Upcycling the Milk Crate Table

Upcycle your vintage-looking wire milk crates into a DIY milk crate table. An old crate can be transformed into a beautiful piece of outdoor decor.

The finished wire milk crate table with a drinking cup, lantern and driftwood in a jar placed on top.

I have a big balcony and it takes a lot of furniture to fill it up. So I’m always looking to repurpose things and turn them into outdoor furniture. Last year I had gone to my trusty basement and found some vintage metal milk crates. I used the smaller one and made a stool with it. As for the two bigger ones, I turned them into an outdoor table.

The wire milk crate table before the upcycle.

This is what the milk crate table originally started out like. You can see the full tutorial here.

My milk crate table was beautiful and I was very happy with it. But I made the mistake of leaving it outdoors all winter long. The rain and dust did quite a number on it and so I must upcycle this old milk crate table.

Top of the milk crate table made of plywood.

I removed the twine and gave it a good sanding.

Then I painted it white using this product I picked up at Lidl.

It’s colored varnish. How cool is that? It gives me color and protection at the same time. Again I am not being compensated for this product in any way, but I think it is great. If you have a Lidl near you keep your eyes opened.

paint can of white paint with instructions written in Greek.

After three coats of paint/varnish, I put it back on top of the crate and wrapped it with the twine.

Close up of the white top of the table with a drinking cup, lantern and driftwood in a jar placed on top.

Close up of the twine which binds the two crates together.

Close up of table top items, including a blue lantern, a drinking cup and driftwood in a jar.

This has to be the easiest upcycle I’ve ever done. In fact, the threading of the twine took longer than the actual painting.

How was that for upcycling the milk crate table? It’s all ready with a fresh new look and a new lantern to give it some color. Have you started preparing your outdoor spaces?

If you’d like to see all my outdoor projects click here and go to Summer.