DIY Crate Seats

DIY Crate Seats

Last year, I decided to ditch all the chairs and tables in my music room and go for full-blown flexible seating! I was nervous about how it would work with all 500 kiddos in the school, but knew it would be so beneficial for them. I spent the summer scouring IKEA, Target, Wal-Mart, TJMaxx and tons of other stores for pillows, rugs, tables and anything else I could find for my classroom. I wanted to make sure and have plenty of options that would work for ALL my grade levels (Kinder-5th). I saw someone on Pinterest make these "crate seats" and I thought to myself, "I can do that!" Y'all, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

Let me preface this post by saying, learn from my mistakes! These adorable crate seats took me WAY longer than they should  have. So, do as I say, not as I did. (insert face palm)

Here's what you'll need (and where it all came from):

  • Crates-Target
  • Foam Pieces-Wal-Mart
  • 1/2"-3/4" Plywood-Husband's garage
  • Fabric-Joann
  • Ribbon-Joann
  • Staple Gun
  • Staples

I found all six of my crates at Target. I was shocked when I found all six in the same color I had been looking for. I think they were around $4-5. The foam pieces came from Wal-Mart. There were only four to a pack, so I had to buy 2 packs. I did have to trim them down a little, but I'll get to that part later.

The first step in the process was to measure and cut the plywood to fit the crates. Here is where we ran into our first issue. I asked my husband for help because power tools and I don't mix. Since I had researched how others had made these crates, I knew I wanted to the wood pieces to sit inside the lip of the crate (where you would hang files folders). My husband thought it would be better to have the wood flush with the top. I knew if we did this, the kiddos would just slide off when they sat down. We eventually decided to have the wood sit inside the lip of the crate. My husband cut the pieces to fit and then handed them off to me.

Here is what I was talking about before with the foam. You can see that these foam pieces are slightly too big for the wood pieces. I simply cut them down to fit the wood.

Another note about the wood...I mentioned before that we used plywood for our crate seats. The wood you see here in the picture is NOT plywood. It is wood that my husband had in the garage that has joints in the middle. Can you see those (I think they're called) finger joints? These were a BAD IDEA. I made one seat with this type of wood and had my husband sit on it to try. It immediately split in half. Granted, it might have been okay with the smaller kids, but I do have some 5th graders that are as big as my husband. Once this happened, we decided to use plywood. Needless to say, it passed the test when my husband sat on it. :) Remember what I said at the beginning? Do as I say, not as I did.

The next step is to add the fabric. I honestly can't remember how much fabric I bought...it was quite a bit. I got three different designs. There was no rhyme or reason to what I bought, other than I thought they were cute!

When you're cutting a piece, make sure you have PLENTY of room on all sides. The first cut I made, I didn't account for the wood AND the foam, so the fabric barely made it over the piece of wood. I would say to have a good 3" on each side of the square to make sure it fits. Better to have too much than not enough, right?

Also, you can see the actual plywood in this picture. See the difference? Make sure to use this kind!!!! Trust me!

Last, but not least, it's time to staple everything down! My husband helped me out again here. Make sure you pull the fabric tight so it doesn't "bubble." I don't know about you, but that drives me crazy...like a Christmas present that isn't wrapped tightly enough. (shudder)

Once you staple them all down, you should be able to just set them inside the crate! I didn't take a picture of this, but I added some ribbon as a kind of handle to lift up the cushion. (You can see the black and white polka dot ribbon in the picture below).  Some of the ribbons didn't last the school year, but the kiddos can still take the cushions off by just pulling them out. I put extra pillows for flexible seating inside the crates. You can never have enough storage!

These seats are such a great addition to my flexible seating classroom. They are the perfect size for all of my kiddos (grades K-5) and are light enough for them to move around the room when they need to.  I have 3 small tables from IKEA that are scattered throughout the room. These crate seats slide under them perfectly so they are out of the way. Like I said before, they are perfect for storage. I have some $5 outdoor pillows from Wal-Mart that fit perfectly down in these crates. I'll do a post more about  my flexible seating closer to the beginning of the year, but you get the idea.

If you have any questions about these crates or flexible seating, leave me a comment below. I'm certainly not an expert, but have learned a lot along the way!

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