Small crate repairs often lose time in tiny places. A handle screw rolls under a bench, one washer gets mixed with a different size, or a corner bracket is set down beside a pile of unrelated offcuts.
Before taking a box apart, lay a strip of painter tape, cardboard, or scrap plywood on the bench and write simple labels along it: left handle, right handle, front corner, back corner. The labels do not need to be pretty. They only need to make sense when the job is half-finished.
As each screw or small part comes off, park it on the matching spot. If the fasteners are oily or dusty, press them into tape just enough to keep them from wandering. If a screw looks bent or chewed up, leave it in place but mark it with a pencil note so replacement is not forgotten.
The habit is especially useful when matching older wooden crates where the hardware may not be perfectly interchangeable. Keeping each side together reduces guessing, and it makes reassembly feel more like putting a kit back together than searching through a coffee can.
A labeled strip also helps decide what to buy before a repair starts. If one section is empty or clearly damaged, you can measure the missing piece once, write it down, and avoid bringing home a handful of almost-right screws.
Practical takeaway: give small hardware a temporary home before the crate comes apart. A labeled strip costs almost nothing, but it keeps the bench calmer and the repair easier to finish.
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