Wooden pallets are everywhere and we seldom give them a second thought. No wonder, when according to Timcon over 1.5 billion wooden pallets are produced around the globe each year – happily, mostly from managed forests.
The past few years have seen a massive boom in keen upcyclers and DIYers sourcing discarded pallets from their local shops, and turning them into a quite simply mind-bogglingly brilliant range of furniture. Check out this link for some inspirational examples. It's easy, green, inexpensive, practical and immensely satisfying!
Two free pallet projects
If you saw Issue 3 of The Simple Things, you may remember our piece about designer Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama, who believes strongly in "questioning our resourcefulness and our attitudes towards waste" and "re-using the existing", both ideas that are very close to our hearts. Nina's work includes the Pallet Project, a range of furniture made from our discarded wooden friends – from a chandelier and lights, to stools, chairs, kitchens and a children's playhouse!
Nina's kindly allowed us to make two of her illustrated, step-by-step project booklets available for you to download for free, and we think they're an ideal way to kickstart your pallet upcycling skills. Just imagine using the Outside Kitchen in your garden on a beautiful Spring day, and enjoying a chatty lunch with friends while perched on a Pallet Stool!
To download the project booklets as PDF documents, simply click on the links below:
You can purchase PDFs of how to build Nina's other pallet-based projects from the Studiomama online shop.
Where to source pallets
Our pasta-making pal Ian Robson, who's no stranger when it comes to pallet-based DIY projects, suggests that your local superstore, book shops, electrical retailers are good sources for salvaging wooden pallets– but do ask first! You could also check out your local Freecycle group and Gumtree for pallet supplies to power your projects.
If you've made any pallet-based furniture, then do post a picture on our Facebook page, we'd love to see them! Likewise, if you've any ideas of other places where you can salvage wooden pallets, do leave a comment below...
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