There’s been a real boom in the use of reclaimed materials for DIY pallet furniture projects over the last couple of years, with pallet wood builds leading the charge. This is great news on all fronts – not only are these simple, often beautiful pieces great fun for anyone with a few basic tools and a little imagination to build, but they also make great long-term use of valuable natural resources that many industries continually discard and replace.

This is a guest post by Sam Butterworth, a writer with a keen interest in sustainable living and environmentalism. We hope that you find it enjoyable and informative.

By giving these simple, widely available materials a second lease of life as a much-loved piece of rustic furniture or home decoration, you’ll be helping to reduce waste in the short-term, as well as filling your home with unique and inexpensive hand-crafted items. In the long run, reduced reliance on major corporations to keep us furnished and comfortable will have a positive impact on the huge carbon footprint laid down by large-scale industrial deforestation, manufacture and shipping.

You’ll find a ton of cool ideas and resources online these days – indeed, there’s even an entire festival dedicated to pallet upcycling! – but before you get started, it’s important to make sure you’re responsible about getting hold of the materials.

A note on sourcing pallets

Many companies ship dozens of pallets in and out of their doors every day, and you’re likely to see a number of them lying around the grounds of any warehouse or depot. However, it’s absolutely crucial to get permission to enter the premises and remove pallets in advance – never help yourself without asking, even if they look utterly discarded. The reasons for this are threefold:

1. By entering a business premises without making prior arrangements, you may well be trespassing in illegal or hazardous areas, and face potential prosecution or injury
2. Many companies have reciprocal agreements in place with shipping companies, requiring the return of industrial pallets for re-use some time after delivery and unloading
3. Some pallets are designated specifically for use in shipping chemicals and other potentially harmful materials, and many will have been used multiple times for different jobs – if you haven’t asked the business owner what a pallet has been used for, then it isn’t safe to take it away with you. A helpful guide to some common pallet markings and usage stamps can be found here

Five simple projects

So you’ve got permission to re-use a couple of non-hazardous, relatively clean pallets from a local business? Great! You can have so much fun turning them into all manner of simple household decorations and furniture items – here are five of our favourites, all very doable in one day with a minimum of tools and resources:

1) DIY tea light candle holder

Create a gorgeous and incredibly straightforward holder for a few candles with nothing more than a saw, some wood glue and a drill – a great idea for a holiday gift, once you’ve made your own of course!

2) Pallet garden flower hanger

So simple to make, and such an attractive addition to any garden – best of all, this is ideal for brightening up those small or inner-city patio spaces where planting space is at a premium.

3) Pallet wood birdhouses

As you can see from this compilation of ideas, you can make a pallet wood bird house as simple or as lavish as you like. Either way, you’ll be providing a cosy home for local bird life, and creating a fascinating and environmentally friendly addition to the outside of your home.

4) Decorative pallet wall art

We particularly love this one, as it’s pretty much just carte blanche to let your imagination run wild. You can take this project in more or less any direction you can think of – the point is, something as simple as a wooden pallet can look absolutely stunning as a wall-mounted or freestanding backboard for your artwork or photos. Just add a dash of creativity, and you’re away!

5) Pallet wood chair

Just like with the birdhouses, you can make a pallet wood chair as fancy or as basic as you wish – we like this version because it strikes a nice balance between form, function and simplicity, while looking mightily impressive for a quick build. Add a couple of cushions, and this will be as comfy as any armchair you could go out and buy.

If you’ve had a crack at building any of these projects, or anything else using pallets or reclaimed materials, we’d love to see the results – let us know in the comments below, and keep those ideas coming!

Image Credit: Funky Junk

Author bio: Sam Butterworth is a writer with a keen interest in sustainable living and environmentalism. He has worked for newspapers, magazines, and looks after the blog at eC02 Greetings. He is also a copywriter and writes fiction when time permits.

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