A pallet furniture with shelves

After a long break, the blog is back on track now, with plenty of projects.

This is one made from shipping pallet to fit a specific space and without blocking an electric panel. It is used to put coffee mugs and food related items that are forbidden in a laboratory.

You'll notice that the door handles remind the lab, they are made of tubes with colored liquid inside!

 We made this furniture in the lab, sanding and painting was not possible, so we decided to keep a rustic look.

The frame of the furniture was made using the pocket hole kreg jig:

I love this tool!

A fold-up pallet desk

One more shipping pallet project, but this one does not need any disassembling, only sanding, staining and adding a piece of plywood with hinges to make the desk. Very ingenious to save space.

Upcycling wood fence into planters

In my previous post you probably saw that seeds start growing, so to be consistent with my ideas I am now making a planter to transplant everything on my deck once my herbs are ready. I was running out of shipping pallet but found this pine wood that is designed to be a fence. For around $1 each piece, this planter will cost me no more that $4 and will be free if you have a shipping pallet!

I decided that my planter would have a tiny angle on each side (12 degres) but you don't have to if you want to keep everything really simple (1)

To create the angle I used a table saw and set up the angle.

(2) After cutting the three pieces of wood at the same length (5 feet) I was already at the assembling stage. I attached the side panels using a pre drill hole and then used deck screws (1 1/4 long). I did only one hole in the side panel and made sure the first screw was properly done, then the rest of the holes are really easy.

(3) Once the sides are installed you just have to make the ends of the planter. You'll use the extra pieces of wood you have left and draw directly on the wood the shape needed to close the planter on each end. I added an extra piece in the middle of the planter but this is not necessary. I used my jigsaw to cut the little pieces but the table saw could have done it too.

(4) This is the side view of the planter and where the screws should be.

The last step is to stain your planter, in my case I used the deck stain I had left, but if the planter turn bad after the summer, it will be easy and cheap to replace it!

I'm also planning on using plastic liner inside but I'm still not sure about the advantage of it, just let me know if you have an advice.

Upcycling shipping pallet into...... The Moon Crib

My new baby came February 1st, and I wish I had this awesome idea... Making him a moon crib with recycled shipping pallets!

This great idea comes from the designer Emilie from Creme Anglaise and her furniture maker-husband Jocelyn Costis. This crib is perfectly safe, it has been sanded and varnished with baby approved chemicals. It makes a very soft crib. It takes 12 days to make it and 3 weeks waiting list.
It's probably a pretty heavy crib and your baby will feel safe inside. My only concern is the price of this upcycled furniture...... 990 euros... I think that I would prefere to give it a try before buying this great concept.

A table made with shipping pallet

This week end I was amazed when I saw this table. It was in a shop that sells all kind of furniture in Baltimore: Su Casa. I couldn't resist and took few pictures. The table was not sanded but the maker added some extra wood at the edge of the table to give a clean finish. In spite of all the great furnitures sold by the shop, this is to me the best one!

Upcycling shipping pallet into a trunk (2/2)

This Saturday, I had time to finish the trunk. Keep in mind that this trunk will stay in my son's bedroom, so the blue might be a bit too much to your taste but I wanted to stay away from white or just wood. It's also the only wood staining bottle I had in my workshop...

The tools needed:
Wood screws, a drill/screwdriver, a jigsaw (or table saw), a brush.

 

The Material:

2 regular Shipping pallets.

The cost:

$1 for the screws.

$3 for the hinges.

The Result:

How to make it:

The main important step is (like the chair made from shipping pallet) to make each side of the trunk.

This is how they should look like (front and back view):

Once this is done, the most difficult is done, you just have to select and cut the length you want the pieces of wood for the front, back and bottom.

The lid is made of 2 pieces attach together with leftover from the legs. This is a flat view of the lid (seen from the bottom):

Conclusion:

The project can be done in 2 week ends. I think I can do some more upcycling on this trunk by using a rope as a handle to open the trunk. I'll post as soon as I find some rope...

Upcycling shipping pallet into a trunk (1/2)

My son, like most of the lucky kids, has a lot of toys in his room. It's a bit overwhelming. So far, we found easy solutions with Ikea:

 

But Now, I think it's time to upcycle the shipping pallets I collected recently, see my post.

My project is an old-looking trunk that is using less than 2 shipping pallets, and I will post this project in two parts, because I haven't finished it yet.

I spent 3 hours this week-end, mainly planning where each piece of wood would go because they were a bit damaged and also I had to think about very simple ways to attach everything, nothing fancy so everybody could give it a try, it's like playing Lego!

From wood selection...

...To something that looks like a trunk

I still need to attach the lid and add wood to connect the back

What I have left to do:
I have to buy hinges that will open the trunk, a good sander like this one and some white or blue wood staining to finish the trunk with an old style look.

Trick of the day:

Please don't repeat it, but you might think that using a $180 belt sander to finish an upcycling project is a bit too much. I would agree, and it's really an optional step (you might want to keep the original printing on the wood), BUT I like to test the different tools available at my tool store, and once the project will be done, I'm planning on returning it so that next time I will try a new one. That's what I like about living in the US, it's really easy to do. I have tried a lot of tools this way and sometime I keep one I really like :-)

I will post next week the final result and maybe a schematic like the one I did for the chair here, I will need my next week-end to finish it, now I announced it the pressure is on me!

A chair made from a shipping pallet (4/4)

Here it is, I could finish the chair before the week end!

It is made with less than 1 shipping pallet. I tried to make a chair with thin profile different from most of the bulky one I could find on line (see previous post). When the wood is ready to be cut, it takes around 2 hours to make it, with some training, the chair can be made in 1 hour. It's really easy and rewarding to make.

The Tools:

Jig saw, tape measurement, drill

The material:

Deck screws (1.5 inches minimum) and a shipping pallet.

 

How to make it:

The pallet I found, come with two different size of wood.

40 X 3.5 X 5/8 and 

30 X 1.5 X 3

The legs (A and B) come from 40 X 3.5 X 5/8 pieces and the piece of wood that the legs are attached to, come from 30 X 1.5 X 3 pieces.

Step 1 is to make the cut in the stud C that is around 19 inches long.

Step 2 is to cut the legs (A and B) and attache them to the stud.

Step 3 is to cut the pieces that make the seat and the back seat. Start attaching the first piece on the seat closest to the back legs. Cut one piece and screw it, then cut another one.

A regular seat should be 16 inches wide.

The Cost:

As long as you have a pallet and screws, it's pretty cheap to make .

Conclusion:

Now that I know how to make a regular chair, I think that I will try to create or replicate a fancier design. The chair is really confortable. I might be tempted in writing a full tutorial and sell the pdf online and give it for free to the followers of my website (thanks Stuart for being my first and only followers in spite of the not-so-bad traffic my blog is having).