Probably since Sylvie was born I've wanted to build her one of those small bookshelves made out of a pallet. You know... those ones you always see on the Pinterest. Well this morning I was telling Seth all about it and he's like "We have a pallet behind the shed you know." WHA?! Turns out my dad gave us a pallet to use as firewood and Seth hadn't gotten around to chopping it up yet. SCORE!
So, I spent the next hour and a half sawing, sanding, and painting. I am now the proud new owner of a pallet bookshelf! Or Sylvie is. It's the perfect size to fit into her small room and I can hang her nice books out of reach so she can't tear them apart. Let's just hope I sanded it well enough that she doesn't get a hand full of splinters.
Just a short note on the actual execution of this project. It was really pretty easy, although all pallets are not created equal. The pallet I had to work with only had one section that was usable as a bookshelf because most of the boards were broken or splitting or were reinforced by extra pieces of wood that would have been too time consuming to remove. The section I ended up using wasn't perfect but I figured it's supposed to look rustic, so it was alright. I used a reciprocating saw to cut my pallet apart but a jigsaw would be preferable as it makes a little more accurate cuts. But, again, I figured it was going to look rustic so I did it the lazy way and eyeballed all the cuts and didn't sweat it when they were a bit crooked. The tutorial I used said you could reuse the nails removed, but me and nails don't get along so I just used some wood screws to put the bottom piece (removed from another section of the pallet with a pry bar) on. Luckily, we also had an orbital sander and some sanding disks left over from refinishing our wood floor so that made the sanding part way easier. Sanding by hand sucks. Also, since I used a different section of the pallet (and I probably did it wrong), there was a bit of a gap at the bottom of my bookshelf. Hopefully all the books don't fall out. But, I figure I can always doctor it up with a ribbon or something if I have to, right?
At any rate, I call this a win. I pinned something on Pinterest and actually made it and it worked. So there.
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5 comments:
It looks awesome Karen. We'll done!
It looks awesome Karen. We'll done!
Ribbons..Bah! What you need is decorative duct tape. It goes better with the whole sanding sawing rustic theme. JK. What a talented daughter I have. Nice job.
sweet, I have that in my "to do when I feel creative" list as well. Also wanted to point out that I love the bench in the corner!! I know who made it too, spooky isn't it? In fact I have a personal relationship with the creator! He'll be pleased that it is being put to such great use (I hope It really is one from my Dad...or I'll feel really stupid.)
Lol... yes Ashley... that is one of your Dad's benches.
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