Easy pallet seating area for the garden

 

As well as weeding ,getting rid of ants and bees and planting and tidying, this week I have also been making this easy seating area in the garden...my very own summer blogging paradise...

I have always wanted one of those comfy outdoor sofa's , but garden furniture can be soo expensive.....so when I came across some great DIY pallet seating areas on pinterest (see my Pallet fun board for this and many other great pallet projects...),  I knew this would be a great project to try out!!

I asked at my local Wickes if they had some pallets to give away, and they were very helpful and told me I could help myself to any bits and bobs left outside around the back of the shop....

(This article has some great advice on where to look for free pallets)

So not only did I cart home 8 pallets, but I also came away with enough free wood to cover them all...

(Luckily my local Wickes is only a 5 minute walk away, and they let me borrow one of their trolleys to take them home....never the less: pallets are heavy, so my arms were aching for days...)

I had the perfect area in mind for my DIY pallet seat...this corner in the garden always ended up as a dumping ground, and as it is always partly shaded would be a great place to relax out of the direct sunlight in the heat of the day...

I made sure the pallets I chose was all the same size, so I could simply stack them on top of each other...the condition of some of the pallets wasn't great, but  I wasn't too bothered, as I was given enough wood to cover them all)  You can find some great advice on choosing pallets for craft projects at painted furniture ideas (they have also some great advice on disassembling pallets and how to clean and prep pallets before painting)

I stacked 3 pallets on top of each other for the perfect seating-height , in an L-shape to fit the little nook in our garden...I put a couple of pallets upright along the back wall to create a back rest....

I had to cut down one of these pallets to fit, but other than that, it was pretty much like building with lego...

Unfortunately I have somehow managed to delete the pictures I took at this stage of the build, but as you would have to fit your own pallet seating (should you decide to give this a go) to a suitable area in your own garden, it is simply a case of playing around with the shape until you are happy...

Then I cut the bits of wood to cover my pallet seating base...

Unfortunately in the British climate, this sort of project outdoors can not be expected to survive the winter....So I am already planning on how to reuse the pallets when summer is over:

So apart from covering the pallets to hide the state of some of them, this will also give them some protection from the elements of nature.....So that I can reuse the "good" ones for future projects....I could of course have treated the pallets, by painting them, but we are also planning on chopping some of them up come winter, and using them as firewood...(We are planning on getting a wood burning stove installed in our front room ) so I didn't want to add to the chemical composition in the wood...

With my pallet seating area covered in (mismatched) wood...(up until now this project has not cost me a penny....not bad hey?)...it was now time to prettify it a bit...

 

A couple of coats of Exterior Satin paint in "Duck egg", not only brightened my seating area up, but will also add to the protection of the pallet wood...

I ordered some cut to measure foam from efoam.co.uk ,got some cheap fabric in the sale, that also happened to be in the colour "duck egg"...and sewed up some slip on covers on my pathetic mini sewing machine...(I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not a haberdashery sort of girl...)

 

On the back of the cover for the foam that will go along the back of the seating, I sewed on a strip of Velcro.....

...the Velcro will help keep the foam pad from falling down...

Placing the covered back-foam in place up against the back of the seating area, I marked off on the wood where the hook-bit of the Velcro would have to go to match the position on the foam...

Mr treated me to a new toy/tool....(Love you honi!!) A staple gun!!

First I applied some double sided tape along the line I'd marked out for placing the Velcro strip...

This will help keep the Velcro in place, and will also allow you to adjust the positioning to best match the position of the opposite Velcro on the foam pad...

When I was happy that the two Velcro strips matched up, I used my new gadget to secure the Velcro to the wood....

There we have it.....

 

 I also sewed up some new and colourful cushion covers to use on some old cushions I had laying about....

And voila: what used to be an obsolete corner of our garden, used for dumping things, has now been transformed into a comfy, shaded seating area to relax in over the summer...

 I spent £10 on the paint , and about £15 on the material...the foam cost £36...so creating this cosy nook in our garden, cost me in total just over £60....

...not bad hey?

 

I know I will be enjoying our garden so much more this summer now that We have somewhere to cosy up....and with all my hard work getting the garden up to scratch this week, I am really looking forward to spending some lazy summer days here!!

What do you think of my new garden seating area?

Fancy making your own?

I'd love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below!!

This was my last (scheduled) Saturday DIY tutorial for a while....as I will be taking some time out to enjoy the garden with Little Miss Moo (and of course poor Mr....when he's not working) over the summer holidays!! There may be the odd project or two, as I think it will be hard for me to quit making and crafting all together, but I also want to concentrate on my

NOSTALGIECAT SUMMER KIDS CLUB

 that will start next week...

So if you are looking for things to do with your kids over the summer holidays, pop by on Wednesday when I will be posting about creative boredom busters to keep the kids happy...

Happy Summer Everybody!!

xxx

June