Scraptastic Furniture!

By Lionel Gibbons

"Dad, can you help me build this?"

That was the text message I received from my college-going daughter recently. It was accompanied by a link to some pictures of a shipping pallet sitting on top of traditional, turned wood table legs.

“Cool”, I thought.  

Ok, to be honest, my first thought was actually, “Why???” But I managed to set aside my old-fashioned views on furniture design to work on this project with my daughter.

That was my first introduction to what seems to be a growing trend — building practical furniture out of old scrap. 

Now I’m sure my daughter’s generation believes they invented this meme. That it’s based on an ethos of eco-friendly pursuits. But building furniture from junk has been around a long time, and the invention sprang from economic necessity, not eco-altruism.

Pallet Furniture

The “Pallet Furniture” phenomenon reminds me of the “good old days” when I helped my sister furnish her first apartment with a coffee table made out of an old wooden cable spool, and shelves built from cinder blocks and old planks. There was even a sofa which, if I recall correctly, consisted almost entirely of old milk crates. Some of those items must have held real sentimental value for her, as they remained part of my sister’s decor long after she could afford an upgrade. 

Today, the lowly cable spool has joined the shipping pallet as a source of furniture once again. And some entrepreneurial individuals have even turned the lowly cable spool table into a commercial product.

We Built It

In case you’re wondering, we did build that pallet desk my daughter wanted. With a little sanding, a simply built table base, and a few coats of stain and lacquer, we came up with something she’s pretty happy with. That's it up at the top of this post with her laptop and notebooks on it. 

The best part is that we built it together, making it more valuable than the finest pieces from Ethan Allen — to us, anyway.

Have you had any success building scraptastic furniture? I'd love to hear your story. Please share it in the comments.