The act of “upcycling” is taking something old and transforming it into something new, like turning a pair of rain boots into a planter or gluing a bunch of wine corks together to make a cork board.
The reigning queen of upcycling is the Mason jar. You can turn this pretty, little jar used for canning into a lot of cool things — even a nifty (and thrifty!) chandelier.
Yet, there's still something even more versatile for upcycling: wooden pallets.
And why shouldn’t it be? Pallets seem to be everywhere, just sitting there on the street, looking to be loved before it’s trashed. And people are making all kinds of cool things from pallets like coffee tables, poolside bars, and even gorgeously rustic wine racks.
Reddit user slapyogrannyndacreek is one of these clever pallet artistes who knows how to take some unwanted wood and flip it into something that I want in my bedroom right now. Just look at how stunning this piece is…
Please SHARE if you love this amazing project!
After the snow melted from last winter, he noticed there were tons of leftover pallets everywhere from the salt trucks.
He collected them and pulled the pallets apart, which he warns is “actually pretty tough to do without breaking the boards.” So if you attempt this, do it gingerly.
Next, he filled his truck with pallet that ranged from 40" by 48–60" in size.
Most of the boards were covered in rusty nails, which he thought “gave the wood some cool colors and stains.” He pulled them all out.
Then he sanded the edges of the boards slightly to remove splinters and snags.
The wood was then stained.
Each piece was specifically cut in order to make a frame.
Once the frame was screwed together, he began laying out and spacing the front slats.
Slats were then attached to the back for support and electrical socket framing.
The whole piece was then re-stained.
Next it was mounted. It looks pretty nice so far, right? Next comes the best part.
LED strip lighting was installed on the back of the piece.
Glass shelves were also added.
The end result was a pallet headboard for a bed with glass shelves and LED lighting.
So, when the lights are off, it glows.
Not too shabby for something that was made out of abandoned wood!
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