Daily Archives: September 3, 2013

Spotted: Wood Pallet Bookcase Makeover share

Got an old bookcase that needs a little love? You can cover it in reclaimed wood pallets!

If your house is decorated with pressboard furniture, you know that that stuff doesn't really hold up to wear and tear. The finish gets scratched pretty easily, and unlike real wood it doesn't have that classy distressed look. It just looks terrible. Rather than replacing an ugly, boring bookshelf, Riccardo Tamiazzo of Padova, Italy did this beautiful wood pallet bookcase makeover instead.

He uses a piece of cut PVC to cover the top of his shelf, but if you want to use less plastic, you could just finish yours with a clear coat of resin or even a water-based wood finish to keep this project plastic free (aside from the plastic in the bookshelf you're revamping, of course). If that rustic look isn't your thing, you could also use some VOC-free paint to update your old shelf.

Tamiazzo shared the details of his wood pallet bookcase over at Ikea Hackers along with lots of additional photos. Click here for more!

When that cheap pressboard furniture starts to go, it's so tempting to replace it with new, cheap pressboard furniture, and I love that this project not only revamps an old bookcase but you end up with something unique and sturdier than what you started with. It's kind of an eco double whammy, right? This wood pallet bookcase uses reclaimed materials to divert waste from the landfill while avoiding a trip to the store to buy something new. Win-win-win!

You could also use this technique to re-cover other ugly pressboard furniture, like a desk, tabletop, headboard, or nightstand. I'm eyeing my boring sewing table right now. What furniture pieces would you like to reface with pallet wood? I feel like this project idea has endless possible iterations!