Pallet and Scrap Wood Ottoman/Game Table

Oh my goodness! I have projects going all over the house right now. Thanks to the puppy, who seems to have some beaver in her genes, we have had to completely redo our entire house. Gone are the days of nice furniture, at least for now.  The puppy has managed to eat, chew on or otherwise destroy quite a few items, including walls!  Hopefully, she will outgrow this phase in a year or two.  In the meantime, we will be living with funky, cheap and free furniture.

As an example, our "new" ottoman. Well, more specifically this is an ottoman, storage bin and game table combination.  It is amazing what one can do with a couple of free pallets. Okay, maybe not amazing, but fun and funky.

This project cost less than $30 which is right up my frugally-minded alley. It consists of two pallets, scrap 2x4 pieces of lumber, scrap plywood sheeting, baseboard trim, screws and swivel casters. The bulk of the expense happens to be in the casters. The pallets, lumber, paint, and plywood were freebies from various sources. It is amazing what you can find on the side of the road, Craigslist postings, the local landfill or the Home Depot culled lumber bin.

Assembly was rather simple. I cut off the thin cross pieces on one side of each pallet so I could stack them together, sandwich fashion. Between the top and bottom pallets, I cut scrap 2x4's to fit the "notched" areas down the sides of the pallets. Using my handy dandy pocket hole jig, I affixed each layer together with screws and finished the assembly off with locking caster wheels. The whole contraption was topped with a scrap piece of plywood and trimmed with baseboard moulding. A little paint from the dump and a couple of cute bins from Ikea and this little baby is complete!

Hopefully, the destructive puppy won't eat this as she has everything else. However, if she does, we won't be out much money - just time. All the while continuing her introduction to human manners; namely, don't eat the house!

Next project on the list, a puppy proof couch followed by a sleeper chair and a wine bottle rack.  Oh and a wall mounted, drop-down table. Fingers crossed!

Pallets as decks

I have a tiny yard!  It is nice as far as minimizing the need to mow but difficult when it comes to landscaping. Or hosting a party.  We live in an area where the soil is mostly sand and the temperature is in the upper 80's to mid 90's the majority of the year.  Needless to say, my yard needs some creative solutions if I have any hope of having something cute or pretty or, at minimum, not bedraggled looking.  Here is an example of my poor little side yard.  It is approximately 5 feet wide and receives the full force of our beautiful Florida sunshine.

This is an example of the best it has looked in the 3 years I have lived in this house.  'Tis sad, but true. Admittedly, I have not spent a great deal of time in the back side yards primarily because they are usually really hot.  However, my boy wanted me to host his birthday party at home.  I was thrilled to oblige my 15 year old baby!  After all, when my teen thinks I can do something well, I start singing a happy tune!!   Once again, it was time for some thinking "outside of the box".

We decided that the birthday party would be a typical teen guy type of affair.  And I do have a reputation for hosting some ridiculously messy kid parties.  I didn't want to let my boy down but I needed some room to work my party magic.  ;)

The party theme was "mock paintball" where the teens would be separated into two teams.  Each team needed a home base to keep their paintball materials and various party game supplies.  I decided that decks would fulfill the needs of the party but did not have the money to buy the materials from the big box stores. Unfortunately, my go to source for building materials (Craigslist) did not have anything available.  However, my man was able to get some pallets and fence panels from his boss!  I was thrilled!!

I began by placing the pallets on some landscaping cloth I had saved from a failed gardening project.  

The pallets had seen better days and required some reinforcement.  I decided to add  2x4's down either side and fence panels slats in between the 2x4's.  The fence was originally 6 feet long which was far too wide for my needs.  I cut each panel in half and placed them perpendicular to the pallets.  I splurged and purchased some deck screws and secured the pieces together.

The project went together rather quickly and was a wonderful addition to the paintball party.  I even added a cute little bench, just for fun.  Best of all, my boy was happy which makes me happy.  Life is good!!