Caisse en bois massif Novelyn (Ensemble de 2)

Nicely made! Sturdy!

Perfect for lanterns to set on

Easy to assemble. Just what I needed

Don't be alarmed by how your crates arrive. They will come in a narrow rectangular box because full assembly is required. I should have taken a photo of them unassembled, but was in a hurry to use them. Assembly was easy, and only took about 10 minutes. You will need a Philips-head screwdriver and mallet to tap/secure slats into place. Overall, they are nice crates but I will sand a few spots for extra smoothness (reason for only 4 stars) as I plan to put a blanket and some stuffed animals in one of them.

This crate project was — low key — a bit of a emotional roller coaster. Open the box and see all the wooden slats, I thought “what have I done!” Next, I realized that you didn’t need to screw in every slat, just a few, predrilled strategic places. Caution if you use a drill, place it on the least torque setting. You may be better off just hand tightening the screws. The wood material is prone to splitting if over torqued (MY BAD! see photos). The advantages of this type of wood crate over the less expensive ones you’d find at the big box stores is that — if assembled correctly — these will hold A LOT OF WEIGHT. The cheap ones sold elsewhere are often stapled together and fall apart easily. Despite my lack of experience drilling, these cartons will last way longer. As a side note, weird to purchase an item that has a burnt templates. Not a deal breaker, but odd and maybe unprofessional.