Why Crates Beat Shop-Bought Storage

An old wooden crate is one of the most useful things you can rescue from a skip, a farm gate or the back of a garden centre. They are sturdy, they are usually free or nearly free, and they already come in sizes that suit sheds, porches and lean-tos. A wine crate is roughly 30cm by 40cm and 15cm deep — perfect for seed trays, hand tools or twine. An apple crate or fish box at around 50cm square will swallow wellies, compost bags or a stack of terracotta pots without complaint.

Better still, crates stack and hang. You can build a wall of them in an afternoon, rearrange them when your needs change, and take them with you if you move. Treated properly, a good crate will last a decade in a damp shed.

Choosing and Preparing Your Crates

Not every crate is worth the effort. Look for solid timber rather than thin ply or waferboard, and avoid anything with obvious rot, woodworm holes or a chemical smell. Crates that once held fruit or drink are ideal. Crates that held oils, paint or industrial liquids are not — you will never fully remove the residue.

Once you have your crates home, give them a proper once-over:

• Pry out rusty staples, bent nails and any loose slats.
• Scrub off soil, cobwebs and old labels with a stiff brush and warm soapy water.
• Rinse and leave to dry somewhere airy for at least 48 hours.
• Check for splinters along the top edges — these are the bits your hands will find.
• Set aside any crate with cracked corner posts for firewood rather than storage.

Sanding and Treating the Wood

Rough sawn timber will snag gloves and shred bin bags, so sanding is worth the twenty minutes it takes. Work outside or in a well-ventilated space, wear a dust mask and gloves, and go over the whole crate in stages: 80 grit to knock back rough grain and raised nails, then 120 grit, then 180 grit for a finish that will not snag a woolly jumper. Pay particular attention to the top edges and the inside faces where you will be reaching in and out.

For treatment, you have three sensible options:

• Wood preserver — the best choice for a damp shed or unheated porch. Apply two coats, brushing well into the end grain where water gets in.
• Exterior wood stain — gives colour as well as protection, and hides the mismatch when you stack crates from different sources.
• Boiled linseed oil or Danish oil — lovely on crates kept indoors, but needs redoing yearly and offers little protection against damp.

A word of warning on oil: never leave oily rags crumpled in a heap. Spread them flat outside to dry, or soak them in water before binning, as they can self-heat and catch fire. Allow every treated crate to cure fully — usually 24 to 48 hours — before you load it with anything.

Stacking a Freestanding Store

Stacking is the quickest win. Arrange crates in a column against a shed wall, alternating the direction of each layer so the corners interlock and the whole thing feels solid rather than teetering. Three or four high is plenty; beyond that it becomes a tipping hazard.

If the floor is uneven, cut two lengths of 50mm x 25mm timber batten to run under the bottom crate. This lifts the wood clear of damp concrete and gives you a level base. Fix each crate to the one below with two 40mm screws through the corner posts, and add a plywood offcut across the top as a shelf or a small potting bench. For a movable version, screw a set of braked castors to the batten base — invaluable if you wheel your tools out to the border and back.

Wall-Mounting in a Shed or Porch

Wall-mounted crates free up floor space and keep things at eye level, which matters in a narrow porch or a small shed. Fix a horizontal batten to the wall first, screwed into studs or masonry plugs rather than plasterboard alone, and check it with a spirit level. Then screw your crates to the batten from the inside back rail using 60mm screws at two points per crate.

Space the crates with a 5cm gap between them if you are storing wet boots, so air can move and nothing mildews. For tools, mount one crate at chest height for secateurs, twine, labels and gloves, and a second at knee height for heavier items such as a hammer, trowel and hand fork. A short offcut of timber fixed across the front of the lower crate makes a handy rail for hanging a trug or a pair of snips.

Loading, Labelling and Keeping It Useful

A little thought at the loading stage saves a lot of rummaging later. Keep like with like, and put the things you use most at waist height. Line crates holding compost or loose bulbs with a hessian sack or a piece of old feed sack to stop the contents trickling through the slats.

Finally, label each crate clearly — a luggage tag wired to the front rail works well and can be swapped around as your storage needs change. Once a year, in spring, empty everything out, brush the crates down, check the fixings are still tight and touch up any bare patches of preserver. Done that way, a few salvaged crates become the tidiest corner of your garden.