This isn’t something I’ve posted about before but last week I tried my hand at upcycling pallet garden seating.
For a while, I’ve been obsessed and fascinated with the upcycling inspo on Pinterest, but then I’ve also seen Pinterest fails so I’ve always thought I best leave it to the professionals – if you’re looking for a North East upcycling goddess then Cheryl Lumley from All Round Creative Junkie is your go-to lady.
Last Summer my mum had seen some garden ideas on Pinterest and wanted to create a Mediterranean chill out zone for BBQ parties and relaxing in our sun trap.
How To Easily Upcycle Pallet Garden Seating in 1 day!
Pinterest pallet garden seating
She found her inspo, showed me and then without my knowledge the next day 80 breeze blocks, 5 badges of cement and 2 tonnes of sand arrived on a lorry.
Oh. My. Life. As the gentleman unloaded the contents onto the front drive I rang her screeching down the phone to her. I asked when the landscaper was coming round, her reply…” he’s not I thought it looked easy enough to do, we’ll do it”.
Related read: How to create an Ocean Beach and Love Island garden feel
I come from ‘do it yourself’ stock and it’s been instilled into me that you yourself should be self-sufficient from an early age. I mean look at me I can tile, paint, use a drill. I can build websites, I can take pretty sweet photographs. I throw myself into everything and although it may not be perfect I am a perfectionist in giving everything a go.
How hard could building a wall be right?
We marked it out, laid out foundations and brick by brick we built a wall and then seating area. We painted it white and that was that. Typically the weather in Newcastle is less Costa del and more Costa lotte in heating so we didn’t really get a chance to finish our garden, that was until the heat that’s arrived this week.
I took it upon myself to dig the borders and rid them of weeds, mow and strim the lawn and weed the patios. It was a massive improvement, but there was still something not right. The seating area.
My mum arrived home from work, overjoyed at the transformation – I was still searching for more so off to the local DIY superstore we went and we grabbed magnolia masonry paint and some bark for the borders.
We were driving home when I stopped the car with an almighty screech. My mum, confused as I jumped out and flung open the boot. Discarded pallets. I threw them into the boot hopped back into the car and drove home as she was questioning my activity.
We arrived home and I began dismantling the pallets (obviously watched 5 YouTube tutorials on the best way to do this). Once the pallets had been dismantled I began to attach them with long nails into the breeze blocks along the front of the pallet garden seating. As I staggered the planks to give a panelled effect it really began to take shape.
My mum followed behind with the dark brown fence paint which matched the planks of decking used for seating, our borders and of course the fence.
Once it had been completed (it only took about 5 hours spread over 3 days) and coated twice with paint we then painted the rest of the seating area magnolia giving it that rustic Mediterranean vibe.
Throw in a lime throw and some deep Cadbury’s purple scatter cushions, switch on the water fountain, light the barbie and pour a glass of Pimms and what was a white mass has now been transformed into a tranquil zen to enjoy the sun in.
Although I’ve seen some awful Pinterest inspired upcycling I’m honestly so proud of the seating, it looks super luxurious, is calming and is proof that you can do anything you put your mind to. Even if it takes a couple of different attempts to get it looking like that all-important Pinterest photo!
Are you thinking about creating some pallet garden seating? We’d love to hear about your project in the comments below. As always, if you’ve found this article of any value we’d love for you to share it with your friends and family across social media and beyond.
