One Hour DIY

DIY projects often seem completely unattainable if you are on a tight timeframe. Fortunately I am one of the lucky ones with plenty of time to spare (thanks to a well paying part time position). However, there are times when I just want to create in a hurry. This morning I decided I need a comfy place on the deck to read my books. We currently have two deck lounging options, one is a fold up camp chair, the other is a disgusting couch that came free with our house, which the dog has claimed for his own. So a quick and easy DIY was in order.

I bought an outdoor cushion two years ago with intentions of making furniture to go underneath it. Fortunately for me this cushion happened to be half the size of an old pallet that again, had come free with our house. You can pick these kinds of pallets up from pretty much any store, rubbish dump, or building supplies place, usually for free.

I used a hand saw to cut lengthwise down the middle of my pallet. Once your pallet is in two sections give it a bit of a tidy up to make sue when you stack one half on top of the other that you have a neat clean match up. I had to saw three sections off mine to make the whole thing roughly match. The finish of your final product will determine the amount of effort you put into sanding. I used an electric hand sander with a rough grit (40) to give my pallets a quick clean up. This is earmarked as outdoor furniture and I was not worried about the finish as we are likely to take it all apart and use the wheels etc, to make different furniture when we do our deck renovation. If you want a forever piece its worth putting in the extra effort and giving the whole thing a course, then fine sand.

Next up I used a white gloss enamel to give the pallet a 'white washed' finish. If you were after a really high sheen I would recommend using an undercoat (the wood on these is really absorbent), then applying a couple of coats of paint. Once these are dry lay one half of your pallet on top of the other and secure together with flat brackets, using a drill and some screws. I screwed castors to the bottom of my pallets to make it easy to manoeuvre on the deck.

In under an hours with of effort (sandwich break or two in the middle while the paint dries) you have yourself a comfy rustic looking perch.