My daughter, Brianne, my husband, George and I grabbed our boots and gloves last Saturday morning. We were going pallet-picking. Our first stop was to check out a construction site that used wooden portable crossing for low-bearing soil. Although it was an awesome sight to behold, it was a NO GO. George said that they looked to be treated – *sigh* – not something we wanted to bring into our homes.

We turned to Craigslist and found pallets at a church construction site. Amazing how fast news travels; there was a waiting line of trucks when we got there! But, there was plenty go around, everyone was in a good mood and we all helped each other.
A little buggy and dirty, we scrubbed them down at an outdoor car wash.

Next, we cut them into lengths and then pulled out nails. Ugh! What a job!
The 1st BIG PLAN is to construct a kitchen island for Brianne’s tiny storage deprived kitchen. Will def post photos of this completed project soon.
Question: Should we stain it, paint it or just clear coat it? The wood is rough, we’ll need to do something.
Have a good weekend! — Joanne
I can’t wait to see this island bench! I just can’t visualise what it will look like.
We’ve (translate: George) cut the four leg posts and supports. Brianne brought over the cut pallet boards tonight. Hope to start on Saturday!
I have 3 (all different sizes) pallets that my husband found for me. I haven’t been able to figure out what to do with them yet. I’m really looking forward to see how your creations turn out for some inspiration! 🙂
~Jen
Stay tuned, Jen! Hopefully we’ll get started constructing this weekend.
Got my wood together yesterday, starting to build today. This will be for my granddaughter kitchen for storage on bottom shelf and work area on top. Trying to decide what to coat it with. I don’t want it to be shiny but to keep water stains off.
Good luck, Annette. We did coat the kitchen island/ work table with a varathane stain. A little shiny, but the pallet wood used was just too rough. I’d love to know what you decide to stain it with! https://joanneinspired.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/pallet-project-kitchen-island-work-table/
Ooops, actually we used Minwax polyurethane.