Okay, we’ve pointed out more than our share of pallet stories. But this is cool, because it’s totally DIY, and would totally involve putting to use found/discarded pallets.
We recently recycled a shipping pallet we’ve had in storage into a versatile indoor/outdoor storage system, and we can’t wait to share how easy it to make one of your own.
You Will Need:
A shipping pallet
Crowbar
Hammer
Spray primer
Indoor/outdoor spray paint
Sandpaper or grinder
Wood filler and finishing nails (optional)
Hanging hardware
Face mask & protective gloves
The rest is here: How-Tuesday: Upcycled Pallet Shelf | The Etsy Blog
We can’t get enough pallet-ness these days, evidently.
The pallet pendant shade is made from…….you guessed it pallets. We recycle all types of pallets therefore the patina may vary from shade to shade. Each one is hand made all the way down to the elastic, of which there is a choice of colours you can pick from to make each shade fit with your home.
You, the user get the pleasure of assembling the pallet shade, but unlike most self-assembling products the pallet shade is easy and satisfying, especially when you click the final piece in place, they all come with easy to understand instructions and there’s no gluing, screwing or hammering. No tools needed.
Hand Made Recycled Wooden Pallet Hanging Lamp by FactoryTwentyOne, Via BLTD.
Oh, you know, just a floating bed made from pallets.
Maybe pair it with this hanging daybed made from a boat?
The Internet is full of ideas for ways to reuse pallet wood. We here at Unconsumption certainly have shared a good number of them. (Browse our Pinterest board here, Tumblr archive here, and/or Facebook album here for various examples, including several ideas for DIY projects.)
If pallet repurposing interests you, and you’ve been wondering how to go about disassembling pallets, here’s a brief tutorial from Old World Garden Farms that looks like it could be helpful.
I’m guessing that most of us don’t own the tool the tutorial recommends using: a reciprocating saw (a.k.a. “sawzall”) that can cut through nails. If, like me, you don’t own one, perhaps you live someplace where there’s a tool bank where you could rent such a tool, or a tool library where you could borrow one?
Special note: For reuse projects, many of us look for pallets that are made from harder wood that, if it’s been treated, was heat-treated, not chemical-treated. We mention it on Facebook here.
Another cabin constructed from pallet wood — this one’s on wheels. (And it’s a work-in-progress for Michael Janzen, but still, pallet-reuse inspiration!)
(via Tiny Free House)
More pallet repurposing: Backyard bar, anyone?
(via Ian Riley)
More pallet porn: Wine racks made from pallet wood.
Adding to our repurposed-pallet Pinterest board.
(photo via MyBrothersBarn on Etsy)
Today’s pallet porn: Wine racks made from pallet wood.
That’s three recurring Unconsumption themes — pallet-, wine-, and storage-related repurposing — all rolled into one photo!
(photo via DelHutsonDesigns on Etsy)
Thoughtful questions about pallet reuse
Recently we linked to a Core77 piece highlighting some furniture made from shipping pallets — pallet reuse being a favorite topic here.
But in a more recent item, Core77 takes note of some interesting comments on its earlier piece:
Several readers voiced various plaints about Balzer & Kuwertz’s recently-seen Pallet Chairs, but I was most convinced by Scott #2’s comment that “Pallets are reused for shipping over and over, so it’s not like you’re saving materials from the waste stream.”
According to IFCO—”the largest pallet services company in the county”—”less than 3% of the nearly 700 million pallets manufactured and repaired each year end up in landfills according to a study by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the USDA Forestry Service.”
Interesting! Although even 3% of 700 million pallets seems like a lot, and I know that in my neighborhood I see abandoned pallets all the time, objects surely more likely headed for landfill than back into the shipping system.
Your thoughts?
German designers Yanik Balzer and Max Kuwertz, who recently sent us an upcycling project in which they transformed a Euro pallet into a set of three chairs “with almost no waste of material.”
(via From Shipping to Seating: Balzer Kuwertz’s Upcycled Pallet Chairs - Core77)
Needless to say, pallet reuse is a favorite notion at Uncon, see here.
Hmmm, chairs made from crates, or pallets? (Or both?!)
(Chairs pictured made by roughsouthhome on Etsy)
