Building a pallet shelf – simple and individual
- Difficultyeasy
- Cost8-15 £
- Duration2–4 hours
Introduction
Every room needs a decorative and sturdy shelf, whether it’s in the kitchen to store spices, in the garage to store tools or in the living room to store books. We’ll show you how easy it is to build your own individual DIY pallet shelf in our upcycling project.
Take a look at the ‘Planning and background knowledge’ section, where we’ve also compiled a number of handy tips on building a DIY pallet shelf to make sure that your project is a complete success.
Have you heard about our 18-volt system yet? It offers a huge variety of devices for many different applications. The thing that makes the project below so special is that you can use the same rechargeable battery for every part of this project. Simply swap out the battery pack, insert it into a different device that’s part of the 18-volt system and move on to the next step.
Pay attention to occupational health and safety every step of the way to protect yourself and your health. You’ll find all the important information you need to know in our overview of Safety precautions for DIY projects.
Step-by-step pallet shelf project
Dismantling the pallet
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You have do the work first before you can do the fun part. First, you have to disassemble the pallet for your shelf – and that’s not an easy task. After all, there’s a reason why pallets are so sturdy. Use a hammer and a crowbar to disassemble the pallet board by board (image 1). Some nails don’t want to be levered out. In that case, you can try to drive it through the board with a pin punch (image 2).
Drawing the pattern and sawing the boards
Think about a shape for the back of your shelf. To help you, you can also draw the pattern on a piece of paper first. When you are happy with it, place the pallet boards together and transfer the shape to the boards (image 1). Secure your workpieces with G-clamps and cut them to size with a jigsaw (image 2). You can find out how to make straight cuts with a jigsaw in a separate article.
Screwing the boards together and sanding them
Lay the boards next to each other and carefully screw two slats on to them (image 1). Once you’ve done that, you should sand the rough woods of the pallets so they’re smooth and even on the front. It’s best to finish the surfaces and the sawn edges with a random orbit sander (image 2).
Building the shelves
All you need now to complete your unit are the shelves themselves – two of them, in fact. You can also build them from the pallet boards, including the end pieces. Saw them to fit your design. Then, sand them and screw them together.
Marking the position of the shelf and drilling the holes
Place the two shelves from step 4 on the back wall and mark all around them (image 1). This will make sure your markings for the positions of the drill holes are centred (image 2). You can use these holes to screw the shelves in from behind later.
Helpful hint: The more screws, the more sturdy the shelf – so don’t skimp on drilling holes.
Adding the finishing touches to the shelf
Have you thought about a nice colour? Or maybe even several? Then let off some steam and decorate the back wall of your shelf however you like (image 1). We recommend using the cordless paint spray system if you want to give the shelf an even coat of paint over a large area. Check out our paint spray guide to find out more.
The last step (after the paint has dried) is to screw the shelves together from behind (image 3). Position them over the drill holes and clamp them with G-clamps (image 2). Is everything screwed together nice and tightly? Then put it on the wall! Make sure that the wall plugs and screws are sufficiently stable for mounting your shelf to the wall.
Are you happy with your sturdy pallet shelf, but still need a classy eye-catcher for your bathroom that also keeps things tidy? Then see how you can make a bathroom shelf using glass canning (Mason) jars. Depending on what you want to store, our DIY upcycling shelf made of plate holders offers flexibility, and the previously unused corners of your home can be made beautiful and practical with the DIY corner shelf.
We hope you have lots of fun working on this project.
Planning and background knowledge for the pallet shelf
You can learn how to build a shelf using pallets in our step-by-step guide. But how do you mount a pallet shelf to the wall and how can you design the wood to fit and enhance your interior design? And what are the special features of different models, for example, an outdoor shelf? You’ll find some useful tips for your DIY pallet shelf in this section.
Building with pallets – general tips and tricks
Old pallets give you the opportunity to bring a whole range of DIY upcycling projects to life and build creative pallet furniture. There are a few things to keep in mind when working with pallets. Pallet wood is usually quite roughly processed. To avoid hurting yourself on the rough wood, sand the pallet or individual pallet components with a suitable sander before continuing to work with them.
We use a random orbital sander for the project in our step-by-step guide, but a multi-sander or a delta sander is also just as good for smaller and angled parts. Start with a coarse 50- or 80-grain sheet and then switch to a finer sandpaper with 150–200 grain.
Pallets are also quite heavy. If you decide to buy new pallets instead of used ones, you should be very clear about the delivery costs if you cannot collect them yourself.
New, ready-made pallets cost between €15 and €50, depending on the pre-treatment, while used pallets are sometimes even available for free. It’s work taking a look at your local classifieds. But watch out: if the wood is discoloured with a bluish tint, this might be an indication that the wood is infested with fungus.It’s best not to use pallets like this for furniture.
How do I mount a shelf made using EUR pallets?
There are several methods for mounting a DIY pallet shelf to the wall. You can also opt for ‘floating’ brackets, in addition to the traditional wall plugs or brackets. You sink the brackets into the wall and the wood so that they are not visible from the outside and the shelf appears to ‘float’ on the wall. This method is particularly suitable for thicker shelving boards. So if you’re working with the blocks on your pallet, it might be the right one.
If you are building a large pallet shelf that is going to stand freely rather than be hung, think about anchoring it to the wall so that it cannot topple over. Brackets are often the best choice for this.
Speaking of large shelves, find out how to build a shelf from an old frame-and-panel door or a room divider from fruit crates. Or how about a DIY ladder shelf?
Having a continuous shelf back and small wooden strips at the front edge of the shelves are especially practical for preventing things from falling out of your pallet shelf.
Should I paint or varnish my pallet shelf?
You have a lot of options available to you in terms of designing the look of your DIY pallet shelf. You can match the colour to your interior or add accents – using your choice of acrylic paint or a varnish is good for this. Acrylic paint is opaque, while a varnish will maintain the natural look of the wood and highlight the wood grain. Alternatively, you can also use wood oil or wood wax. If your shelf is going to be used indoors, always make sure that the paint is suitable indoor use and is not hazardous to your health.
What other design options are there for pallet shelves?
On top of choosing what colour you want it to be, you have a plethora of other design options for your EUR pallet shelf. You can create a vintage look, for example, by scarfing with a blowtorch with a suitable cartridge. Use this to singe the wood of the pallet shelf as evenly as possible. Always make sure to scarf in the direction of the grain. The result will be lighter or darker depending on how long you scarf it for and at what distance you hold the blowtorch.
If you want your pallet shelf to be free-standing later, you can enhance one or more of the shelf walls with motifs, logos or lettering. But you can also apply these idea to a wall-mounted or hanging shelf, too.
Apply photos or other motifs as follows. Print out the desired motif on normal copy paper. Then, coat the picture and wood generously with glue, preferably a special photo transfer glue. Next, place the paper with the motif facing down on the wood and smooth it out. Leave to dry overnight and the next day moisten the paper and rub it off carefully.
You can also use the blowtorch we mentioned earlier to create logo and lettering. However, a template, stencil or stamp will do the trick if you feel that you don’t possess the necessary artistic flair.
You can also give your DIY pallet shelf that certain something with lighting, for instance, by attaching an LED strip to the rear end of the shelves.
What kind of shelves can I build using pallets?
The simple answer is: just about all of them. Taking your EUR pallets apart, as we do in our step-by-step guide, will provide you with the material you’ll need for all kinds of shelving. You should pay attention to different special features when building it, depending on the purpose for which you want to use your pallet shelf. Here are a few shelf ideas for indoors and outdoors:
Bathroom pallet shelf
The bathroom can often get damp and water can splash, so we recommend waterproofing the pallets for your shelf with a suitable varnish beforehand. Our other step-by-step guides will show you how to make a minimalist bathroom shelf or even a storage cabinet with mirror for the bathroom.
Kitchen pallet shelf
You will find an individual kitchen pallet shelf in our step-by-step guide. You can also attach a few matching hooks to the underside of the shelves and hang your favourite mugs from them. And perhaps you’re still in search of somewhere to put your herbs and spices? Then find out how to build a DIY herb shelf in just a few simple steps.
Pallet spice rack
Create a practical spice rack by adding more boards and small slats to the front of the shelves to the pallet shelf from our step-by-step guide.
Pallet rack for shoes
You can use a whole pallet to create a shoe rack. Start by sanding them it and then neaten it up with varnish, oil or wax. Next, place the pallet upright on its long side. The ‘top’ of the pallet forms the back wall of the shoe rack and you put your shoes in the spaces at the ‘bottom’. As an alternative to the pallet shelf, take a look at how you can make a shoe rack from silicone strips or a boot rack for outside.
Plant shelf made from EUR pallets
A EUR pallet can also be converted into a plant shelf. As with the shoe rack and other variants, you again use the underside of the pallet. You can place small flower pots on different levels or even create beds by adding a few more boards and suitable foils. A DIY privacy screen made from pallets is also perfect for planting.
Wine rack or bookcase made from pallets
No matter what your passion is, a sawn-through EUR pallet is the perfect storage space for wine bottles, books or magazines. Attach a board to the underside so that nothing can fall through.
More ideas for pallet furniture
We love pallets! Check out our other step-by-step guides to find out how to build a DIY garden bar from pallets, a pallet bed for kids or a table from pallets – these are just some of our ideas.