DIY pallet furniture

What’s the most common form of wood that ends up in dumpsters? Shipping pallets – according to the EPA, they represent 90% of wood packaging waste. Dumpster divers can likely confirm this, as can anyone who’s ever worked in a manufacturing setting. But as we’ve demonstrated before, waste wood isn’t bad wood, and there are lots of ideas out there for putting this waste to good use. Since distressed wood furniture is kind of cool these days, DIY pallet furniture won’t just save you some money; you could probably make some if you’re so inclined… or, at least, create a stylish look for your own living space. And there are always wooden pallets available for the taking: if you don’t want to just go out and take them from the backs of commercial buildings, you can get in touch with retailers, manufacturers, or any company/non-profit that has large amounts of materials shipped in to see if they’ll let you have them. Keep in mind that these organizations are paying to have them dumped; you’re saving them a little money by taking them off of their hands.

A Few Tips: Working With Pallets And Finding DIY Pallet Furniture Tutorials

Not all pallets are the same! Pallet manufacturers use different kinds of wood, and different kinds of treatments to preserve it. Some of those treatments are toxic, so you’ll want to avoid those.

Pallets aren’t generally made from the highest quality wood, so breaking them down often means breaking some boards. A number of the projects below discuss the best ways to do this; from what I’ve seen from the palletsphere, separating boards with a sawzall/reciprocating saw works much better than prying them apart.

Since pallet projects are hot, a lot of sites have sprung up around the topic. Most of them are pretty useless, and only feature photos (often cribbed from other sites).

Most particular pallets ideas are:

1. Adirondack Chairs: Pallets are great for outdoor furniture

2. Loft Bed: This space-saving bed also requires some 2x4s (likely for sturdiness).

3. Wine Rack: A gorgeous and functional accent piece that also looks like a good starting project if you’re new to the whole woodworking thing.

4. Coffee Table: Yep, lots of coffee table projects out thereand takes five pallets…

5. Minibar: This one also looks fairly simple, but leads to a unique piece for your entertaining space (or creates it if you don’t have it!).

6. Desk with Computer Shelf: Unless you’re an all-laptop household, you’ll want a convenient space to put that desktop tower. This plan from Instructables works that in.

7. Patio Sofa: Another piece of outdoor furniture that looks really easy to make – you don’t have to break down most of the pallets!