Gratitude gift boxes had moved to Waipu. Pretty quickly some kind of shelving was needed to store the products. Shelves can be costly to buy, especially if you want them to be made from natural eco friendly materials. They also need to be strong and solid to safely support the weight of the stock.

Ced’s story about getting creative with pallets

Driving through Whangarei, I spied a stack of pallets on the side of the road. An idea came to mind, why not recycle them and build cube shelving? Cubes are a great way to store items, and compact enough to fit in a cupboard or small space. Some were smashed up and broken but it was quick to sort through them and find the intact ones.

When you see some of the things people make out of pallets it seems the preferred look is to keep the original shape of the pallet. That wasn’t going to work for the cubes so each pallet was disassembled, which was the most time consuming part. When a pallet is pulled apart there isn’t as much usable wood as you might think. Each individual cube took almost 2 pallets to make.

We also needed work benches for product photo shoots and enough table space to make up multiple gift boxes at one time. I was on a roll…..next came outdoor seats, oh so comfy, tables and bench seats.

Square table, bench seats and single seat

The method to the madness

First up, I draw a plan to work out sizes and dimensions of what I am making. Then I think about matching the wood to the plan as well as thinking about what it is going to be used for. For example, thicker wood pallets are needed for a seat than for a table top. Next the type of wood needs to be considered. Hardwood has more colour in it than pine, and looks beautiful varnished for a table, but it splinters, so not great for a seat! Also the size of the furniture is limited to the size of the pallet.

I re use the nails that come with the pallet and the furniture legs are glued and screwed. An untreated double seater takes about 6-7 hours, a stool 40 minutes and a table 2-3 hrs

My fave is the bench seats. They roll over and under the back of your legs for extra comfort. I got the idea while walking our dogs with friends at a park and spied a gorgeous kauri bench seat and thought I could make this, why not!

I like making things that people can use. The hanging pot rack was a bit of a different thing to make and looks really cool as well as really super functional. It definitely solved the “too many pots to fit in the cupboard” problem.

So far, all the furniture has been untreated, but the next pallet creation will be stained, for a longer lasting look.

Like what you see?

If you would like to discuss a pallet creation of Ced’s he would love to hear from you.

E: ced@gratitude.co.nz or Ph: 0272 824754

Mad about Pallet Furniture