Firstly, I want to give the crate some 'age'. I bash the crate with all sorts of metal objects (hammer, saw, scissors, etc) and also punch some holes with a bodkin to emulate woodworm damage for good measure. Then, I tint the wood inside out with an oak water-based tint I have left over (any dark tint will do).

As I intend to distress the paint, I am using a yellow emulsion I have laying around as first coat, so the colour will come through as I sand the top coat back (some of the tinted bare wood will come through as well in places). As you can see, I am not being meticulous with my brush strokes, painting carelessly will help give an aged look.

After the paint has dried, I apply a top coat. I choose Annie Sloan's Graphite chalk paint. I'm just in love with dark chalk paint at the moment.

I apply a coat of clear wax inside and out. Then, I distress the paint on the outside of the box with sandpaper.

A coat of black finishing wax and a good buff later and I have a lovely storage box for my hats and scarves. And when I see the price some shops charge for similar storage boxes, I am rather chuffed when I think this one hardly cost me anything and only took a few hours to transform.