They look like they're all upside down . . . so you can't actually use them for storage then?
I prefer these from last year:
http://mauricioarruda.net/pt/?p=29

These are not without cost, and are NOT free. At least, they're not free to the store where they were taken from. Stores are charged for crates when they're not given back to the dairy distributors.

As for "re-purposing", they are used by the dairies over and over again, and are once they've been used up, the plastic is recycled. Having these used up as quirky furniture that won't be used for years to come, means that the distributors need more, thus putting more plastic into the environment.

yeah... I dunno about all that stuff re: reusing these and causing more to enter the environment.

I have several of these and honestly don't have a clue how I came to own them. I use them for organzing stuff in my cars trunk, which they're great for...because they don't slide around - their shape is great for gripping the carpet.

as for the console, why these are upside-down and not utilized as storage is baffling to me.

ugly. I'd rather just save a console from the side of the road.

If all the milk crates were black, and right-side up, this would be a great storage console. I'm not a huge fan of the milk-crate look myself, but this has got to be the best look I've seen yet. As for the companies having to pay for each crate, I've never heard of that where I live. I've actually seen convenience stores and pizza joints sell off their old milk crates from time to time. Absolutely right though, definitely not without cost for this project.

Hmm. I agree with Amanda, I would like to see what they looked like all in black or painted some funky color. Especially if all of them were the honeycomb pattern. Not exactly my taste, but I like the creativity behind it.

I'll be the dissenting voice then...this is so cool. Love how the mismatched crates are given a cohesive look and classed up. I'd make it so it was usable storage shelves though...or hinge the top if they were right side up.

yeah, not to be a stick in the mud - but I agree with the post by k2yhe these are NOT free. Taking them from a store = stealing.

If the crates were sideways then yes they could be storage, but I don't see why everyone wants them to be storage. Is it because that everyone here has stolen these as kids and used them as storage when they were younger. That a deep psycho connection.

It should be a known by now that most "repurposing" posts will be commented on immediately by the "stealing" police, whether its milkcrates, paintstirrers, etc. How do we know he stole them? Maybe they were found or given or even bought, as Amanda.Leanne suggested. I can't imagine any sane person snatching up the crates in the middle of the grocery store as soon as the milkman turns his back!

It's stealing. If you somehow found or were given them then you can return them to the dairy listed on the side of the crate. If having morals means that doesn't include taking things that don't belong to me then please try and shame me by calling me the "stealing police".

MWesdock, some of us know how milk crates "work" -- the dairies use them to deliver milk to stores, then pick them up for re-use. Most of them are even marked with a "don't steal me" message.

When someone posts on a design blog about their clever use of items that are ordinarily not sold -- milk crates, paint chips, etc. -- the onus is on the blog owner to check into how the creator obtained the items.

Agreed. They should be on their sides to create shelves. 2. Why didn't they spray paint them all one color?

I'd like to do this same project but using those cheap wood crates you can get at the craft store, painting them and arranging them so that I can use them for storage. Buying crates will prevent me simpling into a life of crime apparently. LOL. I REALLY like the legs. Can I buy those at Home Depot? I'm always so overwhelmed walking into those huge stores that I forget what I went there for and end up just buying screwdrivers. I swear I have like 7 of them!

I have a few milk crates, they're great for organizing in places where they're out of sight: car trunks, closets, etc. I bought all my crates at Goodwill. Where they came from originally, I've no idea. Just as I've no idea whether or not the milk crates used in this hideous console were stolen.

I like the high/low contrast and the one pink crate. Its fun and quirky. Probably not for every house, true, but the right type of place, its ironic.

i'm sorry. but where in this (or the source article) does it say that these were "found", "taken" or otherwise stolen?!

yes, they have purpose; and yes, i'm sure the industry in which they're used re-uses and/or eventually recycles them. But i really dont see why it's such a problem that some are repurposed for other uses. It's not like they've been carelessly cast into a landfill. People need to take a chill pill.

This would look great with a card table, bean bag chairs, large empty cable spool, book case made from cinder blocks and boards, and light fixture with a plain socket and bare bulb.

sorry, but they look really ugly to me

This is lipstick on a pig.

@vykim i'm not sure you know the meaning of that phrase...

Not feeling it.
Something about milkcrates-as-furniture stinks. Those things get curdly, are left in sticky back alleys... yes, they can be cleaned, but there's a smell that i'm associating with their original function that just doesn't jibe with 'living room'. That's what i'm getting here:
An old toilet can be repurposed as a dining room chair, but there's a reason it's just not done.

milkcrates - not so much -

but those skulls - now that fills me with envy!

@Alexis
"If you somehow found or were given them then you can return them to the dairy listed on the side of the crate"

That's a wee bit absurd, no? I live in Chicago and there are milk crates in every alley, but not a dairy farm for miles. I have no car, so in order to return a crate (which probably runs less than $2 wholesale) I would have to rent a car, buy a bus ticket or ask a friend to take me. Maybe your friends are nicer than mine, but I am fairly sure mine would not set aside a day to return a milk crate...in fact, they would most likely laugh in my face. It seems the gas and pollution involved far outweigh the benefits of returning it.

Also, I don't hate the console. Not exactly practical as is, and it could stand a bit more of a uniform look, but the legs and that one bright pink pop redeem it for me.

Maybe the dairy that the crates are originally from went out of business. So maybe it's okay if we stop talking about the ethics "repurposing" some used crates and more about the console. Which, by the way, is pretty cool.

I think the console looks pretty cool. I saw a bench fashioned out of 3 milk crates (also with similar Queen Anne legs, but shorter) in a recent issue of Canadian House & Home. The whole thing was spraypainted (I assume) navy blue.
Above it, the owner has a huge painting of deep yellow dress. The whole vignette really popped.

It's a look. More aesthetic than practical. I would like it more if the letters were gone, but I suppose they contribute that authentic "REAL MILK CRATES!!!" cred. I don't really like it, in spite of my weakness for cabriole legs. XD

Okay, you can legally BUY and own real milk crates if you want to, for about $7-10 at The Container Store. Since I don't recognize the names visible in the photo, I don't know that they're not fictional dairies painted on for an extra-authentic look.

That said, I like the color-blocking and the overall concept. OTOH, anyone who can give that much space over to that little storage/display is not on the same Home Furnishings Planet as I am. (And I'd also rather there were one more honeycombed crate at the lower right, to give alternating vertical stripes of the different textures.) But it's certainly a idea worthy of some thinking about.

The console is manufactured by Shaun Moore's design company MADE. They have several milk crate furniture products in their catalogue (you can see it on MADE's website). I don't think they stole these milk crates, because it seems doubtful that a design company would develop a product where they had to steal their supplies in bulk ("We need 600 milk crates, I'll hit Whole Foods, you check out Safeway"). But what do I know? Maybe those skulls were secretly excavated from a pet cemetery too.

Re: Stealing Milk Crates.

Yes, they do cost businesses money when they are unable to turn them back in to the distributors. But that's not to say that the "designer" of this piece actually "stole" these particular ones.

However, posting such a project on a design blog might get someone to think about "obtaining" enough milk crates for them to do this themselves. Be real: coming by enough of these "honestly" would probably take a quite a bit of diligent trash picking, far more time than it's worth. And thus, someone might try to shortcut it and take them from a Receiving dock behind a store.

Just sayin'.

Guess I'm in the minority here, but I kind of like it! It's fun, it's unique, and I really like the mismatched colours.

ngnerd is lulz. totes agree with him/her.

This would go with my shopping cart dog house that I don't really have because if I did it would be stealing.

I really like the painting above the controversial piece of furniture, the one with the guy in the fur-lined hoodie. Does anyone know who the artist is?

Solved - The paintings are by Kris Knight.

brilliant

Wow. I am in the minority but I adore this. Such a cute idea and I like the one pink crate in there.

I work in a restaurant where a lot of our deliveries come in milk crates. The delivery guys leave them, until they eventually pile up causing a fire hazard.

By taking them I am saving lives! Could you imagine if there were a family of blind orphans living in my dry storage with all of the milk crates, and while setting off 4th of July fireworks, one of them caught the ceiling on fire, the milk crates toppled over, blocking the only exit, and then all of the blind orphans died in a fiery blaze of honey comb-shaped plastic and regulations?!? This would only happen time and time again.

In conclusion, without me re-purposing milk crates, millions would perish in the flames.