Wooden Pallet DIY Projects That Steal The Upcycling Show

Monica Gray - April 15, 2023

There’s nothing that feels as good as finishing a DIY project, especially one that takes us a while to finish. Looking at that piece reminds us of all our hard work and creativity. There’s a chance you have several wooden pallets lying around your home. These are wonderful tools you can use and repurpose to make something beautiful for your home. With a little bit of elbow grease and paint, you’ll have new decorations and furniture in no time.

The great thing about wooden pallets is that you can leave them as they are, or paint them for a brighter, newer look. If you find wooden pallets on the side of the road, it’s important to inspect the board before picking it up. Make sure it’s not doused in harmful chemicals and is free from oil. The IPPC stamp is an important thing to look for, which indicates there are no harmful chemicals. If you see a wooden pallet with the MB or SF stamp, which means it has chemicals that may harm your furniture.

A Decorative Wall Map

Take a look at all those gorgeous wooden panels! This map was made from recycled boards and tracing paper. All you need is a black permanent marker to put the design on the map. It’s easy and is a free decoration that’ll add a bit of rustic charm to your home. It’s sure to give you wanderlust at the same time. Keep the colors neutral, so you can hang them anywhere. It’ll match your other furniture and pieces in your home. All it takes is a little bit of patience (Pinterest).

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Rustic Bookshelf

If you have tons of pictures, books, and other decorations lying around in your home, it’s time to move them and give them their own home. You can easily put together a beautiful bookcase using wooden pallets, screws, a drill, wood glue, a tape measure, a saw, and a hammer. Have safety glasses on hand when you’re using the drill and saw. If you need any extra pallets, keep them handy. Using different-sized boxes will also add to its aesthetic (Jen Woodhouse).

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DIY Lemonade Stand

You and your kids will love this DIY lemonade stand, especially in the summertime. Wooden pallets are great building materials for lemonade stands, and if you have them lying around, it won’t cost you anything but a little bit of your time. Attach a flat board on either side of the pallets to give it a storefront and a place to hang a sign. Once you’re finished building it, you and your kids can paint it. Once it’s all set, bring it out to your front yard with a jug of lemonade and get selling (Pinterest).

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Pallet Headboard For Your Bed

Get creative and let out your rustic-chic personality with a pallet bed headboard. If you have two pallets lying around, pressure washes them and then let them dry. Attach them to your bedframe using the appropriate nails and tools. Leave it unfinished to give it an earthy, rustic feel, and let your pillows and bedspread speak for themselves. The simpler the boards are, the more they will pop against your other colors and patterns in the room. If you have several smaller boards, you can layer them on top of each other in two columns (Instructables).

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Use Pallet Boards For An Accent Wall

You wouldn’t want to cover every wall in your house with pallet boards. As charming as they are, it can become too overwhelming. If you want to add an accent wall to your home, then wooden pallet boards are your best friends. It’ll be a great focal point for your home, and you can add other refurbished furniture in front of it. To get varied, washed looks, wet the boards with water and bleach and leave them outside. Take them in one by one, and leave some out in the sun for longer than others. The sun will stain the boards with varying levels of color (A Piece Of Rainbow).

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DIY Coffee Table For Your Living Room

There’s no need to run to the store to buy a coffee table when you can make one yourself at home using wooden pallets. You can angle the boards so you have different patterns on top. Chevron is one in particular that works well with coffee tables. Make sure you clear-coat the wood so it becomes a non-absorbant surface, otherwise, any spill may ruin your table (Homedit).

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Wooden Paneled Herb Garden Wall

There’s nothing like growing your herbs and using them in your home-cooked dishes. It’s a feeling of achievement that’s unmatchable. Shopping at the grocery store will never provide the same feelings of achievement. But you can also grow your herbs on a wall you built yourself. It’s like a two-for-one project! Mount panels to the backside of your home, and add plastic potting trays. Paint the names of the herbs so you can differentiate between them as they’re growing. It’s an easy weekend project that provides wonderful results and gives your herbs a new home (Pinterest).

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Garden Potting Bench

It doesn’t take much to achieve this gorgeous potting bench for your yard. Grab two wooden pallets and a coat of colorful paint, and it turns into a functional potting bench. Once you nail the pallets together, paint certain areas of the bench to make it pop against the wood. After the paint dries, you can add whichever potted plants you want. The more colorful your flowers, the more they’ll stand out in your yard (Pinterest).

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Halloween Decorations

Halloween just got a lot more interesting, thanks to wooden pallets! If you use your imagination, you can build quirky yard decorations. Take this Jack-o-Lantern, for example. This is a piece you’ll have year after year. Make a five-sided box using the pallets, and then paint on a face. This is also a fun project you can do with your kids right before Halloween. It’s better than having a rotting pumpkin in your yard (Pinterest).

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Hide Your Radiator

You’re probably one of many people who can’t stand the sight of their radiator. It’s costly to remove, even though it’s something that takes away from the atmosphere. Luckily, there’s another solution to that. If you can’t get rid of it, hide it! The most affordable radiator cover is a wooden pallet. Knock off the sides of the panel with a hammer, clean it, and then place it in front of your unused radiator. (Make sure your radiator is not on while the wooden pallet cover is being used, as this can be a fire hazard.) You can also add picture frames and other decorations to the top so it can double as a refurbished table (Ideal Home).

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Raise Your Garden Bed

Upcycle old wooden pallets and make a raised planter bed. Place it on wheels so you can roll it around your yard throughout the day, to the spots that get the most sun. To make the box, take four pieces of wood and place four strips on the ground longways, and then another four until you’ve built a wall. Secure them together with nails until you have a tall garden bed (Kellogg Garden).

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Custom Planter Boxes

Using different colored paints or stained wood, you can create your very own custom planter box. This looks beautiful outside in your yard, and with tons of flowers and plants blooming from the boxes, you’ll have your very own customized yard decoration. They’ll also last for years on end, so you won’t have to worry about replacing them. They’re small enough that you can move them around your yard with minimal effort. It’s a great alternative if your backyard is too small for a garden wall (Pinterest).

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Living Room Sectional Sofa

Break up your living room sofa into sections using an ingenious hack, of wooden pallets. This is a great way to make extra legroom for you and your family, especially if you’re all constantly arguing over who gets the couch. A double layer of wooden pallets forms the base. You only have to spend money on the pillows and mats you place on top. Every time you sit on that sofa, you can relax into the knowledge of knowing you saved tons of money building your sectional sofa. One of the best parts is you can store things like books and other items underneath the sofa (Pinterest).

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Room Decorations For Your Kids

Your kids will love this one as much as you will! This is a fun weekend project for you and your family who want to get your hands dirty with paint. Grab your wooden panels, secure them together with a hammer and nails, and start painting! You can use a stencil to outline any decoration you want to add to the front. Whether your kid has a Batman-themed room or a princess-themed room, this is where you have a lot of leeway with creativity. They also make wonderful birthday and holiday presents (Houzz).

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Brighten Up Your Porch With A Coffee Table

Building a coffee table for your porch is slightly different than for your living room. With your porch coffee table, you have a little bit more freedom with the colors and style you want to use, as you likely aren’t trying to match all your furniture to a certain aesthetic. Looking at a brightly colored coffee table you made yourself will surely make your day. Use stacked pellets and casters to make a coffee table that’s the perfect size for a seating area. Be careful not to make it too high, otherwise, it will look strange in your space. Choose whichever paint pops in your space, and add some throw pillows and other decorations to the couches surrounding it for an added touch. To take it to another level, you can carve out the center of the pallet and turn it into a stylish planter with rocks and colorful flowers, and plants (Pinterest).

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Coffee Mug Holder

Your coffee mugs need a home, too! Imagine waking up every morning and seeing your mugs hanging peacefully on a wooden pallet board you built yourself. That cup of coffee is well deserved! This takes about a day to build. All you need is to cut a wooden pallet to a smaller size, add hooks for the mugs, and then sand and paint it however you’d like. Leave the wood exposed for a captivating, eye-drawing piece in your kitchen, or paint it white for a more neutral, bohemian look (Crafty Chica).

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Create A Menu Board

Next time you invite friends and family over, you’ll want to impress them with this menu board. Your friends will love reading off this chalkboard menu board, hinting at the delicious dishes you have for them during your next birthday, engagement, or wedding event. You can wash the chalk right off and use it again for your next big outing. To get started, you’ll need to sand the wood to make it smooth and prepped for painting. Paint the pallet in whichever color you’d like, though darker colors are better for white chalk. Once that dries, you can add your menu items in a fun and cursive handwriting (HGTV).

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Rustic Shed Storage

If you don’t have proper garden tool storage, it’s likely your tools are lying all around your yard. Luckily, it’s an easy fix with wooden pallets. You can easily cut them to size and build a small storage unit housing your tools that fits perfectly next to your garage. This will keep your tools separate from the other things in your yard. Add a lock to the door for added safety and to keep the tools away from your kids. You’ll also have a cute little storage unit that you can paint and decorate however you’d like (Pinterest).

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Wooden Pallet Wall Clock

There’s nothing like telling the time with a wooden wall clock you made yourself! Piece together small parts of wooden pallets. Then, stencil on the numbers. This is where you can choose to have only four numbers on the clock, or all twelve. Sand the pallet and numbers afterward to give it a weathered look, and then add the clock mechanism. This is much cheaper than purchasing one at the store, and you have a full reign of creativity (Home Talk).

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Table Centerpiece

Put some personality into your dining room table with a wooden pallet centerpiece. This is a creative, inventive piece that can hold salt, pepper, spices, candles, napkins, and utensils. It’s a quick and easy afternoon project that will surprise your friends. Paint it white for a chic look, or leave the wood exposed for a more rustic look. All you need are three wide-set wooden pallets, and then finish it off however you like. You can take apart the wooden pallet so it’s hollow, and then add whatever you’d like inside (Easy Pallet Ideas).

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Build A Doghouse

Your dog will love these wooden pallets as much as you do. Why not make them something special? Stain the pallets dark brown to match the earthy tones of your backyard. This is a more involved project, as you’ll need to add weatherproofing sealant, scrap sheet metal for the roof, and exterior-grade silicone. You’ll want a home in which your dog can relax, no matter the weather. To build the house, you’ll start with the base, add the raised boundaries around the base, and create the roof’s design (DIY Craftsy).

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Build A Reading Nook For Your Child

Just as you want to build your dog something special, build your child something special. A reading nook might just be the thing their cozy room needs to make it complete. You only need several pallets and rolling casters for this project. Make sure the surface is smoothed out, and fill any holes in the wood with wood filler. Sand sway anything sticking out that might give them a splinter, and remove any extra staples. Place blankets, cushions, and pillows on top for added coziness (Recyclart).

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Build A Home For Your Wine

Your wine bottles need a home, too! There’s nothing better than looking at your collection of wine bottles from a pallet shelf you built yourself. It’s important to make sure the rack is sturdy enough for the weight of the wine bottles. You’ll have to measure out the appropriate curves and space for the bottles and stems of glasses. Install it in your living room or kitchen for easy access during parties and romantic dinners (Pinterest).

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Build A Bed Frame

Bedframes can cost up to a few thousand dollars. Luckily, you can save these costs and build your own using wooden pallets. The pallets are durable and can hold hundreds of pounds. You’ll have to reorganize the pallets to create a frame the size of your mattress, but with minimal effort, you’ll have something that will last a lifetime. For the more creative, you can even build a bed frame without any nails or screws (Pinterest).

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Build A Game Of Corn Hole

Summertime calls for fun, and outdoor games. Buying all these games can be costly, which is where wooden pallets come in. You can easily up-cyle wooden pallets to make a game of corn hole. Simply disassemble the pallets and rearrange them to build new frames. Make sure the holes are big enough for the bean bags to fall through and there are no rough patches on the board, and then start painting! Once it’s dry, let the competitions begin (Lehman Lane).

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Build A Winter Sled

You don’t have to dread the chilly winter nights any longer. It just means you’ll have time for tons of DIY projects, including winter sleds. Grab pieces of shipping pallets and install aluminum into the bottom of the board for easy movement on snow. If you want to go all out, stain the wood bright red and add jingle bells. Joy is calling with your pallet sled, and your kids will love the holiday spirit. At the first sight of snow, it’s time to get building (1001 Pallets).

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Build A Fun Chair

Now that you’ve built your pallet coffee table, it’s time to build a chair to match. This chair is bursting with its character and will pair well with your brightly colored coffee table. Put your twist on outdoor furniture. Once you have the structure built using a saw, crowbar, hammer, tape measure, and marker, you can use whatever pillows and cushions you think best suit your yard’s personality. In this case, this person used real coffee bean sacks as pillows. You could take it a step further and use real flour sacks, or other quirky material you might find lying around or at a local shop (RK Black).

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Advent Tree

Christmas is on its way. Santa will be happy to see this project! You can easily build your very own Advent Tree before the holidays even begin. This is a great gift to give your friends and family at holiday parties. If you want this in your home, you can hang gifts and small trinkets from the tree to get your kids excited about Christmas. Another idea is to add tiny numbered structures on the tree, indicating the day of the month, with a small hole inside. Have your kids move a Santa doll from one number to the next, counting down the days until Christmas (Shelterness).

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Message Board

It’s hard to keep up with so many different schedules, especially as your kids get older. That’s why it’s important to stay as organized as possible and to stay on top of your and your kids’ lives. With a message board, you can easily hang schedules, tasks, chores, and important events that you and your family need to see. There’s no need to stress out about remembering your child’s soccer match or ballerina recital, this message board will cover all the organization for you (Pinterest).

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Sustainable Compost Bin

Wooden pallets are the perfect material for compost bins. They allow the compost material to breathe and keep the organic matter contained in one box. You don’t need to be a farmer to have a compost box, you can turn the compost material into feed for your plants. This is an environmental way to feed your plants, reduce waste, and limit the number of chemicals you have in your home. To start, you’ll need four pallets of equal size. Make sure the pallets have the logo IPPC or EPAL, which means it doesn’t have harmful material that may leak into your compost (Grow Veg).

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Room Divider

If you need a little bit of privacy in your home, this wooden pallet room divider is your lifesaver. Let’s say you have an office space in your living room, but it’s completely exposed to your couch and TV area. You can make a private room using wooden pallets. You’ll only need four pallets secured together to make this divider, which reaches toward your ceiling. Better yet, you can add binder clips and post-its to the structure to make it a family space with photos, reminders, and paintings (Pinterest).

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DIY Succulent Garden

Upcycle your old tables for a DIY succulent garden you can put in your backyard. You’ll need a few pallet boards, screws, and face nails. Once you build the structure, clear-coat them and start adding your succulents. Ashley, from Mountain Crest Gardens, created her succulent garden. She said, “I used ground or weed cloth and stapled it to the back and on the inside. I then filled the pallet with soil and cut holes for the plants. Then, once the plants were in I watered the whole thing. Now, we will have to wait at least a month to hang it, so that the succulents can root.” Eventually, your succulent garden will be sprawled with beautiful, vibrant plants (Mountain Crest Gardens).

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Wooden Pallet Kitchen Backsplash

This one will get your friends talking. If something is missing in your kitchen but you can’t quite put your finger on it, then a wooden pallet backsplash might be your answer. Spiff up your kitchen with a few panels of raw, exposed wood. To keep the pallet boards protected against moisture, you can seal the boards. If you love the look, you might want to have the exposed wood across your entire counter (Home Talk).

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Build A DIY Outdoor Swing

It’s time to put your favorite backyard tree to use! Build an outdoor swing using leftover pallet wood you have in your garage. All you need is the wood, screws, a drill, a saw, durable strings to throw over the branch of the tree, and a comfortable mattress. A little bit of material goes a long way. Once you layer the pallets together, attach the strings. You can decorate the swing however you’d like, and add weatherproof blankets, cushions, and pillows. Your weekend morning coffee just got a whole lot cozier (Homedit).

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