How to Make a Pallet Sofa – An Easy Tutorial

To the rear of our house we have a little yard that is used as a walkway for the neighbours. It’s not too bad though as our neighbours are lovely. This right of way however means we can’t really do very much with the yard as they walk straight through it. For a few years it was just a waste of space, somewhere to hang the washing out and have a few plants in pots. This year however we decided to make a seating area in the hope that we would use it more. Even though the wood to the rear of the house blocks out most of our summer light, there is a corner where the sun shines through the trees and that’s where we decided to make our pallet sofa. If you would like to know how to make a pallet sofa, here’s how we did it!

First of all, you’ll need to get some pallets. Most of the pallet sofas I’ve seen on Instagram and Pinterest are made up of two pallets stacked for each seat, so work out how big you’d like your sofa to be and therefore how many pallets you’ll need. Because our space is quite small, we went for two seats and then had to cut down one of the pallets so it wasn’t as wide and the postman could get to the door. This is important as he brings me lots of online shopping. Don’t tell Mr R.

We used 7 pallets, two for each seat and one for the back of each one, plus we cut an extra one down to make a back against the steps. I put a post on Facebook in a local community group, asking for pallets, and we managed to bag all the pallets we needed for free. The only catch was that we had to collect them, which isn’t easy in a small car. We managed it in a few trips though. I say “we”, I of course mean Mr R.

We stacked the pallets up in twos and then simply screwed them together with wood screws wherever possible. Then we stuck an extra pallet on as a back rest. We used a fair few screws as the pallets are heavy and I didn’t want the back to come loose and crush someone.

We then gave the pallets a quick sand over to get rid of any really rough parts then painted them with Wilko Exterior Paint in Sky at Night. I ordered some cushions from Ebay but, as we had cut the pallets down, the cushions didn’t fit so I had to cut these down when they arrived to fit our custom pallet seat. I ordered some cheap pillows and black pillow cases from Ebay and we use these as back cushions as they’re much cheaper than ready made pallet sofa cushions.

Now we have a lovely space to sit out on a night and have a glass or 3 of wine, or read a book. It’s a really easy project to do as well. I still need to change the fences around the yard so it doesn’t feel quite as much as we’re in the car park but it’s so much nicer than it was!

What do you think? If you’re thinking of making one, I’d love to see how you do! Tag me on instagram @life_with_holly x