DIY Book Storage Crates

We have books around here. Lots and lots and lots of books. When I got the chance to work with Handmade Charlotte stencils, I decided to make a book crate to corral all those extra books.  These crates are perfect for us because the kids can flip through them and see the cover of each book without pulling them all out. They also don't take up any wall space like bookcases or rain gutter shelves.

I made two because they each wanted their own. I customized them to match the colors of their rooms. My daughter got white and my son got yellow and blue.

Supplies:
Wooden crate (I got mine at Home Depot for around $8.)
FolkArt acrylic paint (I used Wicker White, French Blue, and Lemon Custard.)
Labels stencils from Handmade Charlotte
Chalkboard paint
Foam spouncers 
Sandpaper

Steps:
After sanding, I covered each crate with two coats of paint, allowing it to dry for at least an hour between coats. For my son's crate, I painted the lighter color first.

When the yellow dried, I covered it with painter's tape, then painted on the darker color. Obviously, this is unnecessary if you've chosen one color for the whole thing.

When the crates were dry, I used painter's tape to adhere the label stencil to the end of the crate. This ensured that I didn't have to keep lining it up in between coats of paint.

I applied three light coats of chalkboard paint, allowing it to dry an hour in between coats.

After the chalkboard paint had cured for 24 hours, it was ready to write on.

I love how they turned out, and more importantly, the kids actually like to put their books away. At least for now.

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I wrote this post as part of a sponsored campaign with Plaid and The Blueprint Social. All opinions in this post are my own.