Crates seem to be very popular and easy to purchase in the USA however I found it very difficult in the UK to locate any new crates. I found a supplier of 1940s vintage french crates and thought I would get one to assess the quality.
It arrived very grubby and rough quality. (what did I expect it's vintage) I had to do a lot of sanding and cut my hands to ribbons, I wanted to do it by hand as I didn't want to sand it back too much.
Originally I was going to paint it all the purple colour but after sanding I really liked that the wood looked 'authentic' without trying. Of course it looked authentic - IT WAS!
I painted the inside with two coats of 'Annie Sloan Clalk Paint' in Emile (even the colour was french) and used two coats of the soft clear wax inside and out. It gave the wood warmth and it soaked up a lot of wax but it was worth it.
For the wheels I wanted them to be in keeping with he rest of the piece so plastic wheels just didn't cut it. These polished brass wheels just set it off.
As my father in law said little did a french farmer know as he made this 75 years ago that his crate which was quickly made utilitarian box for transporting produce to market would be used in a modern living room in Belfast in 75 years to store books!! I think that's pretty cool.
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