PALLET FURNITURE: INTRODUCTION
If you don’t know what to do to pass the time during this boring quarantine, don’t worry! There are various activities that can be done at home and with your family. In this article we will focus on the implementation of DIY pallet furniture using recycled material!
How often do you see pallets piled up outside the warehouses, they are often used to stack water crates, or boxes and therefore they are clean, strong and well made.
These pallets will certainly be dismantled, reused or disposed of, but if you ask the shop they will be happy to give you a couple to make one of the ideas I wanted to offer you.
Otherwise you can find cheap wooden pallets online, new and of different sizes.
On the net there are many ideas to follow to learn how to recycle pallets, both for the more experienced and the less experienced, for those who have more possibilities, more manual skills and even more time available and also for those who just want to give a touch of originality to their home with something simple and ecological.
The pallet is one of the most versatile objects for creative recycling but before using it, it must be a little “treated”, since it is normally made of raw wood.
When you take a pallet to transform it into something creative, you will have to make sure that there are no brands or acronyms or if it is marked there must be the wording DB-HT, in this case it can be used safely because it means that it has been heat treated and not chemically treated.
This is very important if you decide to use it at home to create especially something that children can use or for example if you want to use it as a base for a sofa or a bed or a small table.
HOW TO REUSE THE PALLET
Well, first of all we have to prepare the pallet, sometimes, depending on what we want to create, we have to disassemble the various pieces. Nothing complicated, just a little manual skills.
If you want to color the pallet remember that it is good to give a coat of cementite, a special base for wood, so that the color you give will not be absorbed and will remain bright and full-bodied.
Once the cementite is given, it is good to pass the fine sandpaper to smooth the surface.
If, on the other hand, you want to use the natural pallet, it is important to sand it well to avoid unpleasant splinters, and then still give it a hand of water flatting. Normally the pallets are of light wood, using a flatting you can make it the color you prefer, cherry, walnut, birch.
When working, always remember to use protective gloves and goggles. If you use acrylic paints, obtain the appropriate solvents and always protect the surfaces on which you work.
Before you start working, make sure you have all the necessary equipment: pliers, glue, scissors, paint, solvents, hammer, nails, screws, brushes, saw, newspapers, cleaning rags, sandpaper and possibly a planer, jigsaw, etc.
Remember that to decorate your pallet you can also use alternative techniques such as decoupage, scrapbooking, but also dye the wood with coffee or tea.
DIY IDEAS
As we said at the beginning of the article, there are many very creative ways to reuse the pallet and make it a design complement to your home. After explaining how to reuse this element safely, let’s see some innovative ideas to transform the pallet into a unique and personalized piece of your furniture.
FLOWER BOX
It is one of the classic uses of this material: perfect for the balcony, terrace or garden, the pallet folwer box is an object that is easy to build and beautiful to see. It can be made both horizontally and vertically, if there is not enough space.
DIVIDING WALL
Another creative use of the pallet is to try to make a dividing wall. To build it, you must first obtain 4 platforms from which to remove the underlying part. After having painted them, fix them two on two using the hinges and then customize them according to your taste.
COFFEE TABLE
It is certainly one of the most common uses of old pallets, redecorated and treated. Coffee tables, perhaps with the addition of wheels, complete an industrial-style living room and are perfect for lofts.
GARDEN TABLE
A variant of the coffee table, the garden (or terrace) table is excellent for sipping tea or coffee in company. Creating this type of table is really very simple and you just have to align several pallets, one on top of the other!
An easy and fun job with a significant impact on the aesthetics of your environment!
WALL OBJECT HOLDER
A very simple project to create and functional for the home kitchen. A rustic style kitchen, perhaps for a country house or for an outdoor kitchen. To make a wall object holder just hang a pallet on the wall and it will become a fantastic support wall.
A low cost choice to replace the classic shelves with a wooden equipped wall.
CONSOLE FOR ENTRANCE
With a pinch of creativity, recycling a pallet becomes child’s play. In fact, by joining only a couple of pallets you can build a console to be placed at the entrance. Element usable both as a classic support for keys or mail, but which at the same acts as a beautiful business card for your home.
A console made by you with pallets will certainly be a unique and inimitable choice!
CREATIVE SHELF
The pallets, vertically, can form a versatile and fun library. But if you prefer, here are some shelves, very suitable for the kitchen, the corridor, the bathroom.
BED
The advantage of a bed made in pallets is the height! You can choose the one you like and above all you can create spaces for your favorite objects, for books or shoes.
COUCH OR ARMCHAIRS
Couch, sofa, pouf: you can really do everything with a couple of pallets.
Creativity is not limited to building the structure with pallets, but for a chic decor you need to worry about that the sitting is comfortable and relaxing.
We advise you to buy soft foam of at least 15 cm height, cut it to size and create the covering with a soft cloth and with a trendy fantasy.
For industrial-style furnishings, we recommend shades of gray in combination with white pallets. For a Shabby Chic furniture instead choose a total white.
CONCLUSIONS
As we have seen together, the recycled pallet really lends itself to many different uses. Just have a little bit of imagination and a minimum of manual skills and the possibilities with the pallet become endless.
Also on the web, there are tons of pages and videos that explain how to reuse the pallet and give advice on how to do it on creative way.
My advice, therefore, is to arm yourself with goodwill and get busy in creating the next piece of furniture for your home! Creating it yourself certainly gives a little more satisfaction than simply buying it in a shop.
If you have any doubts or would like to discuss other ideas with us about other innovative uses you can make with pellets, do not hesitate to leave a comment at the end of the article or send an email to valeriadesign@casaomnia.it.
Finally, if you found this article enjoyable, visit our blog to discover other DIY activities, such as here!