Dorm DIY: Cushioned Storage Crates

Cushioned Storage Crates

If you’re like me, you’re spending your last week before college doing all of those DIY projects you put off until the last minute. This is a quick and easy project that I absolutely LOVE and get so many compliments on. I did this project last summer and covered the crates with black and white fabric to match my comforter. This year, I bought a new comforter so I figured I’d re-cover the crates and do a DIY blog post for you all!

This is what the crates looked like when I made them last summer… also here’s a shameless plug for you to follow me on Instagram!

DIY Cushioned Storage Crates

Cute, right?! I loved them, they were so useful last year. Now let me show you how I did it!

What You’ll Need

2 (or 3 or 4 or however many you want to do!) regular old crates — You can buy them in many colors at places like Target or Walmart. I bought mine last year at Walmart for super cheap!
DIY Cushioned Storage Crates
A square of plywood that fits right inside the crate’s ledge — I took the crates to Lowe’s and they cut the pieces for me so it was very easy!

A piece of foam that is the same size as the plywood and some fabric to go over the foam — After I went to Lowe’s I stopped at my local fabric store and looked through the scrap foam pile and found a piece that was big enough to cover the two squares of plywood. I had the woman at the counter cut it to the exact size I needed. I also got two quarters of fabric in those super cute black & white patterns you see above. The quarters were less than $2 a piece! The size of the fabric quarter is exactly the right size you need to cover the foam and plywood pieces. If they don’t have any patterns you like in the fabric quarters, you can pick out a pattern and have them cut it! That’s what I ended up doing this time since they didn’t have much of a white & gray fabric selection.

A staple gun, a hammer, and some scissors (if you would need to cut the fabric at all)

How

Step 1: Glue the foam to the plywood. I used some regular old Elmer’s glue and it worked just fine!

DIY Cushioned Storage Crates

DIY Cushioned Storage Crates

Foam and plywood sandwich!

Step 2: Cut fabric to size (if needed) and lay the foam/plywood sandwich foam-side-down in the center of the fabric quarter and get your staple gun ready!

DIY Cushioned Storage Crates

Step 3: Staple fabric to the underside of the plywood. Make sure you’re pulling it tight so the fabric doesn’t get bunchy on the other side. To be honest, I sat with my knees in the middle of the plywood and stapled it that way to make sure it was plenty tight! I did about 4-5 staples on each side. To staple the corners: fold them in like you’re wrapping a present and staple it twice.
DIY Cushioned Storage Crates
Step 4: Hammer the staples down so they’re flush against the plywood.

DIY Cushioned Storage Crates

The staple on the left has been hammered down while the staple on the right hasn’t!

Step 5: Repeat for the rest of the crates you have!

Now you’ve turned some boring crates into some super cute extra seats/storage space for your dorm or apartment! Send me pictures of your cute crates!

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1 Comment

  1. June 20, 2016 / 7:57 pm

    This is such a great DIY idea Kayla!
    xo, Syd
    anchoredinthesouth.com

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