DIY coffee table from a vintage chicken crate.

Today I am sharing a recent vintage find that I DIY’d into a functional piece of furniture with a little elbow grease and some wheels!

If you have been following my IG stories -you’ve seen that I have been hitting the vintage markets in my area this summer and I’ve scored some great finds.

Repurposing items makes me heart happy.

I am still over the moon about how this Vintage crate turned out.

During my last excursion, I stumbled upon an antique chicken crate that was a bit rough and even, dare I say, smelly??

I couldn’t grab it fast enough!

This is my favorite kind of DIY-quick and easy!

First, I needed to clean the crate up a bit.

A few of the nails were loose, and a strip of metal needed to be removed along with repairing a board or two.

Cleaning it up!

Using a solution of bleach and water, I washed it thoroughly.

After all, it was a wooden poultry carrying case ;-

Next, I let it dry in the sun.

Once clean, I gave it a good sanding, removing years of dirt and grime.

And wiped it clean with a soft cloth to remove all the dust (there was a lot).

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Already you can see it looked so much better!

Yay, for the ease of a hand sander, this is the one I use.

Seal it

Keeping in mind that this DIY vintage wooden chicken crate will be a piece of furniture, the next step was to seal the crate well, so I used my favorite brand of spray polyurethane to protect it.

It took four coats of poly to coat the crate well.

Using spray poly was much easier than trying to brush all those pegs.

Getting the proportions right

Choosing the legs and determining the height was the next step.

• Coffee tables are typically 14-20 inches high
• A good rule of thumb is for the coffee table to be 2 inches lower than a sofa
• A coffee table should be around 2/3 of the lenght of your sofa
• Leave 12-18 inches of room between your sofa and table
• I love to break these rules! 😉

I decided to use casters for the legs and bought 6 vintage casters because I liked the vintage feel they add.

Since the crate was a bit short, about an inch in height, we used the boards that happened to be inside the crate when I purchased it to add some heights.

We attached the casters to the boards and the crate.

I attached the wheels to what is actually the “top” of the crate because I want to have a flat surface for the coffee table.

Perfect solution since the boards felt distressed enough not to feel new, and the inch was just what we needed.

The casters were quick and easy to install, and I adore the way they look!

Finished DIY Coffee table

And here is the finished coffee table!

Honestly, the casters were the main cost, so I think I have all in $120.00 in the table.

I love pieces that feel both unique and old!

Don’t get too comfy seeing this table on the porch.

It may be making a home at the Airbnb!

I hope I have inspired you to reimagine and repurpose the things you see while shopping at antique stores!

You can sometimes find these chicken crates similar to this on FB marketplace so keep your eyes peeled.

Until Next time,

-Libbie

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