Project Knock-off Series: PB Wood and Canvas Crate

I'm telling ya, I'm in a complete knock-off mood right now. There's just a thrill in finding something you like a lot...and knocking it off for a fraction of the price :) I've been thinking awhile about this and have decided to create a page just for knock-offs, and to create a series on knock-offs. What do you think? Last week will be the first one in my series, although I have plenty more knock-offs where that came from :) which all will be added to my Project: Knock-off page. PLUS! I want to showcase all of you on there! If you have a great knock-off project that you have posted on your blog, I want to see them! Just send me an email with a picture of your knock-off and the link to the post. Then I'll put it up on the readers section of the knock-off page. Sound good ??? I hope so! Here's a my new little 'ad' for Project: Knock-off

Okay. Now lets get started with the new project for this so called Knock-off series :)

I saw this beautiful wood and canvas crate in the spring Pottery Barn catalog which I fell in love with...of course. As if you can't fall in love with everything little thing in there in the first place. Well, I loved it so much I took a picture with my phone. When I do that, that means I'm serious :) Plus when you get bored and start looking through the pics on your phone and you come across your 'wanna-be' projects, its a good reminder to take them from wanna-be's to 'dones'. :) I probably have like 100 pictures right now. lol. Anyway. So this crate was one of those pictures. And now its a 'done'.
Here's a link to the crate from Pottery Barn. And here's the picture:

Cute huh? You can see the double wide one in the back. They are actually really small. The large one (aka double wide) is 21.5 inches. I needed something a little bit bigger.

See, I have this problem in my kitchen. I have a lot of stuff and not enough places to put it. I have probably a billion linens, even more plates...and a gazillion glasses and cups. Yes, I counted. A gazillion. ;) So, I have gotten to the point where I don't buy anything for my kitchen anymore because there's no place to put anything. I bought a little bullet mixer dealy...and that thing is small...like real small. I had to squeeze it in with my candles and what not. Can't ever remember where's it at. My paper towels have also become quite annoying, they are currently shoved in above our bakeware, where the drawers above them may or may not shut at any given moment because of them. Anyway. I can go on and on.
So, the idea was to make a storage place for the linens and paper towels and somewhat larger other pieces that I might want to move out of the cabinets. This is where this crate comes in. ...the much larger crate :)

 I wanted it to fit under my console table in my dining room. And I needed all the space I could get.

Here's what you need to make it, and the lengths I made mine:
4 pieces of 1x2 cut at 41 inches (length)
4 pieces of 1x2 cut at 13 inches (depth)
6 pieces of 1x2 cut at 16 inches (height)
12 pieces of lattice at 25-25 inches (you can find this in the molding isle)
Wood Stain
Upholstery tacks
3 yards of canvas (found it at hobby lobby)
Ribbon/rope

First step: Take two pieces of the 13 inch and 2 of the 41 inches and secure them in a rectangle. I did this with my nail gun. Do this to the other like-size pieces.

 Second step: Take the 16 inch pieces and connect them to the corners of the pieces you made in step 1. Then find the middle of the 41 inches and secure a piece to both sides.

 Third step: Take your lattice pieces. I rounded the ends of mine with my jigsaw and then sanded them. You can make them round or keep them square. Secure these to all sides of the frame. Find the middle again of the 41 inch side and have the lattice pieces overlap on this mark. I secured these with some heavy duty staples with my staple gun.

 Fourth step: Stain! I used Miniwax's English Chestnut for mine.

 While the stain is drying, its now time to make the inner canvas part.
Fifth step: Measure your main piece. I needed 19 inches for both sides (enough to hang over the edge) and 13 inches for the middle part that will lay on the bottom. To make sure I had enough for a hem, I measured it at 20+20+14. Which is 54 inches. And about 39 inches wide (I only needed 37 inches for the inside of the frame). Hem all sides. I decided to keep mine all one piece, you can do them in three separate pieces. I just hate having to cut straight lines....mainly cuz I suck at it. So the less cutting, the better :) So, in order to make definition between the bottom and sides, I found where the 'hem' should be and folded the fabric over and ran a seam. You may have to do some measuring to make sure all the lengths are correct with this.

 Sixth step: Now to make the other side panels. Measure about 21 inches for one piece with a width of 14 inches. Hem all sides then secure to the main piece right in the middle.

 It should look like this picture above. Now do the same on the other side. You can also hem all the edges together if you want. I wanted to keep mine separate. Its up to you! Although I have no reason to keep it separate....mainly I was just sick of sewing. lol.

 Now, to finish the frame.
Seventh Step: Secure the upholstery nails/tacks to each end of the lattice. Just hammer in.

 And to finish the canvas.
Eighth step: This very well could come before the other step. lol, oh well. Sew some ribbon onto the top of each edge of the canvas. Place the canvas in the frame. Secure the ties.

 and you are done! Minus the handles, this is a complete...larger replica of the Pottery Barn one :) For only about $20...compared to $79. Plus, this one is double the size...so really you have saved a lot ...a lot of money ;) (and of course..I had the stain, tacks, and 1x2s already on hand, so mine was a little less) You can get the canvas at Hobby Lobby with a coupon for only about $2.00 a yard. And the lattice is about 66 cents per foot.

 Here's how the side looks when its all done.
...And yes...those are pillows and blankets in there...no kitchen stuff :) Mainly I'm lazy and haven't had the chance to organize my cabinets and take out all the stuff I want. But when I do, there will be a place waiting to store it :)

 You can see this fits perfectly under my table. You can obviously adjust this to any size....length, depth, height....you want. This fits great under both my tables, so I'm only assuming its a good universal size...but what do I know?? :) Universal...as in ...for my house. lol

 The pop of the English Chestnut is perfect in this space. It ties in the brown from the table and the knock-off Pottery Barn wood mirror I have hanging above the table :)

Oh, and by the way. This table use to be this table here, just updated it with some good ol' white paint. And you can see the how-to on the planked walls here, and the how to on the Pottery Barn mirror here.

I hope to hear from a lot of you on your wonderful knock-offs! I'll even be featuring some on my Facebook page :) These can be super old and super super new...as long as they are wonderfully awesome, which I'm sure they will be :)

Email me at thriftyandchicmotif@gmail.com to send in your pictures/links and put "knock-off" in the subject. Have a great weekend!!