the curb or at a garage sale or flea market.

Next up on Bluesky at Home, I’ll show how I rearranged my bookcases using the wine crates for more efficiency.

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13 Comments

  1. These look GREAT, Carol! What a happy coincidence they fit the bookshelves so perfectly! And I love that spray tent and spray can grip – I had no idea such things even existed!

  2. What a great find, Carol! I would have brought those crates home as well. It’s amazing that they fit perfectly into your bookcase and you made them look like they are drawers. I also love that you added hardware to them. Great upcycle! I’m sharing this on my FB page this morning.

  3. Carol, how lucky you were to find those 4 wine crates. What a great idea you came up with to repurpose them for storage! I am always on the lookout for the wooden wine crates but it’s so hard to find them at our liquor stores here. I’ll keep looking because I really like what you did for storage! Thanks for sharing with us!

    1. Mary-Ann, I was lucky to be on a walk right after our neighbor put them out. I’ve never thought much about wine crates so I’m really happy that I came upon them. It’s been fun to reorganize my bookcase with them.

  4. Wow, Carol! I would have never thought these were originally wine crates! The transformation is gorgeous! Years ago when I first started blogging I could go to liquor stores and get all sorts of wine crates free. Now, they sell them! I guess they realized what can be done with them. Just recently, I used one as a stand for one of my smaller xmas trees. But I had no idea how to decorate it. Thanks for the inspiration on painting it! You are very creative!

  5. Great use of the wine crates. They’re harder to find at liquor stores than they used to be.

    Bummer about the weather but you got it to work.

    I had my hubby make cheese boards from wine crate tops.. Mineral oil and food safe.

    Cindy

  6. How cute! Great find. I love it when things work out so well and fit perfectly! Those crates lids would be perfect for one of your stencil projects. Thanks for sharing.