The 8 Best Resources for Building with Pallets

22 by Becky Striepe on August 16, 2010

Wood Pallet.

Discarded pallets are a great source of free wood, and turning them into something new helps divert waste from the landfill. Really, building with pallet wood is a win all around!

1. Dismantling Your Pallet

Not all projects call for you to pull the pallets apart, but when they do proper technique will ensure that your wood comes apart unscathed. This short video shows you how to dismantle a pallet in less than seven minutes!

2. Pallet Adirondack Chair

I'm sure you've figured out by now that we're big fans of Shelton Davis around here. His repurposed Pallet Adirondack Chair is sleek, simple, and ingenious! Once you've scored your two pallets, you just need his handy instruction book and you're ready to build.

3. Build Patio Furniture

Over at Apartment Therapy, a reader wrote in with photos and descriptions showing how she used discarded pallets to build custom furniture for her small outdoor deck. The thing I love about this project is that it's so easy to customize for any space!

4. Pallet Furniture from Studio Mama

Designer Nina Tolstrup builds all sorts of beautiful furniture out of pallets, from chairs to ottomans. If you want to get your DIY on, you can even find instructions for some of her furniture, like this crafty stool, on her site!

5. Rolling Coffee Table

Studio 5 has a helpful video showing how to turn a couple of discarded pallets into a coffee table/ottoman combo:

6. Build a Compost Bin

Here's a video showing how to build a three bin compost system using discarded pallets:

7. Pallet and Shingle Cabin

Off Grid Solar Man breaks down how to build a cabin out of pallets. He says, "Pallets are cheap and give good structural support when attached to a 4x4 post set in concrete. Tar paper and shingles are very weather resistant and cheaper than siding. Together they make a very inexpensive home!"

8. Another Pallet Coffee Table

Esprit Cabane has detailed instructions for a building beautiful pallet coffee table. This project is a little bit less simple than the coffee table/ottoman combo above, but it's also much more striking. I love that they added hidden storage and the stripes!

Have you guys built anything cool out of pallets? We'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by splorp

http://www.sevenzerotwo.com Henderson Real Estate

Great post, my father has built some really nice furniture using non other than old pallets. lol!
http://jaybanks.ca Jay B.

Shelton Davis designer pieces are well known, very simply to assembly and absolutely practical for usage. I like them very much.
We have built the compost bin following the instruction, but we didn’t use the galvanised bottom pieces. Instead of that we install it right down on the soil because we want to mix it together later on. Thank you for the very well made instruction!
http://www.squidoo.com/pallet-wrapping-machines Pallet Wrapping

Love the idea of re-using old pallets, I like the idea of using pallets to build a compost bin. I’m trying to start growing vegetables in my garden so i might revisit that video. Thanks
http://none norma sasser

this is great, i am very interested in doing this too, but how do i plane the wood from the old pallets

http://glueandglitter.com Becky Striepe

That video at the top of the post shows how to get the wood free from the pallets. Looks like you just need a crowbar and some patience!

http://www.fanpanx.com/ ดูหนังโป๊ออนไลน์

Great post, my father has built some really nice furniture using non other than old pallets. lol!
Andrea F

Hubby came home today from trucking and said he can get all the pallets we want from one of his stops. He said if I can find anything to make with them he will start bringing them home. This will give me ideas on what to make.

http://glueandglitter.com Becky Striepe

Wow, that’s awesome! I’d love to see what you build, if you don’t mind sharing photos! becky @ loakmedia DOT com.

Andrea F

I will certainly let you know what we build.

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Wendy Tregay

Please please please be careful about the pallets you choose. They are sometimes used to carry hazardous materials and sometimes they spill. You don’t want to use that kind of pallet for anything. Check your sources!
http://xn--22cd3fkabic3jdte3a6n.com ครีมมะขามพะเยา

Please please please be careful about the pallets you choose. They are sometimes used to carry hazardous materials and sometimes they spill. You don’t want to use that kind of pallet for anything. Check your sources!
tyler

I made a video of “things i made out of pallets” on youtube check it out!

Andrea

Do you have a link to your video?

taiji

I built all of my interior walls of my country house of free wooden pallets stacked on end and fastened together with brass screws and some nails. It was an idea that just came to me one day of necessity because of lack of funds. At first, it was a little rickety, and I was a little worried, but after I turned the 90 degree corner with the walls and got them attached to the ceiling, the assembly became very rigid and solid. I staggered the vertical joints of course.

If my computer weren’t such a dinosaur I would be able to see the video of off grid solar man’s cabin built entirely of pallets! I think I might begin with a woodshed for an outdoor structure of pallets.

Becky Striepe

I would love, love, love to see photos of your pallet country home! If you want to share, you can email me through the site’s contact page: http://greenupgrader.com/contact-us/

http://www.thepalletssite.blogspot.com Pallets

Thanks for posting. I’ve just started a blog about all the different types of pallets and didn’t even think about being able to reuse them or make something such as a coffee table out of them. I will definitely try some of these techniques.
Cyndiewntrs2

Anyone know how to or have any ideas about building hanging light fixtures using pallets? I think it would be so neat to cut holes in random patterns and fill with some sort of light…. Any ideas on how to do this and what sort of lights to use?

LanceThruster

Here’s a pallet chandelier design I remember seeing.

http://www.shelterness.com/diy-pallet-chandelier/

It disassembles the pallet significantly. I like your design idea with the holes and would consider using rope lights and construct the fixture like a soffit light (it could point up or down as to the degree of brightness required).

For smaller fixtures, look at the designs of the architects Greene and Greene used in their craftsman bungalow homes such as the Gamble House because they used simple wood materials for elegant and artful fixtures such as lamp housing, light arms, gates, and so forth.
Shemaiah79

I ve seen a artist studio in Asheville nc that used pallets painted white and hung from the rafters upside down with track lighting built on to them to show case work.