August 20, 2014

Simple Pallet Furniture

This simple pallet couch reminds me of a Turkish hookah lounge chill space.

Linda and I both like frugal and functional when it comes to furniture, but neither of us have ever considered stuff made out of pallets. It turns out that these ubiquitous wooden shipping flats can be used to make all sorts of fun furniture on the cheap.

In "Trying To Keep It Simple", NBA community member Marion left a comment that introduced me to the world of pallet furniture.

She said, "We found that pallets could be a nice, cheap and easy way to make temporary furniture during these empty-house periods. Add a bunch of wild flowers in a glass, and home you are."


Pallet coffee table is a simple centre piece.

I had never thought of pallet furniture before so turned to an image search to see what was possible. The results got me as excited about building stuff as the last time I researched alternative furniture made out of cardboard.

I was intrigued with pallet furniture since I like the idea of upcycling this valuable, untapped resource. 500 million pallets are manufactured every year in the US alone. 30% of those are only used once, then stockpiled or discarded.


Platform bed made out of repurposed pallet wood.

While I don't have the resources currently to transform lowly pallets into lowly functional furniture, it would fun to make a few things when I get my tool bench built up to production-level standards.


A lot of pallet furniture is built for outside, but there is no reason it could not be used inside as well.

The world doesn't need another single-use pallet tossed on the pile, but it sure could use more affordable furnishings built in a sustainable way.


A funky desk can be built for next to nothing with a few tools and some creativity.

5 comments:

  1. Love the setee! Seating and storage in one. Love the desk too. Think if I were doing a bed, I'd stack maybe 3 pallets high and make a valance, which would give lots of storage and avoid the sharp edges in the photograph.

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  2. Wow, some of those photos are really inspiring. A friend made my dining table from old pallets back in the 80's. She swapped me for some piano lessons - I think she was ahead of her time in more ways than one! The most common use for pallets where I live is to build compost bays (they let air in) or to stack you wood on so it doesn't sit on the damp ground.

    Have a great day,

    Madeleine.x

    Madeleine.x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8/21/2014

    Previously I've researched pallet reuse on Pinterest and have been excited by the many uses. Not that I have the know how or ability to build anything! I have to rely on secondhand furniture.

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  4. Anonymous8/24/2014

    Ah! Great! :-)
    Lately I have been considering building a compost bin with pallet wood, too. Has anyone tried? Any advice?

    ReplyDelete
  5. suesuzyp6/16/2015

    I would buy this furniture!!!!!!!! love the sofa/side table!!!!!!!!!!!!! sell it to me!

    ReplyDelete

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