Pallet Love!

I absolutely LOVE pallets!  The wooden, usually grungy, beat up load lifters that keep the products of the world in their spaces during transit.  I have a whole Pinterest Board dedicated to pallet love! They are a monster sometimes to break down, but they are worth it.  I build all kinds of things with them for the greenhouse, garden and even the house!

The above photo shows one of the grungier pallets that I made into a table/bench for the greenhouse so the small tomato plants would reach the light.  Once they were tall enough they go down onto the floor and I use that pallet table for something else, or put other plants on it!

You may have seen the pallet potato bins that I have featured on the blog before - just like above.  This is a new one on the farm this year - Yukon Golds are loving it.

This is the other half of the greenhouse pallet - in a different spot to get light for the plants and this one was designed a little higher so the solar system batteries can live under neath it - they arent there - stop looking - but eventually batteries will live under there and power the fan and the heater!  I WILL have a year round greenhouse!

Freshly planted Yukon Gold potatoes!  Yum!

But this - this beautiful wooden (pine it appears to be) pallet, is my piece de resistance!

This pallet was part of a crate that the skate sharpener for the local Rec Center came in.  It had walls made out of pressboard and two by fours lumber.  Nothing special really - I had asked the Rec Center manager if I could have it to build raised beds for the garden and was told that if I hauled it off right away I could have it!  When the crate was broken down, there on the bottom was this beautiful pallet!

I had a hard time finding the right project for this pallet - I have had it for a little over a year now I think - and I was dreading cutting it up even - it is just beautiful.  But then my brother in law built a new deck and got a new barbque - and an idea was born!  

 The above photo shows the table top for my brothers table.  It has been lightly sanded and the legs are 4x4's from the dunnage that our casing comes on.  It came together super sturdy and it won't go anywhere in a heavy wind (which my brothers area get all the time).  He has a color scheme of gray and black for his house but I couldn't bear to cover it with a coat of paint!  I used galvanized decking screws to hook it all together so they will weather with the table.

 Finished project!  I used a double coat of urethane on the tops and sides to bring out that wood grain and to protect it from weather and spills!  The one in the back is for my brother in law and the taller on in front I kept for our porch near our barbecue - we have a cooler that will fit right under there and we need some table top space for a prep/cook area where our barbecue sits.  They can be used as a table or as a bench and really turned out beautifully!  I could not have been happier with the result.

Imagine all the things you can do with pallets - keep your eye out for them - Pinterest has lots of ideas and Craigslist has lots of pallets (sometimes even free - you haul)!  Dont pass on one that is a little dirty or grungy - they clean up right nice with a little sanding - and if they don't then you can paint!  Have fun with your own version of Pallet Love!