Easy Pallet Shelf for Under $35

Easy Pallet Shelf for Under $35- repurposed and recycled

Recently there has been a few projects I have seen floating around using repurposed wood and pallets are a free way to go. My hubby has made a pallet shelf for canning jar storage and a backyard play gym that the kids just adore. But what about useful homemade furniture that is both beautiful and functional.

This all started with a similar pinterest bookshelf and my husband had recently obtained a lot of free pallets. First we chose similar wood that was very well-kempt and not weathered. First he chose the backboards very carefully; similar colors and width-sizes of the boards. The

These are the three shelves that we chose from 6 pieces of pallet shelves and glued them together to begin with. We weren’t overly concerned about the looks of these boards because the shelves will be painted white.

Here we have the 8 boards for the back of the bookshelf, carefully chosen to show variations in the character of the woods. There are not exact widths, but close and if you look closely, there is a knot in the wood for an electronic cord.

These back boards were cut to be 32 inches and urathaned prior to using a brad nailer to put it all together.

These are the side boards of the shelving unit that go vertical. They were cut to be 38 inches tall and 10 1/2 inches wide. He painted them before nailing them together as well.

The sides and back were carefully applied together with small 1X4′s cut to hold the weight of the shelves. Make sure it is all level.
Here is how he held the sides and back together while applying the boards to the back.

1×4′s cut to the length of the shelves and made sure that they were level.


Note the front and back so far with the contrasting woods and how beautifully they blend.


Next he added the shelves on the front, the bottom shelf was 2 inches off of the ground and the other 2 were placed 12 inches apart. He used a little wood stain to stain one of the top shelf slats. He also cut a frame of pallet wood to go around the 3 sides and urathaned them and attached them with the brad nails. The contrasts in the wood were purposed made so that the frame around the shelving unit had a little more character. The top middle had a little more character also so he lightly stained that one. In the house under regular light it is not as contrasting.


This shelf is absolutely shabby chic fabulous and it took my hubby about 4-5 days including helping to take care of all the sick kids in the house and perform most of the daily chores because I am on night shift right now. My daughter has her little radio on the shelf and the cord fits perfectly through the knot in the back. It cost around $33 dollars but that including having to buy brushes and sandpaper, but if some of these materials on hand it may be cheaper. It’s an heirloom now and looks great. Thanks Dan! Post this this to Facebook and Pinterest so others can see and build this treasure.