Pallet Storage Bench/Coffee Table Tutorial

Isn't that a catchy title?  Ok, not so much.  I am a little brain sluggish after spending the day in Jellystone, something I am lucky enough to experience usually at least once a year.  It was a crowded, hot day, but still fun and amazing to see, even if it was my 25th plus time.  And yes, Old Faithful is still here and still erupting every 90 minutes or so.

I will say, as is typical for me, I had no plan when making this bench and after making this once, I would do things differently, but here is a tutorial on how I made this one.

I started with 4 "legs" cut from bunk bed posts I found in an alley garbage.

I then figured out what sized boards I needed by laying them out.   These are all pallet boards and yep, that is bird poop on there--I sanded a little of it off, but painted over it too--texture!

I then painted the boards.

Next I cut some 2x4 type boards that are also from pallets.   I cut the thinner, painted pallet boards into pieces, at least 2 of the 3 for the sides.  I screwed these to the 2x4 pieces, leaving room for the legs on the ends.

I screwed the legs on which created 2 panel pieces.

I then added end pieces to make a box.

Now here is where those 2x4 pieces probably could have been done differently, as well as the bottom, but what I did was added pieces to create the bottom of the box.  I screwed the bottom boards into the 2x4's first, which was very secure, but then that made it so I had to find or cut the right width pieces for the rest of it.  I screwed those in from the sides. 

Lastly, I added a plywood top. This piece of ply was screwed to one of the pallets I picked up.  I hinged it on and waxed it with dark wax. 

 

(Hmm, I need a pedicure.)  Even though the construction wasn't perfect, I was happy with the finished product and so was the sweet college girl who bought it.