How to Make Pallet Furniture (Step-by-step Guide)

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Step 1 – Work on Bench Seat and Back
Steps 2 – Work on the Legs
Steps 3 – Attach The Legs
Steps 4 – Attach Armrests
Steps 5 – Paint it

In a world where environmental concerns are growing with every passing day and the human race moves towards uncertainty, it is now the time to act and save the planet from turning into a landfill. Thankfully awareness of upcycling and repurposing is on the rise.

More people are joining this green movement and recycling household objects instead of sending it to a landfill forcing the future generations to suffer. If you are looking for inspiration on repurposing goods that you have sent to the landfill in the past pallet furniture should immediately come to your mind.

Think of that pallet that has been lying in your garage or yard and you can easily turn them into beautiful pieces of furniture for your garden or home without much effort.

One of the areas of the home where pallet furniture would be a great addition is the conservatory. If you are planning to add a conservatory to your home you can save yourself precious money by decorating it with pallet furniture instead of buying expensive pieces from a store nearby or placing orders online.

In fact, this is one of the best ways of decorating a conservatory on a budget. Search online and you will come across dozens of inspirations.

Pallet furniture is perfect for your conservatory as you don’t want to clutter the space with normal conservatory dining furniture. Space looks best when it is spacious and with all the large windows around and lots of conservatory plants you will be able to create a space that takes you close to nature.

If you are wondering how to make pallet furniture and how to get started with the process here in this detailed guide we shall look at the basics of making pallet furniture and also discuss furniture ideas that would be perfect for your conservatory or your garden. Let’s get started:

Before you start…

If you haven’t been into DIY projects in the past you’d be apprehensive about how to build pallet furniture.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a DIY enthusiast to make pallet furniture at home. Don’t worry about the tools either as you won’t need expensive power tools for the project. Simple hand tools along with a few power tools that you have at home should hold you good.

While you can build all types of pallet furniture depending on your creativity and level of expertise for this guide we shall keep it easy and build a simple bench which you can place in your conservatory or have it in your garden.

There are different types of pallets that you will find all around but we suggest you opt for rot-resistant oak or a similar variety of wood as this will last for a long time. Choose pallets that have at least ½ inch thick slat as this will ensure any larger users won’t fall through!

For this DIY project here are the things you will need –

Sturdy and rot-resistant pallet (48-inch x 42-inch)
Pressure-treated 2x4s 8 feet long
2 ½ inch star-headed (Torx) screws

Apart from this, you will require the following tools for this project –

Circular saw or a reciprocating (Handsaw is also good enough)
Hammer
Power screw-gun
Nails
Nail-pulling crowbar
Carpenter’s Square
Marker Pen
Measuring Tape

Step 1 – Work on Bench Seat and Back

You will find pallets in different sizes but for this project, we suggest you opt for 48-inch x 42-inch pallet. This will allow you to build a bench that is comfortable to sit on. Make sure there are no broken or rotting slats as this might affect the strength of the bench.

Here we shall have the back seat 17 inches tall as this is the ideal height and allow you to place your cushions.

Measure 17 inches on the pallet with a measuring tape and mark it. As professionals would say –measure twice to make sure you cut once. Repeat the markings from both ends along the width of the pallets.

Next, you need to cut along those marks carefully with a circular saw or any other type of saw you are using. If you are using a handsaw you need to be extra careful not to twist the blade to ensure a clean cut.

Now you will have two pieces from the palette one for the bench back and slightly longer one for the bench seat. Next, you need to remove the slat along the freshly cut side of the bench seat.

You can easily do it with a nail-pulling crowbar and the crowbar. This is important to ensure the bench and the back seamlessly aligns when you put them together.

Carefully install the bench back over it. If you got your cuts smooth in the first step the bench back will sit over the back without any support.

Next, you must secure this bond by hammering in a few nails in a 45° angle starting with the cross members of the bench back. This will hold them together. Don’t worry about the firmness of this bond as we shall fix this in Step 3.

Steps 2 – Work on the Legs

This is one of the most important steps of the project as the strength of the bench and those sitting over it would rest on the legs.

Take the 8 feet 2×4 that you have and carefully mark to cut them into four 21 ¾ inch legs. You can’t afford to make an error in your measurement or else you may end up with a rocking bench which you surely don’t want.

Steps 3 – Attach The Legs

In this step, you need to raise the bench seat on blocks of wood. The idea here is to have the seat’s rear 8 inches above the ground and the front about 10 ½ inches from the ground.

This isn’t a convention and you can work according to your own liking. Try and place the blocks of wood accordingly beneath the bench to raise it to the desired level.

Next, you start with one of the legs and make sure it is perfectly aligned with the ground. Fasten the legs with the bench using the 2 ½ inch Torx screws using a power screw gun.

You need to run four screws along the bench seat and bench back portion for the rear leg. Apart from fastening the legs with the bench this will also help in fastening the two sections of the bench.

Use the measuring tape again to ensure the bench sits exactly 8 inches above the ground. If you have made an error you need to stick with it for the other end of the bench. Repeat the same process for the other end and the rear legs are fastened.

Now you need to attach the front legs and here you measure 10 ½ inch clearance from the ground or any other measurement you like and repeat the above process with four screws securing the legs to the bench seat.

Along with this. you need to drill in two more screws on each side along the cross member as this will give additional strength to the front leg.

Steps 4 – Attach Armrests

Your bench isn’t complete without an armrest, is it? Now, if you are wondering what you will make the armrest with, remember the pallet slat that we pulled out from the bench seat. You can use this.

Take a measurement from the two ends of the front and rear legs and cut two equal pieces out of the slat. Next, you need to take the Carpenter’s Square and mark an angle and cut it with your saw. This portion would be fastened along the rear leg of the bench.

Attach each of these arms to the legs using two screws each on both the ends.

You now have a proper bench!

Steps 5 – Paint It

This step is optional as pallet furniture looks best in their rustic form and after all the hard work you might just want to leave as it is in your conservatory.

Adding a coat of varnish will retain the natural texture of the wood and at the same time offer it a good finish.

However, if you are planning to install it in your garden where it will be exposed to the elements it is a must-do step as you will be able to prevent it from rotting. Go for your favourite colour and express your style.

Pallet Garden Furniture Ideas

We have already seen how you can make a garden bench using a pallet. Once you have achieved this you will surely want to explore several other furniture ideas with pallets.

You will need to find the right size pallets and make use of the tools we have mentioned above.

For small garden furniture, you may not even need to use a drill or Torx screws as nails can be used to fasten them.

When it comes to pallet garden furniture there are dozens of options you can explore. So here are some of the best pallet garden furniture ideas that you can try out –

Garden Bar – If you have always wanted to have a garden bar, turn your pallets into one! All you need is five pieces of pallets. Fasten the four pallets along with the cross member on the edges using nails or screws. Fix the fifth pallet with nails or screws along the cross members of the bottom section and you have your garden bar ready.

Vertical Planter – These are perhaps the easiest to build and if you never took up a DIY project in the past, this can be one to get started with. Upend a small-sized pallet and fasten a piece of slat using a few nails. Put some topsoil in there and plant your favourite herbs. You can place this inside your conservatory during the harsh winters and enjoy round the year supply of herbs to experiment with your culinary skills.

Hard Top Table – Align three layers of pallets one over the other and go on fastening each layer using screws or a quality adhesive rated for wood. You can top this up with ½ inch wooden planks at the top to make it sturdy.

Pallet Swing – This one is pretty easy and all that you must do is pick up a small piece of the pallet and cut it into two pieces as we did for the garden bench. Fasten the two prices using screws to create a sturdy seat. Suspend the seat using high-quality ropes from a strong branch of a tree in your garden. Add in some cushions and you have the perfect piece of garden furniture to relax and unwind.

Corner Sofa – As you go along building pallet furniture, you will also add to your level of expertise. Next, you can take up a corner sofa project. The steps here would be similar to the ones we used to build the garden bench.

The only difference being instead of attaching additional legs you can stack a few layers of pallets to build one.

To sum up, adding pallet furniture to your conservatory would be one of the best ways to repurposing old pallets lying around in your home.

This would be your small step towards contributing to preserving the planet. Now that you know the steps and techniques on how to make pallet patio furniture or those that would make it to your conservatory, you might be interested in adding to the look and feel in your conservatory.

Install conservatory log burners as they would fit into the rustic feel that you’d like to create inside. There are several fruits you can grow in a conservatory apart from the ornamental plants that add to the beauty of the space. Sit on the pallet furniture you have created and enjoy the scenery outside.