How to make garden, home and office furniture from pallets: photo examples and step-by-step master classes
What are the pallets left over from construction on your site good for? Take your time to turn them into firewood for kebabs. You will be surprised how many original and useful things can be made from them in just a couple of hours. Our editorial team has prepared for you a whole collection of pallet ideas. You will find out what furniture can be made from pallets. Photo examples and detailed master classes will help you get inspired for your own experiments.
The content of the article
- 1 Why is pallet and pallet furniture attractive?
- 2 Pallet furniture: pros and cons
- 3 Ideas for making pallet furniture
- 4 Practical recommendations on how to make pallet furniture with your own hands
- 5 How can you decorate furniture from pallets: a photo gallery of interesting solutions
Why is pallet and pallet furniture attractive?
Pallets or pallets are packaging material for heavy and bulky goods. They carry brick, blocks, concrete structures. One pallet weighs relatively little - about 15 kg, and the dimensions of the package have two generally accepted standards: 12 × 100 × 120 or 12 × 80 × 120 centimeters. For the manufacture of the pallet, durable wood is used that can withstand a ton of loads. This is how the design attracts folk craftsmen - after all, such a durable material will fit for any kind of crafts.
Note! The building regulations prohibit the reuse of pallets, for this reason they are simply disposed of after the contents have been shipped.
If you wish, you can easily find used pallets.They are sold through private ads at a price of 30-80 rubles. Moreover, you can get this material completely free of charge if you contact any transport or construction company.
Pallet furniture: pros and cons
This is not to say that in the use of recyclable materials, which, in fact, are pallets, everything is so cloudless. There are pros and cons in this setting. The former should be actively used, and the latter should be fought.
pros | Minuses |
---|---|
Furniture is assembled literally in a matter of hours. | Such furniture will not successfully fit into any interior. Loft or country style is best. |
There are many constructive ideas from this material. | |
The cost of the finished product is literally a penny. | It is not easy to care for pallet structures - dust accumulates under them, which is not easy to clean. |
The pallets are made of high quality natural wood. | |
The resulting products will be original and practical. | If you haven't spent enough time processing wood, you risk making an unpleasant impression on your guests. |
Almost any technique can be used to decorate wooden furniture. |
Ideas for making pallet furniture
There are a lot of pallet structures. The Internet is replete with original ideas and samples of folk art. Moreover, ready-made pallet furniture can be bought in designer salons or ordered from craftsmen. Here are some examples of the various uses of this material for different purposes.
Pallet furniture for the office - why not?
Confused by this subheading? In vain. Modern offices have long gone from boring government desks and shelves... Now they are adorned with creative design ideas. Among the companies engaged in the trade of building materials and construction itself, loft style extremely popular because it matches their activities. And the pallets fit well into this design. Clients will no doubt appreciate this environment, appreciating the creativity of the company's management.
Here are some examples of pallet furniture you can buy or order for your office:
What can be done for homefrom wooden palletswith your own hands?
The first thing that comes to mind for home furnishings is a bed. A wooden pallet bed is an extraordinary solution, but you will certainly be impressed by its practicality. The pallets can be arranged in different ways.
The size of the bed is also practically unlimited, you just need to choose the right one mattress... With all the variety of assembly options, you don't have to worry about the strength of the structure.
A pallet bar counter is an interesting idea for a loft style. To manufacture such a structure, you will need 5-6 pallets and a couple of hours of free time. As the basis of the rack, 2-4 pallets are used, placed vertically, the tabletop is assembled from a thick, durable board. For stability, the structure is fixed to the floor.
Hanger in hallway will decorate a country house or apartment. Just one pallet is enough, it needs to be carefully processed and covered with wood stain and varnish.
A shoe rack is a necessary item in the household. So that the shoes stand neatly and do not get in the way under your feet corridor, you have to build such a simple structure with two or three shelves. Complete with a hanger, such a simple set will look very organic.
Practical DIY crafts from pallets for summer cottages
On a suburban area, there is always an application for pallets. They can be used for more than just garden furniture. First of all, pallets are made of solid, dry and level boards, and the board itself can be useful in many summer cottages. For example, it is easy to make a flooring out of it on terrace.
The installation itself will be complicated only by installing a lag at a distance of no more than 120 centimeters. You do not need to disassemble pallets for flooring installation. Just expose them all over the site, leveling them in height with bricks, and fasten them together. To obtain a solid surface, fill the gaps between the boards with strips. All that remains is to clean and paint the finished flooring.
Look at the photo of how similar do-it-yourself pallet products look like:
By the same principle, you can build paths to the garden or to gazebo... You will certainly appreciate them when the rains are frequent and the land on the site turns to mud. For the winter, such a path can be disassembled and put into a storage shed. Pallet decking can be installed in chicken coop... To prevent the bird from falling through, you need to throw a fine-mesh net on top. And it will be very simple to clean the chicken cooper - you just need to raise the pallets. Pallets are also useful for construction fence in the country.
If you need a tall fence, arrange the pallets in two rows. Use a metal tube frame for the racks. Color the fence according to your taste and decorate it flower pots... To complete the idea, you can make a corresponding wicket.
The gazebo is an important building on the site. How can it be without her? Once again, pallets come in handy. With their help, you can design any rectangular room.
The only thing that you have to purchase separately is timber for the frame and ondulin or metal roof tiles... To do open gazebo, you can use the pallets only for roofing and lathing, for semi-closed - install the pallets at half the height of the walls. You can bring the idea to the end and sew up the walls of a closed gazebo from the inside OSB plates... In this case, late guests can stop in the summer house.
By the same principle, you can build poultry house, a doghouse, a playhouse for children, a shed or wood-burning stove, a country shower or restroom... And these are far from all examples of using pallets for a summer cottage. From them you can assemble shelves for flowers, a sandbox, high beds, original garden lights, ladder, bike rack, flower bed and much more.
Photo examples of do-it-yourself pallet garden furniture
The theater begins with a hanger, and the dacha certainly begins with swing... Whether there are small children in the family or not is not so important. Adults can also enjoy this attraction. A very solid structure can be made from a pallet that can withstand a lot of weight. Garden swing can be not only with a seat, but even with a bed. These hanging beds in the shade of trees will become a favorite resting place. Two pallets act as a base, securely fastened together.
It is better to use chains or strong ropes to secure the hanging bed. On a hot summer day, you will need a sun lounger for sunbathing. For him, you need to prepare 3 pallets: two of them for the lounger, the third for the back. It remains only to assemble the simplest structure, paint it and cover it with comfortable pillows.
Family recreation at the dacha means outdoor games, lunches and dinners at veranda and watching good films in the evening with a projector. To equip a country cinema for family and friends, you can make a multi-storey couch on which all your guests will comfortably sit.
Cottage pallet furniture can be added tables and chairs for gazebos, benches for the garden. All this is done quite simply and does not require the use of special tools.The photo below shows examples of pallet garden furniture.
Related article:
In our review, we will find out how DIY garden bench with backrest... Drawings and detailed photos will allow you to make the best design.
Practical recommendations on how to make pallet furniture with your own hands
You have seen that a lot can be made from wooden pallets. We advise you to start with small structures requiring 2-3 packing grids. When you get your hand filled, you can start more serious projects: gazebos, chicken coops, cinemas, and so on. We bring to your attention information on preparatory work and step-by-step instructions for making several simple pieces of furniture.
Tools for work
To work with pallets, you will need carpentry tools and wood fasteners. Check if everything from the presented list is in your arsenal:
- electric drill, screwdriver, nail puller, hammer, saw;
- wood screws or nails, bolts for demountable structures;
- sandpaper, PVA wood glue, primer for wood, paint, stain or varnish.
If all of this is available, you are ready to go.
How to choose the right pallets
Pallets, of course, must be intact, without damage and cracks, rotten boards. But these are not all requirements. Pay attention to the pallet markings. If there is an IPPC mark, it means that the pallet wood was processed in compliance with international safety requirements.
This is a safe method for humans. Do not use pallets with MB or EUR marks for making home structures. Such wood was processed for safety with chemicals hazardous to health.
Advice! Ask what was transported on pallets. If it was fertilizer or other chemicals, refuse such an acquisition.
Inspect the material for mold, rot, and other damage before purchasing. Pay attention to the nails in the pallet. If you plan to take it apart, it is important that the nails are driven straight, not at an angle.
Pallet handling
It doesn't matter what you decide to make from the pallet, you need to prepare it carefully. Initially, the packaging is made of unplaned board, there are a lot of burrs on it. Therefore, after cleaning from dirt, the wood must be carefully sanded. if you have grinder - the task will be greatly simplified.
Important! When sanding wood, do not forget about your own safety: use gloves and a respirator.
If you will disassemble the pallet into planks, sort the parts by width, this will simplify their selection in the future. Even before assembly, you can treat the tree with a moisture-proof compound or even paint it, because the finished structure will be more difficult to paint.
Related article:
DIY wood furniture: for a garden, a nursery, a kitchen, a bath, a garden, a gazebo; how to restore pieces of furniture, useful tips and advice from experts - read our publication.
Step-by-step instructions with a photo of making do-it-yourself pallet furniture
And now let's proceed to the direct manufacture of the most popular items in everyday life: a table, an armchair, a sofa, a bench and shelving.
How to make a table with your own hands from pallets
Pallet table - the simplest design possible, you can build a full dining table and a small magazine - dimensions depend only on the number of parts of the designer.
How to quickly make a sofa from pallets for a summer residence
You can make a pallet sofa with your own hands - this is also a fairly simple design, which can have several options, for example, with or without armrests. For convenience, you can equip this structure with a soft foam seat, and for an open garden version, you just need to sand and paint the tree. Step-by-step photo of how to make a do-it-yourself sofa from pallets:
Garden pallet bench
The pallet bench is slightly different from the design of the sofa. Her assembly is a cross between a table and a sofa. We suggest watching a short video that will help you familiarize yourself with the process in detail:
Comfortable garden chair made of wooden pallets
A sofa and a garden bench will be complemented by a small armchair from the same pallets. We found for you an intuitive short video tutorial on how to make this garden piece of furniture:
Pallet rack
Pallets can be used to make racks for books, home preservation, shoes, wine. Here's a small example:
How can you decorate furniture from pallets: a photo gallery of interesting solutions
The same decoration techniques can be applied to izpallet products as to ordinary wooden furniture.You can use carving, burning, painting, decoupage... The use of different types of wood stains and varnishing will look natural. If you wish, you can even refine the benches or sofas with overhead elements made of wood or metal. In short, here you have complete freedom of choice. In conclusion, we offer you a selection of photographs from folk craftsmen who may help you decide on your own decision. If you've done something like this before, let us know in the comments!