I am sharing something groundbreaking today. I made something with a pallet.
I know. Pallets are so passé. Half of Pinterest is devoted to the upcycling of old pallets.
But I think this is our first ever pallet project. So, it’s new to us. And it was so easy and turned out better than we even expected.
Best part? Our new fence cost $0. Everything we used was already on-hand.
I had been trying to think of a way to hide the ugly A/C unit and other mechanicals that were leaving the utility room in the barn. It was highly visible as you approached the barn and it was driving me crazy.
Here’s a picture from last year that gives you a bit of an idea of what I was working with. The A/C unit is joined by the meter and some other important stuff. It’s not pretty. (Neither are all the weeds, but give me a break.)
And here’s how it looks today. Better, right?
The fence is an easy way to disguise the ugly, while still allowing access. Now if only I could disguise the hideous satellite dishes. (BLEH!)
Ryan secured two pallets for us to use and then simply attached them to stakes before driving them securely in the ground. He attached them together at the corner with screws. Once they were secure, I finished them with the same stain I had leftover from the barn (Behr Solid Color Weatherproofing All-In-One Wood Stain and Sealer). It covers really well and only took one coat. The best part of the stain is that it really soaks into the wood and gives a really durable finish. It made the pallet wood blend in well with the barn walls.
Once the fences were complete, I added two new barn quilts I made last month at our craft night. I chose two different quilt squares and went to town. The first is called Star of the Milky Way.
The second barn quilt is a quilt block I found from this post on knit ‘n lit. It doesn’t appear to have a name, but it’s one of the half square triangle blocks and I used a variety of paint colors I had on hand.
I’m so happy with how this area looks now. It blends in with the rest of the barn and feels really intentional.
The best $0 I ever spent.
Hi Kim! That looks so good! It looks sturdy and put together well. Can you tell me how you built it? I have pallets and the need to do what you did.. Thanks so much for sharing. PS- I do better with visual pics, so if you had some of the building process, or just take pics of the connections?
I’m sorry that I don’t have any photo of the process. My husband just used stakes in the ground and slid two pallets onto them before screwing them onto the stakes and to each other. Good luck!
It looks great!
I do, however, take issue with your statement that pallets are “so passe.” If “half of Pinterest” is devoted to them — and I agree that they dominate on Pinteresr — then I’d say they are yet very much in vogue. “Passe” means out of date. I think pallets will be wih us for a while yet.
Looks so great! We are wanting to do something similar to hide our trash cans, although it would have to be a bit taller. 🙂
This might be my favorite pallet project ever! I hear they’re a pain to pull apart, so I’ve never used them….but, look, you can make awesome things without pulling them apart at all! And those quilts….so cute!
I love this idea. We are moving soon and I hate the AC that’s in the back of the house. I have a list of DIY Pallet Projects for my husband to build and I think I need to add this one to the list because it’s so simple and looks awesome.
Thanks for the Inspiration, yet again!
-Ashlee Michelle
http://www.makeupandmodifieds.blogspot.com
Good luck convincing your hubby. This is seriously such a quick and easy project, maybe it should move to the top of the list. =)
Okay, you win the ‘Clever Solution’ award. I never would have thought to use pallets to build a little fence like that. It looks amazing! And your barn quilt love is making me think I really need a barn quilt, too.
Kim you are so smart and resourceful! Of course my favorite part are the quilt paintings but you can ‘t blame me right?! Perfect.
Genius idea! You can see our AC unit when you pull up in the driveway. I should totally do this! Add it to the list…but it was $0.
These little updates are my favorite to make around the house. No one else might really remember what it looked like before, but it feels good to intentionally make something pretty that most people would ignore and accept as is. We spent the weekend updating our stupid light switches and outlets and it felt so good. Nerd alert.
AND THOSE QUILTS!!! Is there an MCM version of painted wooden quilts that I can fit into my pigeoned-holed home? (<–Kindofa rhetorical question, but not really) I think we need to buy a farmhouse next just so I can make those for myself.
oh wow! that is awesome! it looks so good and now you don’t even see the ac. i might need to copy you!
It really turned out even better than I expected. Painting it to match the barn worked out really well and made it blend.