How To Convert An Old Crate Into A Bathroom Shelf

In the six years since we moved into our current home, my design style and preferences have evolved and room by room, I've been making changes: towels, sheets, lampshades, pillows and so on.  Last month when I was at the thrift store picking up a piece to makeover for our Inspire My Creativity challenge, I also found an old crate that was sturdy and big, but it had dowels running through it and it was half painted.  I picked it up for $4 and brought it home with the desire to transform it into a shelf for our main bathroom.  I thought it would be pretty straightforward, but I ran into a few snags on the way.  See how I converted an old crate to a fun and functional bathroom shelf.

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One of the rooms that has remained unchanged since we moved in is the bathroom on our main floor which doubles as our kids' bathroom and the bathroom our guests use when they visit.  I'm not kidding when I say that it's the exact same as it was six years ago.  So when I found the crate, I had the brilliant idea to convert it into a shelf for the bathroom and replace the metal wall hanging that was in there.  However, there were a couple of road blocks to this plan: 1) dowels and 2) the middle board which was running horizontal instead of vertical.

This month's theme for Inspire My Creativity is chalk paint, so that's what I'm using on this project.  I actually would have used this anyway because it's such an easy way to paint over something else without much (if any) prep work.  Here's a list of supplies I used for this project:

• Waverly chalk paint in white (similar)
• foam brushes
• small stiff bristle paint brush
• finishing nails
• wood glue
• hammer
• pliers 
• large sawtooth hangers

I used a hammer to pound out one side and removed the dowels and middle board.  Then I used pliers to take out the nails that had been used to hold it together.

My husband helped me measure and cut the board so it fit vertically.  He actually cut off a little bit on both sides since there were holes in it from the dowels and I wanted it to be symmetrical.

Then we reattached the side I'd taken off and used finishing nails to secure it.  We put the new shelf in using some wood glue and then a few finishing nails for good measure.

Lastly, my husband used some caulk to fill in the gaps and give it a little smoother finish for painting.  I let it dry overnight and got ready to paint it the next morning.

If you've worked with chalk paint before, you know that it is thicker than acrylic paint, water-based and a little can go a long way.  I used a little less than 1/2 of an 8 oz bottle and did a total of 3 coats of paint.  So it's a pretty cost effective and time saving way to refresh an old piece of furniture.

After painting, I let it dry for a couple of hours while I ran to the store and grabbed some large sawtooth hangers to hang the shelf up.  While I was there, I also picked up a new shower curtain and towels for the bathroom because I figured a new shelf was excuse enough to update the rest of the bathroom. *wink*  The curtain had a great color scheme and I actually used it as the jumping off point for the colors I wanted to use in the bathroom.

Once the shelf was hung up, I used a picture of my daughter when she was a baby in the bathtub and a few other knick-knacks to put on the shelves.  It's amazing what an old thrift store find and a little chalk paint can do for a room.  And now I've got the cutest shelf (plus a new shower curtain and towels) and my bathroom feels totally fresh and bright and new!

What projects do you have that could use a little chalk paint to spruce it up?

As I mentioned above, this post is part of the Inspire My Creativity link party where every second Wednesday of the month, I will be co-hosting along with 12 other talented bloggers where we will be sharing a project based around a theme.  You can check out each of their blogs below:

Shani  |  Sunshine & Munchkins (you are here)

Anna  |  Practical and Pretty

Ali  |  Home Crafts by Ali

Meredith  |  The Designer DIY

Cathy  |  A Boy and His Mom

Emy  |  Semigloss Design

Missy  |  Gypsy Magpie

Christine  |  Swordfights & Starry Nights

Meg  |  The Kusi Life

Kim  |  Creigh-ations

Candice  |  She's Crafty

Sarah  |  Making Joy & Pretty Things

This month our theme is chalk paint.  I'd love if you took a minute to look through and see what each of the hosts are sharing this month.  Feel free to add your own chalk paint project to the link up and use the hashtag #InspireMyCreativity on social media!

An InLinkz Link-up

Also, join us next month for our link party on the second Wednesday of the month.  Our theme is FALL which is pretty broad so you're going to see an awesome variety of projects, activities, home decor and more!  We'd love to have you join us on Wednesday, September 13!