I’ve just discovered my new favourite way to DIY: with pallets. I always enjoyed using leftover pallets when I needed scrap wood, or a surface to do my spray-painting on. But I’d never tried to turn a pallet into something new. Until this month, that is! And now, I’m a pallet addict! I’ve shared the step-by-step guide to DIY this pallet bench here.
You see, the sunshine has made me want to get out into my garden this week. I’ve been so eager to set up a lovely picnic bench or some garden furniture and enjoy the lovely weather but my garden is still a bit of a wasteland. So, instead, I’ve started to design the plot. My husband and I took some stakes and string out into the garden (just like Monty Don does!) and measured out our future patio, the space for my caravan, a lawn and our much-longed-for veggie patch. 
This now means that I can get started on ordering the materials and products I’ll need to get started on this massive project. I’ve already had some weed membrane delivered and I know what colour garden paint I’ll be using on my imaginary shed. Sometime I think that researching a project and shopping for materials is even more fun than doing the DIYing!
But I tend to get carried away with browsing online – especially when I see bargains – and can’t help picking out the finishing touches before the job has even begun. That said, I think that having the overall picture in your head before you begin can give you the enthusiasm to get started, which is my excuse for having already chosen my dream patio furniture that I spotted on the Fishpools blog, haha! In terms of budget, it certainly helps to keep an eye out for the items you want in advance so that you can spot any discounts or deals on the furniture you want.
In the meantime, I made this pallet bench (it only took a day!) and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I needed four pallets to make this chair, which I was able to get from my local industrial site. It didn’t take too much measuring, cutting and screwing to whip up this rustic two-person ‘love seat’. 
I couldn’t get four pallets exactly the same, but the overall measurements were the same so they would stack neatly and that’s what’s important. In fact, the pallets with the wider planks worked out well as the arms of the chair – giving you a place to pop your cup of tea when you’re relaxing in the garden. I cut a sun-lounger cushion in half to make the surface soft to sit on and positioned a couple of extra scatter cushions for comfort.
If you want to check out the full step-by-step guide to making your own pallet chair, here’s the blog post I published with all the photos of each step: DIY Pallet Chair Project
Let me know if you have a go at making this project for yourself and, as always, take care when handling tools and lifting heavy items – I can’t be responsible for any injuries that occur! In fact, I recommend getting a friend to help you make this project because pallets can be too heavy to shift alone.
