monster large wood crate

How we use our own Products

How we use our own products

At North Rustic Design we are family owned business with a great customer base ranging from some of the biggest corporations in the USA to our valued retail customers that purchase from our websites daily. We offer a wide variety of products for sale, but the biggest part of our business is selling wood crates. Wood crates have always been popular for home decor and storage. After looking around our home one day, I decided it would be fitting to write a story about how we use our own products in our home for decor and storage.

As single father of 3 beautiful kids, Sophia, Iris, and Collin, they are my inspiration and also give me something to write about that will shed light on the many uses for wooden crates.

When you walk into our mudroom, each of my children has a wood crate sitting on it’s end, that they sit down on and put their boots, shoes, hats, and gloves in after school. Sophia went with a pink crate, Iris has a blue one, and Collin wanted a “tough” black color. If you are looking for a versatile mudroom idea, you should really think about some wood crates. Unlike a big bulky bench, you can move the crates around as needed. One of the 1st things the kids do when they get home and get undressed is take a quick left to watch a little television and ask “what’s for supper”.

Our entertainment center  is made from 4 of our x-l wood crates in dark walnut. the t.v. sits on top, surrounded by various items, and below is where our cable box goes. Because each crate has a built in shelf, each one of children has their school and sports pictures in their storage cubby as they call it. Sophia and Iris have their basketball and softball pictures in chronological order. Collin has his t-ball and hockey pictures too. Someday one them will get the entertainment center because all of our products are truly built to last generations.

Having been a high school teacher for 5 years and getting M.A. from UWEC I have developed a nice collection of books. One of the more popular uses of our high quality crates is as a crate bookshelf. I constructed my bookshelf with 12 of our Large Wood Crates 18 x 12 x 12  These seem to be the best size to use. They are also nice because they are modular and can be arranged on their sides or ends or both. If you like to change things around or our on the move like I was as a college student, wood crates make the perfect bookcase.

Having 3 kids from 8-12 years old, I have to say if our crate table wasn’t built “Badger Tough” it would have fallen apart years ago. From getting jumped off, sat on, and drinks spilled on it, our rustic crate table has stood the test of time. In the winter months in Wisconsin it gets quite cold and when the kids come in from playing in the snow, I like to have a couple cups of hot cocoa waiting for them.

Between the living room and dining room we have the area that our “babies” live in. My youngest daughter Iris has 2 Guinea Pigs, Oreo and Smores. She is very punctual when it comes to cleaning and feeding the girls. Above the area where the cages are we have crates set up where she stores their food, bedding, and here cleaning supplies. She prides herself on keeping their area and cages clean.

We also use crates on our counter top between our dining room and kitchen. They work great to put mail in and all the kids school papers. In our pantry we have our crates stacked up where we put food. The kids love looking in their little crate cubby to see what kind of snack they can have in their lunch for school the next day.

We have done many DYI crate projects over the years. When the girls were small of course they wanted to stain crates pretty colors. They have a bright collection of crates in their bedroom that they use as end tables and they store their clothes with vertically stacked crates in their closet.

We also make very nice wood keepsake boxes that I found over the years work great for storing all the kids school, sports, and other keepsakes in. Each of my 3 children has their own box and my oldest daughter Sophia, has another one because she is in 7th grade.

The nice thing about using wood crates for storage and decor is that they can be moved around with ease, and when the time comes to leave the nest, my girls already said they are bringing their crates with.

Growing up I had a lot of toy matchbox cars. I put my collection in one of our ammo crate boxes that we keep in the basement. My son Collin doesn’t play with them much, but when Charlie, who is a younger neighborhood boy comes over to play, he goes right to the car box. So we have started calling it “Charlies Box”.

One of the things I find myself doing a lot these days is helping people come up with designs to use crates in their own home, shop, or trade show booth. So if you need help in designing a space using crates, if you give me the dimensions I can design it for you.

We hope you enjoyed reading “How we use our own products” and we are always here to answer any questions via email: northrusticdesign@gmail.com or by phone: 715-563-0580

Best Regards,

Josh Bill-owner North Rustic Design

 

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