crate shelf

We were worried when we moved in about what to do around the TV. Since we were used to really low ceilings in our basement apartment, the idea of vaulted ceilings seemed to mean miles of empty space to fill.

We thought about standing bookshelves, but they are expensive.

We thought about pictures, but it seemed strange to put big pictures above a TV that would have lots of pictures on it when in use.

So what to do with the void?

The answer came through a Google search, of course. Here is my inspiration.

Cute, right? I wanted to give it a try, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the same effect.

First I found crates. There were only 6 at the store, but that seemed about right for the space we had.

Then we spray painted the crates. It was an antiquey vanilla color, so you can't tell too much by the pictures.

Next we played around with a LOT of configuration options. This is the one we liked the best.

With lots of care and planning, box by box we drilled, measured, drew, drilled again, screwed and voila! Custom designed bookshelves.

Now to find little things to put on the shelves...