Many years ago – around the time when I brought my first very small human home to live with me – I swore to myself that I would break the habit of dragging other people’s trash into my home and using it to decorate…but…I mean, does dragging other people’s trash into my yard count?
I think not.
I therefore have permitted myself to begin developing an obsession with old pallets that rivals The Great Mason Jar Obsession Of 2010-13.
So when I saw a decently-intact pallet leaning on a dumpster outside of TJ Maxx the other day, what did I do? Asked them if I could have it, of course. (“Asking” might be an overstatement: what I actually did was sort of skulk around the dumpster for awhile, trying to figure out if it was actually trash, then drive away, and then return the next day, skulk some more, ultimately decide that the thing would be much more useful in my backyard than leaning against a dumpster outside of TJ Maxx, and drag it into my trunk.) (I have also just discovered – thanks to my research into pallets for this post – that some stores reuse their pallets for returns, and so you shouldn’t just take them, even if you do see them leaning up against dumpsters. Basically, I *may* have stolen a pallet from TJ Maxx, and I may also now be confessing to my crime on the Internet, where the confession will live in perpetuity. I advise you to do neither of those things yourself.) (Also I’m sorry, TJ Maxx. I spent a lot of money at your stores, if that helps…?)
Anyway, here’s what I did with my ill-gotten pallet: Used it to conceal some very ugly pool equipment in our backyard (the plan is to eventually transform it into a sort of vertical garden effect like this).
If you scroll down, you’ll find 20 extremely cool ways to use pallets that mean you’ll probably find me doing a lot more dumpster-skulking in the future, but perhaps not of the potentially-illegal sort. (The “Shop Now” button next to each image will take you to where you’ll find the DIY, because that’s how my site is set up and I don’t know how to adjust that because I’m not a coder, and so there you go.)
P.S. How to know if pallet wood is safe? There are no guarantees when you’re working with upcycled material, but while some pallets are used to carry, say, more wood, other pallets are used to carry, say, jugs of pesticide. Don’t snag your pallets from a yard supply shop, K? Also avoid any pallet wood that smells, looks oily or stained, or has too many twisty, scary-looking nails embedded in the wood. In short: if it doesn’t look great to you for any reason, skip it. There are plenty of pallets out there in the world.
