Pallet Furniture

China cabinet made with reclaimed pallet wood

These traditional looking arm chairs made of pallet wood don’t require complicated joinery

Recycled shipping pallet furniture

This is a continuation of the previous blog post on recycled wood. A reader left a comment about the door they built from pallets and so I thought a post about pallet furniture would be interesting. Many don’t realize how countless thousands of pallets are discarded every day. Some pallets are made with strong wood such as oak. With enough patience and care, this free resource can be turned into functional furniture, shelving and other items.

So where do you find wood shipping pallets? Some stores may not give them away because they reuse them over and over until they’re damaged beyond repair. But some stores have a surplus and will gladly let you haul truckloads away. The best source we found was a roofing supply company. Once the shingles were sold, there were loads of leftover pallets. We hauled them off and built animal pens, and cut them up for firewood with a sawzall. The pens were strong enough to contain horses and goats, and the pallets burned great because the wood was hard and dry.

Image source: Green Eco Services
Image source: Sun Ministries, Inc.
Image source: Design Squish