The table for the living room made ​​with pallets from Silvia

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Silvia recently decided to create a table for the living room using wooden pallets, and wanted to share it with us, next you can read the post that she sent us:

Lover of furniture design, but with few economic resources. Who has not always wanted to have the house decorated but the budget is not enough? I am a lover of decor and unfortunately still student with a little month income. So, last year, after moving for the first time to a student apartment, I had the opportunity to decorate it by myself. I have always loved crafts, and I follow several blogs of tricks and ideas for decorating your home, but I’ve never dared to get started to work.

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Why I decided to use the pallets to create furniture? This past October, I decided to buy a bike on eBay. I bought it from a French girl from Toulouse, so the transportation was a big problem at first. One of my friends advised me to use an online transport service called Movesimo, where I got the best price. I already had the pack: bike and carrier. What was the best part? I received my bike over a wooden pallet, so I saw the opportunity to put into practice everything I read on blogs like this one for a long time.

Wooden pallets are generally used for transport but with good ideas they can easily become furniture, inside your home and outdoors. The use of the wood and its handcrafted manipulation can turn a single pallet into design furniture, used for coffee tables, cabinets, beds, chairs, loungers or shelves. I decided to do a coffee table for my new student apartment.

Perhaps the most difficult part seems to make your own furniture. However, from my point of view, most of the furniture made ​​with pallets are fairly simple designs, so the DIY – Do It Yourself – is the order of the day. I decided to start the DIY experience with an easy piece of furniture: a coffee table. If you also are encouraged to try this experience, I’ll tell you the steps to facilitate you to build your future coffee table.

GET YOUR PALLET: Many companies especially in the field of construction, store pallets that are recycled or that have been returned. Although you can get them for free, most os these pallets are broken and can not support too much weight. Therefore, discard this type of pallets to build your own furniture.

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OUT CHIPS!: Remember that the pallets come from industrial uses (factories, or transported products ) and therefore is untreated timber. Even if you get a pallet in good condition, you’ll find several splinters and nails. You should sand it well to achieve a smooth and rough surface but also to remove any stains that it may have. You should also cut the nails protruding, although often you can find them crossed, twisted or bent. For a smoother surface, I use the electric sander, you can find this tool at a very affordable price at any DIY store.

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GIVE IT COLOR: The next step is my favorite: to paint it. It not only improves the aesthetic of the furniture it also helps to protect the wood.

I always have loved painting and this time I have chosen white for my coffee table, matching with the wall paint and some other furniture at the living room. You can apply any other color. Pastel colors: light blue, pastel pink, beige… are usually a good combination with the design of the pallet.

Try always to paint your furniture with a paint roller, the paint will penetrate the wood and will be correctly distributed. Also avoid to use the typical brushes off hairs.

If you don’t want to paint your furniture, you can also use wooden preservatives and varnishes. You’ll get a natural effect while protecting your furniture.

CUSTOMISE: Once the paint is dry, you may want to add accessories to your new furniture. You can place a glass surface, some legs or wheels to elevate the table, and even drawers.

I was looking for a mobile center table, so I bought some wheels to put them on the bottom of it, and now it can be moved from one place to another with ease.

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In Leroy Merlin you can find a wide variety of wheels. Finally I opted for some black wheels of 75mm diameter, made of a special glue for parquet flooring, although they were slightly more expensive, about 6 €/ud (8$) but they guarantee the protection of the wood. The assembly is very simple. Just screw in the four corners of the wheel plate and you’re ready.

Besides of being environmentally friendly, the pallets can withstand heavy loads and can be easily handled. Don’t forget that they are fairly inexpensive and also give a touch of modern and rustic style, so you can decorate your home and garden with very little money.

I hope you have enjoyed my experience, to encourage you to decorate your house without the need of spending a fortune on new furniture.

Silvia amazing work! thank you very much for your post! 🙂

Do you like this pallet coffee table for the living room? Do you want to look for more DIY pallet tables?

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