Tacky is in the eye of the beholder. There are plenty of suggestions out there on how to do it, but do you mean will they look like the cherry book shelves at the college library? They will not.
You could paint them to go with your décor if they aren't the color you want. You could also put wall paper on it to show through the holes, or fabric and also line the inside with something to cover the way it looks from the inside to cover the holes.
My objection to milk crates would not be that they would be tacky although they certainly wouldn't be grand, but that the milk crates are not the right dimensions for most books. When we got married one of the first things we did was to put book shelves on either side of the mantel piece in our Brooklyn apt. We didn't have many books but they were important to us. I think we used the metal strips with the bracket inserts and just plain boards. Now we have book shelves in just about every room. I think the ones shown here are on the bracket/strip/board system. Also it seems book cases are readily available. And for about $40 you could get a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood that would give you an entire and quite sizable bookcase and I think they would cut if for you at most stores like Home Depot etc.
Just turn them upside down and open them, then insert a roll of paper towel and tada, you have yourself a brand new paper towel holder that is not only beautiful, but...
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it is possible with some spray paint.hers a project that was posted for you to look at. https://www.hometalk.com/diy/basement/furniture/material-of-the-week-milk-crates-34120617
Material Of The Week: Milk Crates
Tacky is in the eye of the beholder. There are plenty of suggestions out there on how to do it, but do you mean will they look like the cherry book shelves at the college library? They will not.
It depends on your overall scheme.........
eclectic, techno look is great.
You could paint them to go with your décor if they aren't the color you want. You could also put wall paper on it to show through the holes, or fabric and also line the inside with something to cover the way it looks from the inside to cover the holes.
This will give you tons of ideas. Some are campy and some are practical.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1BLWB_enUS700US700&biw=1422&bih=684&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=d8pgWpfwK8_ujwPfsYKgAw&q=using+milk+crates+as+shelves&oq=using+milk+crates+as+shelves&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0.5603.7241.0.8153.5.5.0.0.0.0.142.451.3j2.5.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.5.448...0i13k1j0i8i13i30k1.0.4QMGopVUw4M
Spray paint them.
My objection to milk crates would not be that they would be tacky although they certainly wouldn't be grand, but that the milk crates are not the right dimensions for most books. When we got married one of the first things we did was to put book shelves on either side of the mantel piece in our Brooklyn apt. We didn't have many books but they were important to us. I think we used the metal strips with the bracket inserts and just plain boards. Now we have book shelves in just about every room. I think the ones shown here are on the bracket/strip/board system. Also it seems book cases are readily available. And for about $40 you could get a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood that would give you an entire and quite sizable bookcase and I think they would cut if for you at most stores like Home Depot etc.