Free for the taking and bursting with raw style, pallet wood has quickly become a favorite building material for savvy do-it-yourselfers. Pallet board is unique and there is rarely a need to distress this wood since most of it gains a natural, rich patina from being exposed to the elements.

Without a doubt, you will absolutely relish making these DIY wood pallet projects. They are a fun and economical way to create a lively home and garden with a style that straddles edgy and traditional–truly a modern rustic look. Accessible to anyone with the motivation to source street-side pallet materials, most projects require simple tools you may already have on hand.

You’ll break Instagram the minute you post this utterly charming pallet herb garden wall. Artist Zina and her husband mounted a full pallet on the backyard side of their house. Plastic potting trays fit neatly between the slots. The finishing touch: herb names painted on the garden in fancy script.

Pallet Herb Garden from Messy Art

Self-described “interior design fanatic” Jessie at the home lifestyle blog Cape 27 spent next to nothing on a wood pallet living room wall, which left her extra materials. What to do? She continued the rustic look by tacking up the pallet boards to her exterior porch ceiling. This oh-so-simple project was as easy as taking down the light, power nailing a perimeter and field boards, then replacing the light.

Exterior Entryway Pallet Ceiling from Cape 27 Blog

Do you have an old, disused table? You’ll have this upcycled pallet project done in a snap. Face-nail or screw pallet boards to the top of the table, clear coat them, and you’re done. For a delightful extra touch, omit a center pallet board and replace with a low, 2-inch high potting tray and fill with succulents.

Outdoor Table from Morning Chores

Satisfy your inner rustic-chic soul with this inventive pallet bed headboard. Source two pallets, thoroughly pressure wash them, and let dry for several days before attaching to your bed frame. You can clear coat them with satin polyurethane or leave the wood unfinished for a mixture of the primitive and the sophisticated.

Pallet Headboard from Stylizimo

Radiators rank high on the list of unsightly home fixtures that cannot be removed. One way to hide your radiator is with possibly the least expensive radiator cover ever: a wood pallet. Simply knock off one side of boards with a hammer or pry bar. After cleaning it, you can place it in front of your radiatorfor instant coverage.

Pallet Radiator Cover from Lantliv

Want a real conversation piece in your kitchen? This DIY wood pallet backsplash fits the bill. Entrepreneur and antiques dealer Dana, of the design blog Circa Dee, wanted to spiff up her dated galley kitchen. A few pallets later, she had an inventive backsplash that got friends and family talking. She cut the boards into 18-inch sections and left the wood raw for maximum weathered effect.

Pallet Backsplash from Circa Dee

Give your treasured books a new home with this quick and easy bookshelf made from free wood pallet boards. Mom, musician, and military wife Jen Woodhouse banged together this utterly charming bookcase in no time at all with four pallets and some extra pallet parts. You’ll have a blast doing the same with the help of Jen’s detailed instructions.

Wood Pallet Bookshelf from The House of Wood

Ease back in this sectional sofa with a glass of wine, in the secure knowledge that you paid far less for this than if you had bought it at a furniture store. That’s because a double layer of free wood pallets form the base, with your only expense being the tatami mats and pillows on top. Score!

Wood Pallet Sectional from Homedit

They held up hundreds of pounds of tires, surely than can hold up a bed? Those were the thoughts of Dana Fox when she sourced free wood pallets at her local tire store. After removing a few pallet boards and screwing the remainder together at the center braces, she had a bed frame that was ready for her full-sized mattress.

Wood Pallet Bed Frame from Wonder Forest

The compost bin that makes itself? Almost. Perfectly sized, wood pallets are practically made forcompost bins. Compost bins always need a generous number of long slots to aerate the organic matter, so pallets form the perfect four walls of the bin. Besides the pallets, the only other material used: zip-ties. This is easy, fast, and you don’t even need a farm to begin composting your kitchen matter.

Wood Pallet Compost Bin from The Real Farmhouse

Two wood pallets and one coat of robin’s egg blue paint were all that was needed to make this lovely garden potting bench. Home and garden designer Ananda, over at A Piece of Rainbow, spent just one afternoon making this beautiful and functional potting bench for her garden.

Wood Pallet Potting Bench from A Piece of Rainbow

Virtually bursting with personality, this wood pallet exterior chair is a fantastically unique twist on outdoor furniture. Donna, at Funky Junk Interiors, calls this “the easiest build in the world.” And yes, those are real coffee bean sacks as upholstery on top of 5-inch rubber foam mattress material which Donna ordered cut to size.

Wood Pallet Outside Chair from Funky Junk Interiors

Because of their rich, complicated texture, wood pallet boards might be overkill for covering every wall in your house. But for an accent wall? Absolutely. The nail holes, chipping paint, and variegated colors of these pallets make this accent wall a true focal point. Leanne Lee, of design blog Diva of DIY, says that the secret to varied colors is to wet the boards with bleach and water, leave them outside, then pull boards out of the sun in stages. Doing this in separate batches creates boards in a wide spectrum of colors.

Wood Pallet Accent Wall from Diva of DIY

Scare them or kiss them: which is it? You’ll never know with this Where the Wild Things Are themed DIY sign made from wood pallets. Maurice Sendak’s classic story comes alive in vivid detail with this amusing project that anyone can make. You don’t have to be a graphic artist, since Weekend Craft creator Michelle includes a stencil with her instructions.

Wood Pallet Wild Things Sign from Weekend Craft

Your child will just adore wiling away the hours with books in this wood pallet triangle reading nook. Just a couple of pallets, a few scrap pallet pieces, and rolling casters are all that are needed to complete this cheerful addition to any nursery or child’s bedroom.

Wood Pallet Child’s Reading Nook from Kojo Designs

Chevron pattern wood pallet boards inject lively visual interest in this DIY coffee table from crafters Caitlin and Manda at The Merry Thought. All pallet boards are glued and brad-nailed directly onto a plywood base for structural support.

Wood Pallet Coffee Table from The Merry Thought

When you have a large home bar to build and you’re on a strict budget, what do you do? Use ultra-expensive solid hardwood? Of course not. Do like Rebecca Farrant did when a friend asked her to build a home bar for almost no money: use weathered pallet boards to instantly give it the look of a decades-old pub.

Wood Pallet Home Bar from Infarrantly Creative

Your table guests will be buzzing about this inventive and dead-simple rustic table centerpiece. To round off the shabby chic look, paint lightly with white, then scrape down with a putty knife.

DIY Rustic Wood Pallet Board Table Centerpiece from Happy at Home

Build your beginner pallet crafting skills with this one day DIY project. Start with your cleanest wood pallet, cut to a smaller size, then add metal hooks. The “Coffee” logo was made using a stencil, paint, and a paint sponge.

Simple Wood Pallet Coffee Mug Holder from One Little Bird Blog

So your long-handled garden tools–like shovels, rakes, and hoes–are always falling down. This instant hack is the ultimate lightning-quick DIY project (and a great way to use up one of your dirtier wood pallets). Attach the back side of the pallet to your shed wall with four screws and that’s it, you’re done. Doesn’t organization feel great?

Wood Pallet Garden Tools Rack from Fix Lovely

Warm, cozy, and definitely one of a kind, this wood pallet fireplace surround is a weekend project that lets you exercise your creative skills. Stacey, over at the design blog Addison Meadows Lane, gives you detailed instructions, down to the very last screw and nail. But you can do whatever you want and make it your own.

Pallet Fireplace Surround from Addison Meadows Lane

Hang this wood pallet swing from a porch ceiling, a stand, or the limb of a backyard tree. Whatever your heart desires, this DIY project is as cheap as the cost of​ a heavy-duty chain, cushions, and some paint or wood stain.

Wood Pallet Porch Swing from Twelve Oaks Manor

Not all pallet creations must have the weathered look. You can purchase new pallets or, like Holly at the blog My Pinteresting Life, you can search long and hard for that elusive find: clean, new pallet wood. She found these at her local post office and turned them into a charming bar cart.

Pallet Wood DIY Bar Cart from My Pinteresting Life

Do you need a little privacy? After making this super-simple wood pallet room divider, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. Just four pallets form this self-supporting divider. Tons of space on the divider give you ample room for screwing in binder clips to display favorite family and vacation photos, as well as curios, postcards, and theater tickets.

Wood Pallet Room Divider from My Friend Staci

Fair weather was made for chilling out with a friend in your DIY double wood pallet lounge chair with matching cocktail table on rolling casters.

Wood Pallet Double Lounge Chair from Freckles and Fluff