DIY Pallet Coffee Table

Pallets. They’re everywhere and you can pretty much make anything with them! I had a couple just chillin’ by themselves, waiting to be used for the longest time. Eric was getting tired of looking at them, I was procrastinating any & every project I thought to do with them. Recently though, I found myself in a bit of a bind. I had sold off our coffee and end table a few weeks ago and didn’t realize how much of a staple in our living room it had become until it was gone! It was exactly the kick in the a// that I needed.

So one night after the kids were in bed, Eric had gone out fishing and I found myself in the garage breaking down pallets to make a coffee table.

Here’s what I used for this project:

• 2 pallets, broken down
• 1/2 sheet of plywood measuring 2′ x 3’8″
• Brad Nailer
• Carpenter’s Glue
• Compound Mitre Saw
• Table Saw
• Skil saw (pretty much every saw we had actually)
• Minwax Stain – Classic Grey
• Minwax Stain – Provencial
• Minwax Polyurethane
• 1 4×4 post

Using the table saw I ripped 4 of the 2×4’s  that were a part of the pallet frame in half. I framed out the bottom of my piece of plywood with these strips, securing them with screws.

Once the bottom was framed out I flipped the board over, and measured out where the middle would be. I drew a line to help guide me with placing my boards. I set a 45 degree angle on my mitre saw & used this to cut my pallet boards, making sure that the angle of both ends were going in the same direction. I placed them on the plywood, not yet securing them, until I had enough boards cut. I ended up having boards in different widths so I played around with different patterns until I found one I liked.

I stacked my boards in the order that I would be laying them out and found my centre, width-wise on the plywood and used that as  a starting point for securing my boards. I put some glue down the length of the board, set it in place and then secured it down further with my brad nailer. I put a nail on both ends as well as one in the centre of the boards. There was no way I was having anything pop up because it wasn’t secured down tight! I kept going until I reached both ends. There was some overhang on either end, but they were easily trimmed off with the skilsaw.

I sanded the top of the boards down to get rid of some of the grit and grome. I really wanted a rustic look and feel to the table though, so I didn’t go too crazy with the sanding.

I used the Classic Grey & randomly put it on a few of the boards. Our living room couch is grey and we have a lot of cool neutral tones so I wanted the color of the table to pick up on that and tie in with everything else that was in the room. When that had dried, I went over the whole table with Provencial.

What about the edges though, right? I took some of the leftover pallet boards to my dad’s house and had him plan them out for the so that they would look uniform and around the table. I was short on the long sides, so I cut out a smaller piece and fit it in. I secured the border with wood glue and the brad nailer. The best thing about using the brad nailer was that I did not feel like I had to fill any holes as they were so inconspicuous!

2 coats of Provencial and we were ready for some legs. I had my heart set on having a steel u-shaped leg to help give it a more industrial look. We headed out to the scrap metal pile at the farm and were able to find some pieces, then I waited. And waited. And waited a little longer. Eric is a welder so I didn’t want to rush him because he was on shift at the time but I dropped a few hints here and there, even going so far as to ask him to teach me the basics of welding so that I could maybe make the legs myself! Didn’t happen though. I got tired of waiting and opted instead to use a 4×4 post for the legs. I had an 8′ long post that I was able to cut 4 16″ lengths off of. I played around a bit, first setting the legs on the inside of the frame, and then on top and then ultimately decided that I would notch the legs out and have them rest on top of the frame on the long side. Here’s what that looked like.

  

  Any other person probably would have put the legs on the frame prior to the attaching the top boards, but because of the whole leg situation we had, it didn’t happen. We used 2 L brackets and some 2.5 screw to secure each leg under the table. A couple of coats of the same stain, Provencial and we were ready to seal it all up! I glossed it up with 2 coats of Poly and let it dry overnight before bringing the table into the house.

Honestly, my opinion may be biased, but it’s PERFECT! It’s the perfect fit for our living room. The best part of it all though, it was virtually FREE to build. The only thing I had to buy was the 4×4 post for the legs, everything else I had on hand or picked up for free (the pallets). Pretty deadly, eh!

How cute are those owl canisters though?!!
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