From “Design Sponge at Home” by Grace Bonney
No matter what size our home is, most of us are always in need of more storage space. Rather than covering up more precious counterspace, Design Sponge contributors Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith decided to add wall shelves made from recycled wine crates they found at their local wine shop. To add more detail, Lauren and Derek lined the back of the shelves with colorful, inexpensive gift wrap to act as a backdrop for their favorite books and tiny treasures.
Steps
1. Use a tape measure to measure the interior of each crate to make sure you have enough fancy paper to line all of them.
2. Next, draw out the measurements in pencil on the back of the paper. In order to avoid any potential gaps along the interior edges, add a 1-inch allowance as follows. Long sides: Add 1 inch to each of the three edges that border the interior of the box. Short sides: Add 1 inch to the edge that borders the back of the box. Back piece: No allowance.
3. Using a straightedge and an X-Acto knife, carefully cut out each piece of lining paper (five per box). Create fold lines by scoring along the 1-inch allowance with a bone folder. Finally, miter each of the interior corners at the allowance by cutting a 45-degree angle from the outside edge in.
4 In a well-ventilated area, apply spray adhesive to the back of each of your long pieces. Place them carefully inside the box, lining up the folded edges with the inside edges of the box, and smoothing out any air bubbles that may appear in the paper. Next, spray and apply the short pieces. At this point, all four sides of the box will be lined, and the back will have a 1-inch border all the way around it. The last step is to spray and apply the back piece to the box. Smooth away any air bubbles and let dry completely before proceeding to the next step.
5. Decide on the orientation of your boxes, and attach a sawtooth hanger along the top edge of the back of each box using a hammer and small nails. Apply peel-and-stick rubber bumpers at the bottom corners on the back of each box, to ensure that they hang flat against the wall.
6. Mark the position of each box on the wall with a pencil and attach the boxes using the appropriate hanging hardware.
What you’ll need
Cost: $10
Time: 1 hour
Materials:
Tape measure
Wine crates
Gift wrap or other fancy paper
Pencil
Straightedge
X-Acto knife
Bone folder
Spray adhesive
Sawtooth hangers (1 per crate)
Hammer
Small nails (2 per sawtooth hanger)
Rubber bumpers (2 per crate)
Hanging hardware (1 per crate)
