Reclaimed Wooden Shipping Crate Into Rolling Seat With Storage

If you're like me and would rather not have to stand and put your shoes on at the same time. Lucky for you, I solved the problem. This cushioned roll away storage crate is perfect to go in the corner of your room or right next to the front door. You can hide your shoes away right in the crate and slip them on whenever; it keeps them from being your dog's next chew toy also.

Step 1: Measure Out the Seat

First step is to get some wood and cut out a piece to fit the opening of your wooden crate. Make sure you cut your wood a little longer than the opening in order to have something to grab hold of when taking off your cushion to load your shoes in.

Step 2: Find Some Fabric

Next what you want to get done is finding your fabric. I got a yard of fabric at my local JoAnns Fabric store for under $10 with a coupon. My seat is only one layer of material thick but if you know that your seat is going to get used frequently then you may want to go ahead and get yourself enough fabric to cover it with more layers.
Next what I did head over to a thrift store down the street from my house. I picked up a square throw pillow for $3 that was roughly the same length and width of your previously cut wood piece for the opening of the crate. Optionally, if you want to spend a bit more money, you can always buy precut foam pads at JoAnns.
Next you're going to lay down your fabric face down on the ground. Then put your pillow/foam pad center on that and then right on top goes your piece of wood that you cut in the step before this. A staple gun works best, but you can also use small nails. A staple gun will decrease the likelihood of any rips and tears in your fabric when upholstering your cushion. Just fold over the edges of the fabric nice and taut and staple it into the underside of the wood piece.

Step 3: Reinforce Your Crate

Now these old wooden shipping crates have had a lot of hard use. Just to be safe, I took some two inch long wooden screws and strengthenedy crate. With people plopping down on your seat, it's better to be safe than sorry. I added them to the sides and bottom panels of the crate.

Step 4: Adding Some Movement

This step is completely optional but I find that it makes it a lot easier when moving my crate full of shoes. Plus it's just fun to roll around on. Now I picked up some caster wheels from Harbour Freight for $2 each. I got the smaller ones because I didn't want the crate to be able to slip out from under me and move around too much when putting my shoes on.

Step 5: Grab Your Shoes!

Well you're all done and ready to roll! Grab your favorite shoes, books, toys or whatever else you want to store inside of your old new crate seat. Thanks for reading!