So, you have extra pallets in your country house. Perhaps a few years ago it was on these pallets that bricks were brought to you for the construction of your new home, and since then they wander aimlessly from one corner of the yard to another, interfering with you and getting under your feet. Or perhaps you just bought a summer cottage and found several unnecessary pallets left by previous owners in the barn. Anyway, you asked the question "What can be made of pallets?" Of course, you can just break them into firewood, but we want to offer you some extraordinary ideas, armed with which, you can make beautiful and practical things from pallets for a summer residence, which will delight you and surprise your guests.
Parameters and features of wooden pallets
The first and quite logical question that any summer resident may have is - where to get those same wooden pallets? Firstly, they can already aimlessly be stored in the shed since the time when some kind of cargo was delivered to the site, because the main purpose of the pallets is to transport various kinds of building materials. Secondly, they can be inherited from the previous owners of the summer cottage. In the end, if you were inspired by some ideas and you certainly want to build something for your summer cottage or home, it is not difficult to get wooden pallets - any more or less large hardware store gives them for a penny. If you consider that you can make full-fledged furniture from them or even build a gazebo, then the investment is more than worth it. Enterprising summer residents can try to contact construction companies directly and collect unnecessary pallets from them for free - they will be happy to give them away so as not to dispose of themselves.
Pallets have been created for convenient movement of goods using forklifts, pallet trucks and other lifting devices. There is no single standard for pallets, but the most widespread are the so-called. Euro pallets with dimensions 120 * 80 cm and a side height of 14.5 cm. The flooring is made of 22 mm thick boards, the distance between them should not exceed 5 cm. The carrying capacity of the Euro pallet is 1500 kg. Pallets with parameters are also used 120 * 100cm and a height of 14.4 cm (domestic standard). For flooring, seven boards of different widths (14.5 and 10 cm) are used, the distance between them is no more than 4.5 cm, and the carrying capacity is up to 2500 kg.
Used, as a rule, inexpensive wood species without a pronounced pattern, but strong enough: Pine, less often spruce, aspen and birch... The elements are fastened with brushed or screw nails, there are pallets on nine legs. Pallets are characterized by excellent geometry, high quality, durability and, most importantly, environmental friendliness. This is an affordable and cheap material that can be easily processed, especially since it is not difficult to create structures from ready-made modules.
Reanimate pallets, extend their life and protect yourself and your household from splinters easy enough. All irregularities can be smoothed out with a plane, the surface can be treated with a grinder, cracks can be putty, surfaces can be treated with a primer and wood protective compounds. After that, the pallet can be painted in the desired color and the result can be fixed with varnish.There are a lot of possible options for what can be made from wooden pallets - they are limited only by imagination, because literally everything is created from them: from shelves and coffee tables to gazebos, flooring and sheds.
Where can I get pallets?
Wood pallets are used as packaging material by various shipping companies. Such products have high strength, which is their main advantage. After using the pallet, its strength indicator decreases due to the load that was provided by the transported material. Re-use of pallets is not possible, so they are simply disposed of. Where can I get these wooden products? There are three options:
Pallet
- find material at the nearest construction site;
- buy used products;
- contact the pallet operator directly and ask for used items.
Note! The cost of used pallets varies from 30 to 150 rubles. for 1 pc. You can find such ads on city construction-related sites. Simple and functional furniture for summer cottages can be made from such material.
In addition, the pallet can be made independently, however, the advisability of such a solution is extremely small. If you nevertheless decide to assemble a wooden substrate, then you will need to purchase the following materials: boards (15 mm), beams with a cross section of 60 mm.
# 1. Pallet coffee table
Most often, wooden pallets are acquired a second life in the form of garden furniture. Even the most inattentive could notice that decent cafes often organize summer grounds using pallet furniture: this stylish, eco-friendly, comfortable, cheap and fast. The pallet table is the easiest to make. To do this, you need two pallets, which are installed on top of each other and fastened with nails, while you have impromptu shelves for storing magazines and other trifles. You can do with one pallet - it all depends on the requirements for the height of the future table.
It remains to paint a new piece of garden interior and equip countertop, which can be glass or a sheet of moisture-resistant plywood. For ease of movement, you can equip the table with wheels. Manufacturing will take a minimum of time, and painting in pleasant shades will allow you to get a stylish table, a real decoration of the site, worthy of a cozy coastal cafe. By the way, the finished product can be safely used even in the living room as a coffee table.
Pallet in the hallway
Let's go back to the house. We will not go into the living room, but stand with a pallet in the hallway. There is also a place for the pallet in the corridor. If you put it on the end with wooden slats parallel to the floor, it will make a wonderful shoe rack. No additional mounts are required for the improvised stand. A sneaker or boot sticks its toe into the gap between the slats (if the surface is solid, the extra pieces of wood are simply "amputated") and hangs quietly. An extra pallet left? Hang it on the wall, attach hooks for clothes and hats ... and the hallway interior needs only the finishing touch in the form of decor and a rug.
And if you disassemble the pallet into "ingredients", you get just a wonderful constructor for assembling environmentally friendly and aesthetic furniture and all sorts of useful structures: a wonderful toy house for a kid, not a toy house for a dog, a bed for a cat and a box for seedlings, a staircase to the mezzanine and flooring for the attic, a tennis table and ... what does your fantasy think about this?
# 2. Benches, armchairs and pallet sofas
In addition to the table, you can make comfortable sofas, armchairs and benches from wooden pallets. The bench is constructed in this way:
- divide one standard and pre-prepared pallet into two parts, so that one of them is with 4 boards (future seat), and the second with 3 (back);
- combine the received parts at right angles and fasten with self-tapping screws or screws, you can use double fastening;
- for a more reliable connection of the back and the seat, wooden blocks are used, which can be taken from a disassembled second pallet or you can use boards available on the farm. They will also act as armrests. It is better to fasten two bars on each side, connecting the back and the seat, the length of the bars depends on the angle of inclination;
- four legs can be cut out of the remaining boards. It is better that they are as wide as possible, but low in height, which will increase the stability of the bench. The legs are attached to the bottom of the pallet, you can additionally strengthen the fastening with a corner;
- in the end, you can cut decorative elements on the back, then cover the bench with varnish or paint of the required shade and decorate with pillows. The latter can be bought, made to order, or sewn on your own.
Similarly, you can equip corner bench or separate small chair... It is easy to equip a cozy seating area from the made benches, armchairs and a table in the garden.
Easy to create from pallets and sofas absolutely any size and configuration (straight, angular, U-shaped). To do this, you will need to sequentially fasten a number of pallets to each other in order to obtain a workpiece of the required length and shape. A second row of pallets is attached at the top to achieve a comfortable seating height. The back is attached to the finished structure. Self-tapping screws and screws are used as fasteners. The blank is painted and decorated with pillows.
Number 3. Hanging beds made of pallets
If there is a suitable place in the garden or on the terrace, then you can fix a cozy hanging bed there. Its base is made from two standard pallets, which are carefully fastened to each other. To securely fix the mattress, you can build a special box and use the third pallet that remains unused for this. The height of the board will correspond to the thickness of the mattress. If desired, the remaining planks and beams can be used to construct the headboard. To support the canopy of such a bed, along with the rest on it, you will need strong chains or ropes, and reliable support.
No. 4. Multi-storey bed for a summer cinema
Those who keep up with the times and use the dacha not only for growing vegetables and fruit crops, know that you can organize your vacation outside the city with the help of a projector, a few good films and a company of friends. You can equip a cozy place for watching a movie using pallets. To create a three-tier bed, you will need 12 pallets: the base is knocked down and 6 pallets, and the height of the first tier will be equal to the height of one pallet. To equip the second floor, a pallet is attached to the central part of the base. The third floor will require sequential fastening of two more layers of pallets. It remains to paint the structure and decorate with pillows. By the way, a similar solution useful for organizing a home theater in a room.
No. 5. Wooden pallet bed
A pallet bed is, at first glance, a rather bold solution, which, nevertheless, has already begun to be used in country houses, in summer cottages and even in ordinary city apartments. You can arrange pallets as you like, depending on what requirements are put forward for the bed. The height is regulated by the number of pallets stacked on top of each other, the presence or absence of legs, wheels, etc. The width and length of the berth are also easy to adjust. Optionally from the same pallets you can make the headboard of the bed.
If the wooden base turned out to be significantly larger than the mattress, it can be used as an impromptu podium or bench for legs.The holes that are formed during the installation of one tier of pallets on another are used to store bedding, books, magazines, or to organize built-in lighting. Pallets are durable material, so there is no need to worry about the reliability of the berth - it is better to pay attention to the choice of a comfortable ergonomic mattress.
No. 6. Pallet bar
This idea will come in handy for those who are used to spending time actively in the country, throwing noisy parties. To create your own bar counter right on the site, you will need several pallets (the number depends on the required dimensions) and a little patience. The base is assembled from 2-3 pallets, which are placed vertically and fastened together. The side walls are also equipped by attaching pallets, but it is better to make the tabletop from thicker and wider boards. The structure is decorated and buried in the ground for fixing, supplemented with chairs if necessary. It is worth remembering that the length of a standard pallet is 1.2 m, so the height of the bar is limited.
General information
What pallets can be used for
Products made from pallets for a summer cottage can be divided into two large groups, namely decorative and practical. The latter include various crafts that can be useful for everyday life, for example, it can be a bench made of wooden pallets, on which several people can sit at the same time. But the decorative items include products that are required to decorate a suburban area or house. For example, it can be a great fence for a flower garden. Such products do not have a protective function, but they will become a wonderful decoration.
Assembling a pallet made of wood at a summer cottage
It will not be difficult to assemble a wood pallet at a summer cottage. To do this, you may need a certain number of planks, a planer, uneven bars, a saw, sandpaper, a hammer, nails, pliers, or a nailer. The standard dimensions of the pallet in accordance with GOST are 1.2 * 0.8 * 0.14 meters.
But these data are not so fundamental for manual assembly, as they can go down or even up. The main thing is that the structure as a whole is flat, and there are no protrusions of the boards. To design a pallet at the dacha, you will need to prepare 11 boards. Eight of them should be 1.2 * 0.14 meters long, and the rest of the boards should be 0.8 meters long and 0.14 wide. The thickness should be at least 1 cm, and it is desirable that it be the same everywhere. In addition to the boards, you will need 9 pieces of 0.14 * 0.14 * 0.1 meter.
Next, you need to fit all the bars and boards to one desired size, get rid of irregularities and chips, and if necessary, even paint in advance. Then you can start assembling the pallet. Next, take one of those smaller boards in your hands and make 5 notches on it so that they can divide it into equal segments. In such places, you should drive the ends of five long boards end-to-end with nails. They will be the very front side of the pallet, and two more small boards need to be nailed to the other end and middle of the long ones. All protruding nails should be removed with a hammer directly inside the structure.
Next, let's move on to the next stage, namely, to attach the wooden blocks. They should be placed evenly on small boards, in the middle and at the corners. At the end, three small boards should be nailed from the bottom of the beams, parallel to the top three. On this, a do-it-yourself wooden pallet will be ready and it can be used for any products in the summer cottage. Use such a blank for any ideas, and then you will be able to create wonderful crafts.
Interestingly, wood pallets may be required precisely at those moments when they are not on the site.Instead of buying or looking for the required product, you can make it yourself from the materials that are available. This is done quite simply due to the lightweight design of the pallet. A few cuts, measurements, a hammer and nails will be enough. Making a pallet with your own hands will help you save a certain amount of money.
# 7. Pallet flooring
Wooden pallets will make an excellent terrace or decking for those parts of the suburban area where the soil is loose or impassable. Such a solution will cost much less than a traditional plank floor, and with proper protection and care, it will serve a lot. Installation should not cause difficulties, however, you will have to prepare the required number of pallets, and you will need a lot of them.
First, you need to put the pallets in the area that they are supposed to cover. Then you need to carefully level the surface using a building level. Bricks, boards, wedges or debris can be placed under the pallets. Often, the base for pallets is covered with bulk materials. In order for the platform to be solid, individual pallets are connected to each other using planks, which are inserted into the gap between the individual pallets and are attached with self-tapping screws. Now it's up to the little: to treat the wood with protective substances, paint or varnish. If desired, you can cover the flooring with boards from above, using pallets as a pre-fabricated frame.
No. 8. Floor in outbuildings
Wooden pallets can also be used as flooring in cellars, basements, sheds, storerooms, storehouses and chicken coops... They provide insulation from the cold concrete floor, ventilation and dryness of the floor. The floor is set up in the same way as the flooring on the terrace, only in some cases an additional floor may be needed. For example, in a winter poultry house, it will not be superfluous to lay a fine steel mesh on top so that the animals do not fall into the cells. In sheds and cellars, you can lay a board.
No. 9. Pallet hanger
Another interesting pallet craft is a hanger, which can be a decoration for a country house or even an ordinary apartment. To create it, you need the base of the pallet (flooring), so the sides must be carefully removed. Do not rush to throw away the leftovers - they may still be needed. The base is thoroughly sanded, treated with protective agents and painted in the required shade. It remains to attach several hooks to it: their number and location relative to each other depends on your needs. The finished hanger is attached to the wall near the front door.
How to choose the right pallet
This is one of the most important issues, since the quality of future furniture from pallets depends on it. There are several types of such pallets, they differ in quality, density, dimensions and stamps. An excellent option would be to purchase material with a EUR or EPAL verification level. They can be easily distinguished from others by the presence of special stamps with these abbreviations.
The highest quality pallets are produced in the USA and Canada. In these countries, high quality wood is used, which cannot be said about other state governments. They can add mixes or tyrsu, which reduces the shelf life of the pallet. In addition, the USA and Canada leave special markings on their products, which can be an interesting decoration. They are used once, after which they are sent to the warehouse, and are resold to jellies cheaper than in hardware stores. How is it profitable for them? For them, this is garbage, which, if not sold, will be thrown away.
No. 10. Chaise lounge from pallets
Many people equip the recreation area in the country with sun loungers: ready-made ones are sold in the store in an assortment, but if you have unnecessary pallets, you can do everything yourself. To equip one sun lounger, you will need 3 pallets: two identical and one slightly wider.The first two are placed on top of each other and proceed to disassemble the third pallet, which will serve as a back. All the lower boards are given from it, as well as the bars at the back and front of the pallet, and half of the boards from the upper row, all the work is carried out neatly, because the waste of this stage will still come in handy.
The back is attached to the base, legs made from the boards remaining at the previous stage are attached to it. Now you can fasten the rest of the elements together, paint the chaise longue and supplement it with pillows.
In the garden and in the country
Most often, garden furniture is made from pallets: wood, even painted, harmonizes well with living greens. On pallets are wood species, resistant to decay; after biocidal and hydrophobic impregnation under painting / varnishing, such furniture serves in the open air for years. A cheap biocide and at the same time a water repellent for outdoor furniture made of pallets is used engine oil. Oil, alkyd and nitro varnishes and paints are firmly adhered to wood impregnated with waste. If the product will be painted / varnished with acrylic compounds, then the wood should be impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion. It will cost a little more, but medical sanitation and ecology are ideal.
Country and garden furniture from pallets
A useful hanger-rack for a summer residence can be obtained by simply hanging a sanded painted pallet on the wall, pos. 1 in fig. By the way, you also need to be able to grind "hairy" pallets, see below, in the technological sections. If you add 2-3 100mm card loops to the same solid pallet, a couple of hooks in the wall, 2 pieces of rope or chain, and a window bolt as a latch, instead of a tool hanger, a folding work table will come out. It is very convenient to tinker with seedlings, soil mixtures and pot crops on this: the scattered falls down, and does not clog the work surface.
Another option is to also put a one-piece pallet upright and secure with L-shaped pins. Pallets are designed for weights of many hundreds of kg, and 3-4 concrete blocks that make up the table top, left over from the paving of the path, are not a load for them. But we have a compact work table that can turn into a bar on the street without changes, pos. 2. Well, it happens, with the instruction ...
Country furniture made of pallets for gazebos and verandas, pos. 3 and 4, most likely, will require already disassembling pallets (see below) to obtain moldings: long materials - boards, beams, plinths, moldings. Tables, chairs, stools are already made in a completely carpentry way, because furniture made from solid pallets or parts thereof is rather bulky. However, making a table or stool with your own hands is not difficult, if the material is good, but it turns out to be enough from pallets. What is technologically more complicated (sofa, bench) made in traditional ways is also cumbersome; in this case, pallets will allow an inexperienced beginner to obtain a quality product, similar to garden furniture.
The sitting corner in the garden is the perfect place for pallet furniture. Its dimensions and weight are not as important here as the endurance of the pallets. It is technologically possible to make furniture from pallets for a garden in different ways (pos. 5-8), but in any case, the problem of tilting the back arises, for which see a separate section below. If the back is straight, then comfort is achieved by pillows that need to be carried / carried in and saved from the rain.
Note: pay attention to pos. 5, not everything is so simple there. Namely, the armrests of the sofa. It is no more difficult to find a vessel with a drink in such a niche than on an armrest, but it is almost impossible to accidentally dump it down.
Finally, it is worth working on a complete disassembly of 2-3 pallets to make a picnic set: a table with benches. It can be in the gazebo, pergola and outdoors. You can move the picnic corner together or even alone: the weight of the finished structure will not exceed 25-30 kg.What a 4-seater picnic table with benches looks like is shown on the left in fig; drawings of its support frames are given in the same place on the right. The length of the table top and benches is standard for Euro pallets, 120 cm. By connecting a pair of pallets for the table top, as described below, it can be increased to 240 cm, and the capacity of the product up to 8 persons without adding support frames. Connections of legs with crossbeams - through M8 bolts.
Appearance and drawings of a picnic table or gazebo made of pallets
About the backrest tilt from the pallet
The backrests of pallet furniture, such as those on the left and center in the top row in the figure, turn out to be fragile. In the first case, steel screws in the fasteners work in shear and gradually tear the tree. In the second, it happens even faster, because the ratio of the lever arms when reclining is large. The same circumstance applies if the backrest tilt is obtained by sawing off a part of the seat tray with an excess (orange arrow at the top right). The fastener (yellow arrow in the same place) now works in tension, but the turning lever is still long and the screws are gradually climbing back.
The design of the back is quite reliable, shown on the left below. Here 2 thick trees (pieces of timber) abut against each other and work in compression, which the timber holds well. In the same way (work in compression), you can strengthen products that are more openwork (in the center below) or more loaded (on the right below) by placing spacers or support posts. For a chaise longue made of pallets, it is better to make them adjustable by completing the nodes shown by blue arrows, hinged on bolts and cutting holes in the lower supporting frame for the heels of the swivel struts.
Note: however, it is also possible to achieve the desired overall strength of pallet furniture using tensile stiffeners. See eg. below is a master class on making a sofa from pallets. In this case, these are the armrests.
No. 11. Shoe rack
Pallets can make a simple shoe rack for a summer residence. It is enough to cut one pallet into two parts, set them on top of each other and fasten them securely: in the area that the shelf will take, it will be possible to place three times more shoes than before, and if you take the time to decorate such a shoe rack, it will become a decoration of the country house. house.
Bedroom
In the bedroom, creative dreams will be dreamed on a pallet bed. We promise! A large double bed will require eight pallets and a comfortable mattress. Easy, simple and fast.
Having disassembled the pallets into components, you can construct an original bed from the resulting boards. Use the transport boxes for storing things and bedding.
The pallet can be put in place of the headboard. And with this to kill two more birds with one stone - a shelf on top and a place for fixing lamps.
No. 12. Fence from pallets
Wooden fences were and remain classics, therefore they are always popular when fencing a summer cottage. The pallet is the same tree, only it will be even easier to equip the fence, because several boards have actually been knocked together. The construction of such a fence resembles a designer.
Pallets will be stacked vertically, if necessary in two rows, if a higher fence is required. Supports will be metal pipes, which are installed in recesses and poured with concrete. The pallets are attached to the supports, the upper edge can be cut out figuratively, and the entire structure can be painted and, if desired, decorated with flower pots. If you have the skills to install hinges, then it is not a problem to make a wicket from the pallet. If necessary, such a fence can be duplicated with a chain-link mesh or polycarbonate sheets.
No. 13. Gazebo and outbuildings from pallets
The precise geometry of wooden pallets allows them to be used in the construction of simple structures.From pallets it is easy to get a building of a square or rectangular shape of any size. According to the same principle, gazebos, sheds, chicken coops, small summer houses and even pet booths - decor and design features depend on personal preference and imagination.
Foundation for more or less large structures will be needed in any case, but which one depends on the type of soil. For areas located on clay soils, it is better to use a foundation on piles, for stony soils - a strip foundation. The floor of the building can be made of decking or pallets themselves. As a frame, you can use wooden blocks or metal pipes, pallets in one or two layers will be attached to them.
You can cover all the walls of the gazebo with pallets, or you can make them only up to a certain height - in any case, the space inside will be filled with light and sufficiently ventilated. The gazebo roof is best made of polycarbonate, among the alternatives are flexible shingles, ondulin and metal shingles.
If we sew up the walls inside, for example, with plywood, we get full-fledged summer house, which from the outside can be decorated with plants and flowers, because the pots will be conveniently placed in the pockets formed. If such a building is sheathed outside with siding, then no one will ever guess about the peculiarities of its origin, and you can use the building for recreation, storing country equipment or for other purposes. Similarly, on the site you can build a barn, woodshed, chicken coop, dog booth or a small house for children, which will become the center of the playground in the country.
Decor
As you already understood, you can build anything from pallets! Wall shelves are no longer a surprise, but what about a Scandinavian-style Christmas tree?
Stylish cube-shaped cabinets can be confused with cool designer furniture, although they are also made from simple pallets. They can also act as stools or your pet's favorite place.
Even ladders are made from pallets! Of course, such a design requires a lot of space and special attention to fastening, but how impressive it looks!
In conclusion, I would like to add - do not be afraid to be creative! Of course, such solutions are not for everyone. But if you are full of creative energy, love to change and change the world around you - now you know how to easily and budget to bring individuality into your interior! And hand-made furniture in your own home is definitely a reason for pride. A pleasant and dear to heart and eye occasion.
And 9 more ideas for crafts from pallets (pallets)
Wooden pallets contain unlimited potential for creating various useful things for a summer cottage and a city apartment. Here's another some interesting options for what can be made from wooden pallets:
- vertical gardening of the site. The pallet can become the basis for hanging pots and containers with flowers;
- shelf for flowers and garden tools;
- interesting lamp;
- wardrobe or chest of drawers - you only need to correctly position the pallets, and there are a lot of options to do this;
- sandbox fencing;
- bedside table or TV stand;
- bicycle parking;
- a cozy place for a pet;
- even a staircase in an apartment can be arranged if pallets are sequentially stacked on top of each other and fixed well.
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And the list does not end there: with a little thought and using your imagination, you can make other stylish and convenient crafts from pallets.
Tags: Landscaping
Kitchen
Pallets come in handy here too.
For a high dining table, you will need additional bars or special legs. The dining table is most susceptible to wear and tear - it is often wiped clean, drinks are accidentally spilled on it, and food is stained.Therefore, it definitely needs to be sanded and painted or put on top of a protective glass.
The kitchen unit itself can also be made from pallets and boxes. Wall shelves, with or without hooks, will store utensils and essential cooking tools. And spices will always be at hand.
An original solution will be a wine storage rack. If you are a connoisseur of this "drink of the gods", we hasten to inform you that a standard bottle of wine fits between the boards of the pallet.
