I’m kind of smitten with industrial style furniture – yet I don’t want it to be rustic looking. So when I decided wanted an Industrial Storage Cart, I knew I’d probably have to build it. Which is great, right? When you build your own furniture it means that you can get exactly what you want in the perfect size, perfect color and it’s usually for a fraction of the cost. This project wasn’t the cheapest to build – but at around $200 it was much cheaper than purchasing a piece this size. It’s perfect for all the small storage stuff for things we use every day, like games, blankets, dog toys, you know – the stuff that never seems to have a home. Now it does – all on my DIY Industrial Storage Cart.

To build this project you will need:

• 24 – 3/8 inch galvanized flanges (from the plumbing section)
• 12 – 3/8 inch galvanized pipe pieces, 12 inches tall
• 3 pieces of 2×12 pine, cut to length (mine are 84 inches long)
• A set of 4 caster wheels
• 1 inch wood screws
• Drill (two makes things go faster)
• drill bit for screws
• driver bit (to install screws)
• drill bit for caster wheels (we used a 5/16)
• tape measure
• polyacrylic (or paint)
• paint brush

Let’s build a DIY Industrial Storage Cart!

Start by giving the wood pieces a couple of coats of either poly (if you want the wood to show) or paint if you want a color. After the wood is all dry, then create your placement for the flanges by putting one in each corner, then measure to find the middle of your board. Predrill the holes and use the wood screws to install the flanges. Do this for the top of the bottom shelf first.

Using the larger drill bit, from the top of the shelf, drill down all the way through the board on each of the four corners. This creates the holes for you to install the casters. Now sit it aside and work on the top two shelves.

On the bottom of the top shelf, install the four flanges just like you did on the bottom shelf. Then screw on the pipe parts, then screw on another set of flanges. When installing the flanges, make sure that the bottom of the shelves have the holes perpendicular to the front of the board, and on the top of the shelves they run diagonal so the screws won’t hit each other. Once you have the second set of flanges on, sit the next board on top and mark the holes with a pencil. Remove the board then pre drill the holes. Sit it back on top and install the flanges (which are still on the pipes) onto the board.

Once you have the top two shelves together, screw the pipes on the flanges of the bottom shelf and sit it on top of the other half (upside down) and mark the holes. Predrill and use screws to put the two halves together then flip it all over and your cart is done.

After the boards were all dry, it really only took about an hour of build time to create this huge piece. It holds so much stuff, and it’s perfect for keeping our family room organized.

Pretty cool project, huh? Want more ideas? Be sure to check out this month’s Lowe’s Creative Ideas app for even more bright ideas!

*Thanks to Lowe’s for partnering with me on this post. All ideas, words, opinions and photos are 100% my own.*