Do-it-yourself pallet sofas

Sometimes you want to amaze others with unusual interior items, creating something with your own hands, but suitable ideas are not always found. One very interesting and rather easy-to-implement idea is the do-it-yourself sofas from wooden pallets.

It is unlikely that such a piece of furniture will fit into an ordinary city apartment with a classic interior, but for a country house it will be a real find. It is worth considering in more detail how to make such a piece of furniture with your own hands, what to look for, how to place and decorate it. Not everyone knows if this idea is really so good and easily implemented.

The main feature of such a sofa is that it is made of several wooden pallets, which are actually called "pallets" and are usually used to transport various goods (in large quantities), secured with a special film or bundles.

Using these pallets to create furniture products is a relatively new and very popular idea. With a careful execution of the work, as a result, you can get a rather beautiful and unusual piece of furniture in a rustic style, which will not only become a useful part of the room, but also stylishly complement its interior.

Of course, pallet sofas have their own advantages and disadvantages, which can seriously affect the final decision about their existence in your apartment or in the country. Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of such a piece of furniture.

Benefits of pallet sofas:

• Significant savings financial resources. Making a sofa usually takes four to ten or twelve pallets, depending on the size of the piece of furniture. The cost of one such wooden object is 70-100 rubles, so the total cost of the frame of such a sofa is within a thousand rubles.
• A single copy of such pallets has quite convenient size and structure. Quite wide wooden lintels are fixed at some distance from each other and fixed by perpendicularly spaced bars, forming a pallet measuring 100 x 120 cm. It is very easy to create a spacious sofa from such products.
• Attractive appearance... Sofas made of pallets vaguely resemble loft-style furniture with light notes of rustic style, as well as Provence, marine - depending on the decor.
• Depending on the size of the room, this sofa can be very favorably emphasize the interiorgiving it a more stylish and modern look.

This is where the pros end. As it turned out, There are many more disadvantages of such sofas:

• Lack of perfect cleanliness. Even brand new pallets are often quite dirty and can take a long time to clean.
• Since pallets are manufactured for industrial purposes and are not intended for furniture, they are not always smooth and neat. Often there are unevenly fastened jumpers, even protruding nails, which can easily get injured.

• Pallets do not have a perfectly flat surface. In order not to injure yourself on protruding wooden parts and not to attach a splinter, you must make sure that all roughness is smoothed out. The grinding process can take a lot of effort and a considerable amount of time.

• For the manufacture of pallets use the cheapest parts of the wood are not of the best quality.In the absence of the necessary processing in the structure, various parasites can easily start: tree beetles or even termites.
• Pallet sofa requires mandatory coating with special varnishes. The fact is that even when the ideal smoothness is achieved by grinding the surface, after a while, roughness and unevenness may reappear.
• The difficulties of cleaning. A large amount of dust accumulates quite quickly under the structure itself and between its parts. To clean up, you have to think of something, since some parts of the floor and sofa are difficult to reach.

Obviously, there are quite a few drawbacks to a piece of furniture made of wooden pallets, but do not be discouraged and give up, since absolutely each of them can be eliminated, thereby preventing possible problems in the future.

Since a pallet sofa is a universal piece of furniture, it is impossible to buy it in stores, there are several options for how can you become the owner of such an unusual product:

• To order from individual entrepreneurs who base their activities on the manufacture and sale of such pieces of furniture. But in this case, you will have to overpay, since the cost of such sofas is much lower than the cost indicated by third parties.
• To make sofa with your own hand.

To make such a piece of furniture with your own hands, you can find quite a few interesting master classes on the Internet. You should not let the study of the material take its course, since the manufacture of sofas is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. The process contains many small but important nuances that affect the quality of the product.

Before making sofas from wooden pallets, arm yourself with all the necessary tools. To fasten wood elements together, you may need self-tapping screws, special metal corners, a screwdriver, a hammer and a screwdriver.

In addition, if you are going to proceed directly to the construction of the sofa, you need to properly prepare the pallets. It is necessary to thoroughly clean and, if necessary, wash them, and after complete drying, it is worth walking along the surface with sandpaper, smoothing out all the irregularities.

Let's consider in more detail instructions for the construction of sofas from pallets, having studied each step step by step:

• For making a sofa an average size will need an average of six to seven pallets, but you should purchase several more parts, since various parts of the pallets will go to connect them together, the construction of armrests and additional elements (small backrest). To make a corner sofa from Euro pallets, you will need a little more of them.
• Must be laid out already prepared and painted pallets on a flat surface, placing them on the front. At this stage, the parts are fastened together - with the help of corners, wooden slats and bars. This is how two pallets are held together.

• The remaining pallets are sawn in half as they will be used to make the backs and armrests.
• The next step there will be additional processing of wooden parts with a special moisture-resistant composition that ensures the safety of the surface and extends the service life of the product.
• A pair of pallets, which will touch the floor, are attached to special legs made of wooden blocks. If you need to constantly move a piece of furniture, you can attach strong wheels to it.

• Bonded pairs of pallets are stacked on top of each other and fixed. A lower platform for the future sofa is formed, after which parts of the back and armrests are attached.
• To protect the seats from dirt and dust, it is best to cover them with a special material. It is best to use durable agrofiber. On top of this material, mattresses and decorative pillows should be lined.

A more detailed master class on the manufacture of such sofas can be found below.

It is not enough just to build a frame from wooden pallets, you also need to equip it with elements that provide comfort. To do this, you will need to personally make or purchase ready-made mattresses and pillows suitable for your product.

Let's take a closer look at how to make pillows for sofas from pallets with our own hands, as well as the most successful decor options for this piece of furniture.

First, you need to familiarize yourself with the list of materials required for the manufacture of mattresses and pillows for sofas from pallets:

• The main part, without which the mattress cannot be made, is the filler. As a filler, materials such as polyurethane foam, the most ordinary foam rubber, soft synthetic winterizer or a cheaper environmentally friendly synthetic winterizer are perfect.
• For the upholstery of the mattress, you need to choose the right material. Furniture fabrics are an excellent option - they are durable and wear-resistant. Since sofas of this type are quite often placed on outdoor terraces, it will be advisable to purchase a material with a moisture-repellent impregnation.

• To give a little more volume, the mattress is most often wrapped with fiber. The final finishing is done only after that - the filler is sheathed with furniture fabric or a special cover is filled with material.
• You will need sewing supplies to make the outer cover. It is better to use a clipper, as a hand-sewn case will not be as sturdy and practical.
• Various decorative items may be needed to decorate sofas.

Also, about to start making mattresses and pallet pillows, you should familiarize yourself with some of the tricks that will help make the product more comfortable and suitable for relaxation:

• Foam crumbs are used for greater softness and volume. It is necessary to stuff the covers tightly with this material to avoid clumping or gaps.
• You should not use one layer of foam rubber sheet, as the mattress will turn out to be very hard and uncomfortable.
• It is necessary to equip the mattresses with special ties that will help fix them on the wooden frame.
• If you've chosen foam crumbs, synthetic fluff, or other particulate material, it's best to equip your pillow or mattress with an extra inner cover made of lightweight, breathable material.

In the process of direct manufacturing of the mattress, you must adhere to a certain sequence. Let's take a closer look at the step-by-step instructions for creating mattresses for sofas from wooden pallets:

• First, you need to decide on the filler material and (depending on this) determine either its required dimensions or the required amount.
• Next (depending on the thickness and length of the mattress and pillows), make patterns from the upholstery fabric, taking into account all the necessary allowances for the processing of edges and seams.

• You also need to consider how the tying elements will be attached to the mattress. It is best to have their ends sewn into the edges of the product.
• After sewing the outer cover, fill it with prepared material. It is best to make a model with a hidden zipper - for ease of use.
• After completing the filling of the mattresses and pillows, you need to close the zipper and take care of additional decor, and then fasten the products to the wooden frame with ties.

The most common decorative elements (used not only for decorating pallet sofas, but also for their more functional equipment) are soft pillows and mattresses. They can sometimes seem too boring, so you need to take care of the addition of any elements of needlework.

Quite a stylish and simple idea to make mattresses or pillows more comfortable and more stylish is the carriage tie. It is quite simple to make it, you just need to mark the surface of the mattresses and pillows, determining the points at which the material will be pulled together. After that, you need to point through the products through and through and fasten the thread.

Additional decor (in combination with a carriage tie) can be decorative stones and buttons fixed in the recesses on the back and cushions. In the area of ​​the seat, such decor will be inappropriate, as it can cause a lot of unpleasant sensations, clinging to clothing and scratching the skin.

Lace stripes on the back and pillows will be a pretty cute and sophisticated decorative element. If you just want to embellish the details with ruffles, thick cotton lace is best. Thin lace is perfect for covering the front side of the product, over furniture fabric.

In addition, additional small pillows with various embroideries, prints or a pattern of decorative stones can become a pretty good decor.

You can decorate not only pillows, but also the wooden elements themselves. Using decoupage, you can decorate the surface with unobtrusive prints, and the aging technique will help to give the furniture a light touch of retro style. In addition, you can decorate all exterior elements (sides and armrests) with your own prints.

Designers offer the following solutions:

• Wooden pallet furniture although it looks very stylish and modern, it will not fit into every interior at the same time, so it is necessary to think over all the details of the placement of sofas of this type in advance.
• Wooden pallet sofas - ideal for giving. Free space in the courtyard of a country house allows you to calmly process all the details necessary for the manufacture of a piece of furniture, as well as complete it. The suburban area involves a large number of options for placing such a piece of furniture.
• This sofa will look great in the living room of a country house. It is possible to make a large corner piece that looks good next to two perpendicular walls. In front of such a sofa, you can put both a small table and a full-fledged dining table, at which there is enough space for the whole family.

• This piece of furniture will also look good in a gazebo. But you should approach its placement as seriously as possible and take into account the shape of the structure itself, adjusting the shape of the sofa to it. For example, a straight sofa will not look very good in a hexagon-shaped gazebo, so you will need to position the pallets at the desired angle.
• In addition, this sofa will find its place on street veranda, adjacent to the house, and in the dressing room, and even on the balcony.

The options can be very different. The main thing is to show imagination, but at the same time do not forget about common sense.

Stylish white pallet sofa, complemented by a gray mattress, light-colored printed pillows and a table on wheels, made according to the same principle.

The model of a multi-level sofa, consisting of three "floors", is perfect for a room with a home theater. This piece of furniture not only looks stylish, but also allows you to accommodate for watching movies with the whole family.

Small pallet sofas decorated with white mattresses and brightly colored pillows will be an excellent option for relaxing on an open balcony on a hot summer day.