With mere weeks to go until this baby is born, my husband and I are crossing items off our list and getting those last-minute things for our baby. We have a little nook in our hallway that we’re using for late-night feedings. We don’t need much furniture in the little area, so aside from the rocking chair all I wanted a simple storage solution to keep burp cloths, blankets, pillows, and feeding supplies.

The solution I came up with is this cute rustic-looking storage crate. It was cheap (cost me less than $10 total), easy (I did this in an afternoon) and somehow makes things look organized. You could also add wheels to the bottom, but since we’re using it on carpeting I opted to leave it plain.

Here’s what you do:

Buy a storage crate. You can find these at any craft store (Michaels and JoAnne’s both had these for roughly $14. I used a 40% off coupon).

Gather additional supplies. I used things I had lying around the house including minwax early american wood stain, white paint, and stencils.

Lightly sand the crate. This may not be necessary, but there were a few rough areas on my crate that I wanted to buff out.

Go outside and apply the stain. Wood stain stinks, so I did this outdoors for ventilation. You can apply the stain with a rag, brush, or lambs wool applicator like I did. Wipe off excess and wait for the crate to dry.

Stencil your numbers. You can write anything on the crate- Text, a zip code, random numbers, anything you feel like. My stenciling is far from perfect and that’s okay- it gives this even more of a raw, rustic quality.

Optional steps:

Glaze it or seal it. I didn’t do this because I didn’t want it to be shiny.

Add wheels to the bottom. Again, I opted out if this step because the wheels serve little purpose for us.

…And you’re done! Easy peasy $10 storage crate!