Posted on 13 Comments

Crate Seats and Benches

My library corner in my classroom.
My library corner in my classroom.
Teacher table area with crate seating!
Teacher table area with crate seating!

I get more compliments on my crate seating and benches in my classroom.  I made these last year and would be lying if I said they were easy!  They did take a lot of work but once they were finished, they turned out great!  The first problem I came across was finding good sturdy milk crates.  The ones from Walmart are not built as sturdy as the ones an actual dairy uses.  I ended up calling around to a few places and Anderson Erickson Dairy were kind enough to donate the milk crates for my classroom!  It turns out, they are the dairy that my school gets their milk from!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Anderson Erickson Dairy in Kansas City, KS for helping me out with materials!
A HUGE THANK YOU to Anderson Erickson Dairy in Kansas City, KS for helping me out with materials!
Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Home Depot for helping me cut the wood to the sizes I needed!
Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Home Depot for helping me cut the wood to the sizes I needed!

Materials:

sturdy milk crates

wood

zip ties

drill

adhesive spray

memory foam

stapler

fabric

fabric drawers

Instructions:

Alex had to help me a lot with the measurements for this.  Honestly, it will vary depending on the exact measurements of the milk crates.  The guys at home depot cut the squares for the individual seats for me.  This helped out a lot!  When I got them home, Alex helped me figure out how to attach the cushion to the crate.  We sat the crates on top of the wood and penciled dots where I needed to drill.  I used these holes to attach the wood to the crates with zip ties.   IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE ZIP TIES IN READY TO GO, BEFORE YOU PUT THE MEMORY FOAM ON TOP. This will allow you to cover it with fabric and then attach the cushion to the crates. (Make sure to staple far enough in that you will not have kiddos cutting their fingers on staples!) Cut the memory foam to an inch longer on each side to give it a little cushion on the side. Spray the adhesive to help the foam stick while you staple the fabric on. AGAIN make sure to pull fabric away from the edge to make sure staples are not sticking out. Safety Safety Safety! After attaching the fabric, line up the zip ties and pull tight to attach the cushion to the crate.

Next add a drawer for extra storage!  I store my math manipulatives in the benches and familiar reads at the teacher table for the kids to read while I am getting the rest of the class started on work.
Next add a drawer for extra storage! I store my math manipulatives in the benches and familiar reads at the teacher table for the kids to read while I am getting the rest of the class started on work.  I ended up finding them during a good sale at Target for like $5.99 a piece!  Otherwise, they can tend to be pricey!
For the bench, just line up the desired amount of crates on their sides and zip tie them sideways first.  Once they are attached, place them on top of the wood to make the holes for the zip ties to hold the wood down.  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE ZIP TIES IN READY TO GO, BEFORE YOU PUT THE MEMORY FOAM ON TOP.  This will allow you to cover it with fabric and then attach the cushion to the crates.  (Make sure to staple far enough in that you will not have kiddos cutting their fingers on staples!)  Cut the memory foam to an inch longer on each side to give it a little cushion on the side.  Spray the adhesive to help the foam stick while you staple the fabric on.  AGAIN make sure to pull fabric away from the edge to make sure staples are not sticking out.  Safety Safety Safety!  After attaching the fabric, line up the zip ties and pull tight to attach the cushions.
For the bench, just line up the desired amount of crates on their sides and zip tie them sideways first. Once they are attached, place them on top of the wood to make the holes for the zip ties to hold the wood down. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE ZIP TIES IN READY TO GO, BEFORE YOU PUT THE MEMORY FOAM ON TOP. This will allow you to cover it with fabric and then attach the cushion to the crates. (Make sure to staple far enough in that you will not have kiddos cutting their fingers on staples!) Cut the memory foam to an inch longer on each side to give it a little cushion on the side. Spray the adhesive to help the foam stick while you staple the fabric on. AGAIN make sure to pull fabric away from the edge to make sure staples are not sticking out. Safety Safety Safety! After attaching the fabric, line up the zip ties and pull tight to attach the cushions.

 

 

 

 

13 thoughts on “Crate Seats and Benches

  1. Where did you buy the memory foam

    1. I just bought a twin size memory foam from Walmart! It was much cheaper than getting it from a craft store.

      1. What a great idea! I’m gathering supplies to make a milk crate book storage bench for my 5-year-old and have been astonished at the price of foam. Thank you for this thought!

        1. Oh yes! The mattress topper was much cheaper!

  2. How much fabric did you purchase?

    1. I can’t remember. I want to say I purchased 2 yards and had a ton left over.

  3. You can also get the drawers at 5 and below ( two drawers IN A PACK for ONLY $5.00)

  4. Question- I am trying to picture how you attached the seat to the milk crate with the zip ties. can you explain it? Where did you loop the zip tie after you drilled a hole? did you make one for each seat for the bench or one long one?

    1. We made 2 holes close together and put the ends of the zip ties through the holes to attach them to the crate. Does that make sense? I believe we did a couple ties on each crate.

  5. Cannot wait to make these! I think I will try next year.

  6. How does the wood/cushion attach to the crates?

  7. Curious as to why you used zip ties and not a bolt with wing nut? I love the idea… just wondering?

  8. LOVE this. Thank you for giving all the details. I’ll be trying this soon!!

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