vintage crate shelf

I've noticed a lot of posts lately on creative ways to use old vintage crates for storage, like this one on Poppytalk.

About two years ago, some neighbors were moving out an left a ton of neat stuff on the curb for whomever wanted it. Amongst the requisite cheap pots and mismatched china was some pretty great stuff, including an antique parking meter (10 cents for an hour!), an old wood theater seat (in a few pieces), and two shelves that had been constructed out of old crates.

We took all of the above named items, but the two crates are the only thing that we eventually moved to the new apartment.

At one point, they were shelves that held shoes, but that just didn't really work that well. We eventually decided that one of them might look pretty great in the kitchen, loaded with some of my favorite vintage pieces.

Enter my step-father, who somehow managed to actually get it on the wall (which is old and super thick plaster, and very VERY hard to screw anything into). I wish I could tell you how he did it, but all I know is that it's braced on the back with some 2x4's, and is amazingly solid up there.

I love how it looks, and am so happy that we were able to pull it off.

And check out my super cute mushroom terrarium on the middle shelf. It's from Holly Handmade, and was a Christmas gift from the boy. It's so sweet and beautifully made, and it looks super cute in our kitchen.