Upcycling Pallets into Amazing Pallet Bookcases...

My son B's room is teeny tiny.  It's tough to fit more than his twin bed and his new desk in the room. We have had to become creative with finding storage for all of his toys and books in his bedroom. We decided that shelving was going to be the best idea.   And seeing as how I am a thrifty girl (read: penny-pinching cheap) I wanted to figure out an economical way to create some.

We have plenty of old pallets laying around in the garage.  They are leftover from when I made the pallet wall in our basement.  As I was looking at them I realized that if you cut them just right they make a pocket.  All you need to do is add a piece of board to the bottom to create a shelf inside.

I had the hubs cut down a pallet into two of these pockets and add the bottom.  Cost: Free!!  My favorite word.  This is what they looked like...

A little rough, but lots and lots of potential.  I grabbed my 80 grit sandpaper and went to town on it.  I sanded.  Then sanded some more.  And then a little bit more.  I wanted to get it as smooth as possible so there was no possibility of splinters.

Then I added 3 coats of paint.  That pallet wood sucked up the paint like crazy...  I used Clark and Kensington paint in the color Spicy Paprika.  Cost: Free again.  It was left over from another project. Score again for me!

After the paint was dry I added hanging hardware to the back.

And they were ready for hanging!

We hung them up in his room at the end of his bed.

AH-MAZING! All of his books fit into these bookcases.  They are easily accessible for him.  And they take up absolutely no floor space in his teeny tiny room.

And the best part:  They cost me NOTHING to make!  As in FREE!

B loves his new bookcases.  They give an amazing pop of color in his room and allow the room to function much better.

 I think these might be my favorite DIY project to date.

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