Ah the milk crate, the original building block for DIY furniture. Milk crates are often abused in a design sense by students looking for cheap – read free – storage solutions. But we’ve always known they could be so much more which is why we were so excited when we saw Tasmanian furniture designer Simon Ancher’s clever milk crate stool. With the simple addition of a wooden ‘top’, the crate is transformed into an attractive comfortable seat. Or how about the pixel block style Chandelier from MADE, shown above? Below the jump are a few more furnishing ideas using milk crates...
In search of more creative takes on the milk crate we found this cute cubby/reading nook. The milk crates make fun walls with storage room – we could see this idea working well in a small outdoor setting.
Another fun idea is this milk crate couch. Ignoring the material used here, the idea of adding foam seating cushions (with or without covering the whole piece) offers many variations.
Designer Naty Moskovich's furniture line, Box Life, reimagines the humble plastic storage solution as contemporary seating, storage and surface with the simple attachment of legs and backing.
And for you oenophiles out there on a budget, how about a milk crate wine rack?
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The lighting fixture is YIKES!!!
Milk crates get very dusty and are difficult to clean. Try running a cloth over each plastic piece. Having used them for book shelves once, I would never want to use them for home furnishing again. Home furnishings should not only look interesting, but they should be easily maintained.
Ahhhh.... reminds me of my misspent youth. Back then, these were not free, but heavily "borrowed."
dorm room chic
Ugh, no.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Slapping on new legs or hanging from a ceiling really doesn't transcend the previous form and function of the lowly milk crate. If anything, it only highlights the lowliness.
I'm with KTG.
And anyway it's ILLEGAL to have real milk crates in your possession. (Dairies lose a fortune due to people who "borrow" them.) And if you're buying fake crates, well then, that's just plain sad.
Wow, that looks like some silly, half-a-joke, semi-Darwinian "project" from ReadyMade magazine.
I admire the DIY ethic in 'garbage design' when it incorporates a good amount of earnest creativity and effort. This just looks like a trucker-hatted hipster down a few Pabsts and decided to tackle something from Instructables that looked "ironic" but was "easy" and might bolster his "punk rock" cred with the ladies.
Or, like a high-school design contest honorable mention. Two stoned dudes wired some milk crates around their parents' chandelier, giggled, and took photos.
Come ON.
Ugly, yes!
the light is one of those projects that might look good in this particular place (i need a full shot of the interior) but would look utterly atrocious recreated anywhere else.
the chairs on the other hand look really uncomfortable in any room
I don't like that the crates are drowning the chandelier, but I do like the concept. KTG is right, it still might not look good in real light.
A few years out of college, and I still have milk crates. They're the easiest way to transport books from apartment to apartment, if you move as much as I do. They're also work great as temporary furniture until you get the cash to buy what you need for your new place. The key being temporary. Once I'm done using them, they go to the basement or storage, as I'll surely be needing them for future moves.
Using milk crates as a bookcase seems to be a college rite of passage. I did it as a freshman. Then I grew up a little.
Now, if I could only find a way to store LPs that I really like, I could lose the stupid record cubes and be a real man.
Apparently I'm in the minority here. I think the couch idea is clever - especially with the use of what appears to be a bilboard wrap as a cover. I'm also really digging the re-use of one of the most wastefull accoutrements of dairy production. Milk crates are a huge waste of space, plastic, & storage.
Interestingly enough there has been a redesign, but people are sort of too stupid to use it. :( I weep for humanity sometimes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/business/30milk.html
I don't know why, but the one with the red seat is entrancing.
one of my favourite bars in Melbourne (st jeromes) has milk crates to sit on, they also had milk crates with square cushions as seating at a music festival they did, and I've seen the same idea a few other places. I like it, I want to steal a bunch and have them as outdoor seating with asian/indian style silk cushion that are really cheap at markets. Seems perfect for a summer get together, cause they dont take up much space and are easy to move. When I'm not using them I can chuck them in the garage and the cushions inside one, easy!
I like the "punk rock"-ness of milk crates as furniture, I cant afford super expensive furniture yet, especially for outside, so it seems like a colourful, sturdy compromise.
I dont know about adding legs to them though, that's kinda tacky.
COOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Light Fixture. Oh, no. NO.
as a college student milk crates are a rite of passage and I do have one but gave it away to a friend it just took to long to clean. i like the idea of that milk crate chandelier in like maybe a green themed restaurant to show uses of recycling but not in my house :\
i would rather see them recycled than be used for this BLOODY UGLY display. fucking awful.
Milk crates are handy to have. I dont have a bedframe and found them useful setting them up under my bed to add height. To hide the "trashy" look of them I covered them with a sheet.. but I think the bulk of their uses should stay as storage in the basement or garage. And as cheap furniture for cash deprieved collage student.
The crate lighting is hideous! I supose it could like good in a funky living space, with just one coloured crate acting as a shade. I do, however like the bookshelf corner. It could work will in a funky space.
Lets stick to storage use and save a few paychecks to get a nice piece of furniture that you dont have to disguise with an old sheet.
I'm interested in the idea of creating a milk crate sectional sofa for a small space. I wonder about using milk crates for the seating only, then attaching something else for the back. Perhaps a piece of plywood, or recycled chair backs, even? Just brainstorming, here. Cool post! Although I would deff use all one color crates or cover it up, somehow.
These are such creative ideas! I've had a hard time finding heavy duty milk crates. I'm hoping these will work much better since they're actually made to be used as dairy milk crates:
http://www.justplasticboxes.com/Heavy-Duty-Black-Plastic-Milk-Crates-Wholesale