When we first moved in to our lovely first home we didn’t have a huge budget and didn’t want an Ikea special in every nook and cranny. After watching endless Welsh dresser’s on Ebay I decided that I would prefer a bookcase/storage system that was flexible and could be easily moved according to our needs 🙂 I started digging around and tried to find the best prices, apple crates were becoming quite a trend and hence they were quite pricey! I contacted a wood manufacture company that were around the corner from Adie’s work, they made all sorts there and when I spoke to the man he said he had thought about knocking a few up from offcuts as he noticed they had become popular. So that’s just what he did, we got them cheaper than they were on Ebay, made to measure, helped an idea grow for his company and picked them up by the end of the week. We had 10 apple crates ready to go!

It’s always worth thinking outside the box when it comes to items like this, there are so many little industrial estates that harbour a wealth of amazing things when you dig a little deeper into them and ask around, always ask, it never does any harm! I have made some amazing finds this way… my newest, a place that restores original cast iron radiators at a fraction of the price! More on that another day…

First go…
This was how the crates began, they fit our alcove wonderfully and created a fab storage space for all our nick knacks, of which we have quite a few! I quite liked the height and we are lucky to have high Victorian walls so they snuggled up to the picture rail perfectly! After a while and being someone who likes a good move around every now and again, I decided they were becoming a little bit OTT and needed a good de-clutter. We wanted the alcove free in the dining room to make room for our gorgeous new IMac and desk so the crates moved into the living room. Below is our crate system now, it’s actually fab fun moving them around and seeing what works well. I like how they interlink now as it crates even more interesting spaces to store stuff. We will never be the minimalist type (I know Adie wishes we were) but these crates are home to some of our greatest treasures and lovely little memories, they don’t match perfectly, they never will and that’s fine with us!

Interlocking loveliness!

A close up of some of my favourite things!

The Lucy sign was painted my a fab friend of mine while we were at summer camp together in the USA, camp besties forever! Just peeking behind our Mr Potato Head is something very special to me, a daily reminder of why I love Adie so much, maybe one day I will share some of the special things he has done for me along the way, always a romantic, awww!

Have a look on my Pinterest board for the endless possibilities of apple crates. I especially love the pastel ones and the pet bed, Nelly would too!