Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wood Pallet Bookshelf - a mini tutorial

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When I saw this project on Pinterest, I knew I just *had* to make it for Will's room. Luckily, my hubby was able to get his hands on a wood pallet for me. When he brought it home, our conversation went something like this:

"Here's the wood pallet you wanted for that bookshelf."
"Oh, thanks! But...it's so....new."
"Yeah, I got the best one I could find."
"I was kind of hoping for something older and more weathered. Now I'm going to have to beat it with a hammer."
"What? But I thought....I just.....never mind."

I'm pretty sure he's done trying to understand me when it comes to my crafting and DIY projects.

So I loaded my new pallet in my car and headed to my Dad's garage to borrow his tools. Or...just, ummmm, just watch him use his tools.

But in all honesty, this is a pretty basic woodworking project and if you have a saw and a drill, you can totally do it sans husband.

Some wood pallets are slightly different, but they generally look like a variation of this:

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One pallet should make four shelves. Make your cuts as shown in the picture below. Except, you know...straighter.

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Next, you'll need to measure the inside of the bottoms of your newly made shelves so that you can cut 2x4's to size and screw them in place. Otherwise, all your books will fall out the bottom of your nifty new shelf.

To finish them off, I took a little electric sander and tried to get the edges and corners as smooth as possible. Because I wasn't happy with the new wood, I took a hammer and some nails and scraped to give the wood some more character. Then, I took my can of stain and used a brush to run over the surface of the shelves one time. After each brushstroke I immediately used a rag to rub in the stain.

Then I had to wait a week for the smell to wear off before I could bring them in the house. I couldn't wait to get these things on the wall!

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I am SO pleased with how they turned out. They hold a lot more books than I excepted - each shelf holds at least 20-25 books of various sizes - and it's so easy for kids to access and put away their own books.

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I have one shelf left that I didn't use in Will's room and I think I'm going to paint it white and use it as a craft supply/coloring book/school book center in our little craft corner. The possibilities are endless! Honestly, I wouldn't mind having a set of these in my living room!

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I have pictures of all the DIY projects I did for Will's room, hopefully I'll get that posted this week. I love how it all came together, it's definitely a room he can grow into and hopefully he'll stay interested in horses and cowboys. :)

Molly

62 comments:

  1. They're so purdy! All the pallets I come across are *rustic* (read: falling apart) I would love a sparkly new-ish pallet like this one. Love what you have done with them, well done for doing a Pinterest project I have many still on my to-do list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get my pallets at the local large appliance stores... I sort thru and select... They're glad to get rid of them...

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    2. Craigslist is usually great for pallets companies are giving away.

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  2. how did you mount these? they are so cute!

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  3. I actually have one I made but they're super heavy!!! How did you mount yours??

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    Replies
    1. the pallet she used was light duty pine, some heavy duty pallets are from thicker wood and usually heavier hardwood.

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  4. I love this, I was just trying to find a bookshelf project to make for my sons room to get his books up on the wall. Great inspiration, but how did you mount them to the wall?

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  5. I'm SO excited to see this!! I picked up a pallet for another project and they had three...so now I have two more my husband keeps complaining is in the way....time to break out the saw again....Wahoo!!!

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  6. Hi i really like your bookshelf idea. I was wondering if you have any ideas on how i can take a 24x24 or larger size gazebo an make it into a daycare room so i can move it out of my home an have more room . I can be emailed to msval4715@yahoo.com thanks for any ideas

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  7. We just finished our pallet bookshelves this past weekend! http://www.simplydixon.com/2013/02/04/diy-pallet-bookshelves/

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  8. I love the stain finish but what hardware did you use to mount them? I am having trouble finding suitable hardware.

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  9. I don't see any replies back on what hardware to use too mount these shelves when finished---

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    Replies
    1. you can use drywall screws into the studs or insert anchors and screws like any other thing you mount on the wall...

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  10. Great post! Love this idea - I have been wanting a quick and easy book shelf for my girls' bedrooms!

    For those wondering about how to hang... We hung a whole pallet on the wall using this tutorial:
    http://domesticdoozie.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-hang-pallet.html

    You could use the same hardware, which is called a "French cleat" and can be found at most any hardware store. It was really easy to hang with this!

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  11. So kool!!! Awesome idea, can't wait to try this, I'm gonna look to see what other goodies you have on your page.
    Thank you so much for this great idea.
    Marty

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  12. This site shows how to mount it to the wall. http://domesticdoozie.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-hang-pallet.html

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  13. I used drywall screws and hit the studs using a whole pallet for picture and knickknack shelf.

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  14. Have ta try this

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  15. Thank you for the tutorial. I am going to see if the supermarket where I work will let me take one of the pallets. We have new and old, but the old ones are very dirty, so not really sure I would want that. And I don't know if the wood is treated, so as to ward off bugs. I will look into that some more before choosing the pallet.

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  16. Any thoughts on the toxicity of pallet wood?

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    Replies
    1. pallet wood is normally heat treated (HT) and there will be a stamp somewhere on the pallet. Avoid pallets with MB stamped on them as this is a pesticide, also avoid pallets with a thick coat of paint on (blue or pink are common) as this is normally lead based paint. Nearly all pallets are heat treated though which is fine.

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    2. Also keep in mind what the pallet has carried throughout its working life. One pallet will have carried many various products and potentially caught many spills.

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  17. If you turn it sideways you can use it as a shelf as well.

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  18. love this ! actually have a place to get pallets from!! also gonna make an herb garden on a whole one also!!

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  19. love this idea. have some pallets in the garage and a can of stain somewhere

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  20. Did I miss the section on cutting and installing bottoms so the books don't fall through?

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    Replies
    1. "Next, you'll need to measure the inside of the bottoms of your newly made shelves so that you can cut 2x4's to size and screw them in place. Otherwise, all your books will fall out the bottom of your nifty new shelf."

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  21. are these pallets (wood) treated ? I was told cannot use treated wood in side homes. ty.

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  22. we get our pallets from local Ace type hardware store. Just go sk if they have free pallets and load them up as u need.

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  23. I would find a cheap stud finder at hardware store and just put 1 and 1/2 inch wood screws through the shelves into the studs. 4 screws, two in each stud should be plenty strong for half pallet shelf and 6 for 3 studs for full pallet width. Studs are the wood frame behind your drywall running vertically floor to ceiling. Stud finder tells you where they are.

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  24. How do you reinforce for a bottom so your books won't fall through? The pallet I have won't hold anything.

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  25. What a cute bookshelf. I am sharing this on Pinterest.

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  26. WOw! Great tutorial, explained with simple steps. I have ample of reclaimed pallets in my backyard. Made a pallet bookshelf last week from this tutorial. Thanks for sharing!

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  27. I am going to build a koi pond with wooden pallets as frame and I will build resting chairs arround the koi pond so that me and my wife and daughter can sit in to graze our beautiful koi fish

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  28. very interesting, good job and thanks for sharing such a good blog.
    Beat me at Click speed Test

    ReplyDelete
  29. I know this is an old post, but I wanted to let you know I ran across your project (same pictures) on
    another blog where they didn't credit back to you, and are claiming they did the work themselves.

    https://www.99pallets.com/pallet-shelves/wooden-pallet-bookshelves-tutorial/

    They did the same thing to me about a pallet bookshelf I made, and I currently am working on getting them to take it down.

    Thought you'd want to know!

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  30. Hi there,

    Very nice post and blog, I found it very explanatory and informative, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us, we know how important is experience in our lives.

    take care and stay positive

    Your follower,

    Lisa from Concessionárias

    ReplyDelete
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  36. Wonderful concept and execution! This is a terrific concept as well, even though we had been talking about gathering Wooden Pallets to build a shelter out of them. I appreciate the information. A huge renovation and landscaping project for my backyard is now in the planning stages.

    ReplyDelete