13 Uses for Wine Crates

Pet Feeder: To make an attractive stand for your pet’s food and water bowls, cut two round holes atop a wine crate with a jigsaw. Simply slip in the bowls (they’ll have to have a lip to stop them from sliding through the holes) and now you have a stable stand that will keep your dog or cat from spilling food and water all over the floor.

Pet Bed: You can create a simple bed for your pets with an appropriately sized wine crate. Use a jigsaw to create a lowered opening on one side of the box and put down a blanket or pillow. While you can buy a finished wine-box pet bed from a site like Whiner & Diner, building one of your own is simple enough if you have some very basic woodworking skills and a saw (or if you have a great local carpenter).

Diorama: At some point, every grade-school child will eventually have to do a diorama of some historical event or literary scene. Rather than rely on a flimsy shoe box, use a sturdy wine crate instead.

Modular Storage: One of the problems with bookshelves is that you either have to buy a bookshelf that will fit your current collection, or purchase an oversized unit that you can someday grow into. Wine crates, on the other hand, provide great, stackable storage space that grows as your collection does.

Rolling Toy Box: Attach some wheels to the bottom of a wine crate to create a rolling toy box for the kids, making cleanup a snap.

Bathroom Organizer: De-clutter a bathroom by using wine crates to store extra towels, toilet paper and toiletries.

Bike Basket: Strap a wine box to the front of your bike to make a rustic-looking basket.

Furniture: If your wood-working skills are more advanced, you can disassemble the boxes and use the pine boards to make a table or chair.

Lamp: Cut slits in the side of a wine box and mount a light fixture in the base to create an attractive, pine-clad lamp.

Cable Management: Reduce desktop clutter by affixing a small wine box to the back or side of your desk, providing a convenient place to stash chargers and power strips.

Adam Verwymeren writes for Networx. Get green home & garden ideas like this on Networx.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Patrick O.

8:37PM PDT on Mar 19, 2012

Another great place to find wine crates is Winepine: www.winepine.com

March 19
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Catherine S.

9:25AM PST on Mar 10, 2012

I bought a hand-painted wine crate pet bed at Whiner and Diner after reading your article, and it is just fabulous! Thank you for the tip! See them @ http://whineranddiner.net/personalized_small_pet_beds.aspx