Pallet bar wood pallet project

To do this DIY project you will need the following tools:

• Keyhole saw

• Nails

• Sander

• Screwdriver

• Glue gun

• Hammer

• Paint gun or spray paint

• Painter's tape

In addition, these materials will be needed:

• 2 pallets

• 2 boards of pine wood of 800x300x19 mm and 1 of 600x400x19 mm

• 3 wooden slats of 900x48x13 mm and 17 of 1000x48x9 mm

• Wood glue

• Fixing brackets

• Paint

• Varnish

• Sisal rope

• Decorative vinyl 

• Screws

These measurements may change slightly depending on the size of your pallets and the size you want your bar to be.

The approximate cost of the materials is less than £90. It should take about a day (8 hours) and we’d pin it as an intermediate level project - so be sure to give it a shot! (get it?)

The sides of the bar are formed by pallets. If your pallets aren’t the same height (here there was a difference of 4 cm), add small legs or wooden wedges. To do this, cut a square strip of wood and fix it to the base of the pallet with wood glue.

The front of the bar is made from wooden slats. Although you could definitely do this with pallets too, you should bear in mind that

It increases the execution time since it is necessary to disassemble the pallets.

You will have to join several boards in line and, in some cases, cut them to the desired length.

It will not always be easy to find pallets with boards of the same width.

The first step will be to sand the pallets. This way you will be able to eliminate chips, smooth the surface and prepare it for applying varnish. It is advisable to use an electric sander and a coarse-grained sandpaper, since it speeds up this task.

Once the dust resulting from sanding has been removed, apply protective varnish. We decided to go with a dark wood look, but you can paint it or varnish it however your heart desires!

The next step is to mount the front of the bar. To do this, start by making a frame. Clamp a strip of one meter long wood at each end of the 90 cm and attach this to the central one.

Then nail the remaining strips of wood, leaving a space of the thickness of one piece of wood in between them. This will create a pallet effect.

Once nailed to the slats, it should look like this

We went full out with a summer look in our decorations. This is of course customisable, so get creative! 

Apply the same varnish-dye you used before, but only to the side of your design you want to be dark wood.

Once it has dried, adhere an adhesive vinyl template over the stained part of the wood. The templates can be purchased or made by yourself.

Sand down the varnish on either side of the stencil to help the paint stick to the wood. We used blue, turquoise and gray. Use painter’s tape to keep it neat!

Before the paint has completely dried, remove the vinyl template.

Once the paint has dried, use the glue gun to attach the rope. Cut different lengths of string to form the text you want your bar to have, in this case, "Beach Club"

The next step is to attach the front of the bar to the pallets. To do this, place the sides of the pallet at right angles to the vertical strip on the front. Doing this will ensure the front part will protrude slightly from the sides.

Then, place several small connecting brackets at the top of the pallet to fix to the side (one approximately 10/15 cm).

Finally, for the worktop of the bar. This will extend towards the front and on both sides, stretching around the entire bar. 

Cut two side panels 80 × 30 cm and one central 60 × 40 cm. You could cut a single piece, however depending on the size of the bar and the pallets, this could complicate the execution of the project.

Attach the boards using wood glue and some brackets.

Then paint on the same varnish you used before to protect the pallets.

Finally, attach the worktop to the base using brackets.

Now all that's left is to add drinks!