It’s no surprise how much we love pallets around here. That’s why we were so excited to find this folding desk made from a pallet! This is such a brilliant idea for a small space requiring a desk. It offers great storage and once closed only takes up the width of the pallet on the wall. Better yet, you don’t need to dissemble the pallet to make it. This is upcycled furniture at it’s finest!
This pallet folding desk is truly lovely. It’s also fairly easy to make. So go on and grab that pallet and let’s get upcycling.
How to make a pallet folding desk
1. Find a pallet, sand and stain it. This one is stained in a dark walnut. Allow your pallet to dry once stained.
2. The front of your folding desk with be the side of the pallet with fewer slats. Cut a piece of plywood to fit between the bottom two pallet slats on this side of the pallet.
3. Attach a piano hinge to the plywood board and bottom pallet slat. The hinge should be on the bottom of the desk.
4. Now add a window sash so that the desk can be latched closed when not in use. To do this simply attach one side of the window sash to the top of the plywood board and the other to the middle slat of the pallet.
5. Next you will want to add 2 assemble cables so that the desk is supported when in use. Your cables should be able to support 100 pounds. For this you will need cable hooks, crimps and eye hooks. Thread the eye hook and wrap the cable and crimp it as shown below. Repeat for the other assemble cable.
6. Attach the eye hooks to the top of the plywood desk.
7. Attach the other hook to a small wooden block just below the middle pallet slat. We recommend using wood glue for this. Repeat for the other side.
That’s it, you’re pallet folding desk is now complete!
Source: Thistlewood Farm
This was a great post, I’d love to make one for myself…do you have any ideas where I could find some affordable pallets in Cape Town? Gumtree and flea markets have not been very useful thus far…
Hi Ivan, keep your eyes peeled when you’re driving around. Once you’re looking for them you’d be surprised how many you find 🙂
I see pallets all the time in the free section of Craigslist. This is for Tulsa, though. Maybe ask a home improvement store, or any other store with large inventory, to see if they have any left over. Good luck!
Why would you stick a whole pallet on to your wall, necessitating the drilling of a bunch of deep holes, when you could just use the ‘desk’ section and a baton with the brass hinges?
The pallet itself offers next to nothing.
A+ for effort, but the whole affair seems a little pointless.
but looks loads better than a table top screwed to a wall…
I like the whole pallet otherwise would look like a baby changing station.