Sunday 28 July 2013

Refurbishing a crate...

 I have a thing about crates. I cannot resist them. If they're plain I paint logos on them. If they have old writing on already, all the better but this can make them more expensive.

At last weeks flea market I saw a lovely crate that had some age, and writing on the side that said, ''Produce of Sweden.'' Now how perfect would that be for my fantasy Swedish country farmhouse dining room? Quite perfect. Apart from the fact that it also said, ''Pigs Kidneys'' which shattered my romantic dream. I left it there. The font of the ''Produce of Sweden'' wasn't that nice anyway.

Moments later I found this teeny little crate for £2.



I thought I might come up with some lovely font and do my own ''produce of Sweden'' crate that didn't involve pig offal.
So I said to Jason, ''What else do Sweden produce?''
''Volvo'' he said.
Not that helpful.
''Abba!'' he said.

These are two suggestions for words that I will not be painting on a crate. If anyone has any better ideas I would love to hear!

In our dining room we had a very boring old wine rack. I don't know why. We don't really drink wine. But every home needs one right? Somewhere to put those bottles we win at the bottle tombola, until we donate them back the following year anyhow.

But I've had this crate for a while so this is going to be our new wine storage.



I think it came from the flea market. Someone has waxed it. I hate that! Most of the crates on eBay are waxed. Stop doing this crate sellers! It means I can't do a driftwoody paint effect on them!

What also irks me about this crate is that the text on it is quite faint. I thought I'd try to rectify this. The last thing I want to do is make it look brand spanking new, I just want to be able to read it more clearly. I used a permanent marker pen in grey (NOT BLACK) from a stationary shop to go over all the lettering.


(not green either!)

The marker doesn't mind  the wax coating and just brings out the lettering subtly. If you're going to do this you need a fine tipped marker and you should apply really light pressure. Some parts of the crate were really dry and if you press too hard on the pen the ink can bleed over the lines.

Here's a shot of it when I'm half done so you can see the difference...



 It's just a little darker but still has transparent areas...


And here it is in the room...


A lovely new home for the alcohol. I don't even mind it not being Swedish.




37 comments:

  1. OMG ....I'm sooooo jealous....I LOVE the box ...great restoration job Emma Kate!

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  2. Replies
    1. Hmm, thanks Jane. Not much better than the husbands ideas though! ;) x

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  3. Awesome work!

    Sweden produce IKEA!! There's also a list here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_inventions

    My favourite is that Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and instituted the Nobel Prizes, so you could either make it your Nobel Prize crate or paint ACME on the side like a box of Wiley Coyote's explosives... Meep meep! :) xxx

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    1. I have seen some really cool dynamite crates! Perfect for storing firewood next to the fire! xxx

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  4. What a fabulous crate!!!
    I didn't realize they're usually waxed? I can tell you that none of the ones I've acquired were ever waxed that's for sure!
    XOXO

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    1. People wax them here to 'bring out the wood' and it drives me mad. Originally they wouldn't have been waxed.
      Gotta love crates!

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  5. Dalahäst,Smörgåsbord, handgjorda ljus.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, I've got some translating to do! Are you Swedish Teri? x

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    2. little red wooden painted horses, open sandwich type thingy, hand made candles. I'm not Swedish! My first husband moved to Sweden soon after our divorce decades ago and still lives there. He learned Swedish at Eltham College night school! My only word is Tack. We had friends in beautiful Stockholm.

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    3. I'm leaning towards handmade candles. Love it!

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  6. Gravlax or rollmops? Are you a fish eater? Other than that, I'm not much help, and will be forced to resort to Abba, Ikea and Volvo, which will be annoying (and repetitive!)
    The crate looks great (and rhymes) with the refreshed lettering and makes the perfect place for your wine. Not wine drinkers? Why ever not?! xxxx

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    Replies
    1. He likes his beer and I'm practically teetotal. Apart from Vodka. And Pimms. xxxx

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  7. The crates look fab Emma xx

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  8. I've seen one for sale on Fleabay! You are so clever with your ideas, would never have thought of the marker pen.

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    1. Thanks Denise. It's quite a common crate but I like the 'beer at home' logo.

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  9. Just found your blog searching for paint ideas and feel inspired! Thank you or tips throughout your blg - inspired to attack vile orange pine this week. X

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    Replies
    1. Welcome Grace. Have fun eradicating that orange pine! x

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  10. Girls with Dragon Tattoos? LOL. Seriously, love that beer crate!

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  11. Yay to black Country beer! Davenports used to own the brewery at the bottom of my avenue. Wonder if there's any of those crates left in the store room?
    Sweden produce some very cool indie pop bands, I met loads of them this weekend! xxx

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    Replies
    1. I had no idea it was black country beer.
      Surely those bands aren't cooler than Abba?!

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  12. Meatballs? Ha!

    Love your lettering, you are so clever. x

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  13. Sweden - herrings? Mmm, probably not the best idea, I think!!

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  14. Bless you this made me smile, typical man comes up with a car:-) everything you do turns out great loving the new crates, dee x

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  15. Lingonberries. I've always wanted to try them, they sound so ethereal to me and I bet the word would look good in script. great tip re the grey pen, i have filed that away for future reference. your crate looks absolutely lovely. I never seem to see crates, and I'd love a few for storing stuff in my potting shed and/or kids toys, but i do like the little wooden tea boxes which i find all the time at garage sales (blokes of old seem to have quite liked them for storing nails) x

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    1. The man at the fleamarket is driven mad by me bringing him little crates full of screws or rusty hinges. He goes, ''let me guess, you just want the crate?'' and he has to find something to put all the crap in. :)
      Lingonberries? Never heard of them! Hmm... x

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  16. Pig kidneys--ha! I'm impressed with the way you refreshed the printing on the old crate...it looks like it was always there :)

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  17. Just found your blog. You've done a fab job with this. Xo

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