The plywood seating seals in hideaway storage and is custom made to each crate. Architects Mateo Pinto and Carolina Cisneros of Venezuela and Argentina respectively founded the Combo Collab in 2010.

Milk crates are the classic dorm-room, bachelor-pad, record-crating, ready-made storage. The logic is unassailable: They’re modular, stackable, sturdy and cheap.

But each crate taken out of circulation, likely means another plastic crate needs to be made. Which means if you’ve taken two dozen of them for a storage container or a temporary chair, you’re ...

All you need are 3-5 milk crates, zip ties, wood, wood finish, and some tools to make it happen. As far as furniture-building goes, this is one of the easiest projects you could ask for.