Today I wanted to share the DIY Pallet Kitchen Island Work Table that we made for our little farmhouse style home. It was actually a project we built in our last house, and while I do have plans to build a larger island that will have a butcher block counter, this one looks great in our farmhouse kitchen. It was such a super easy DIY, and made from one of my favorite reclaimed materials: Pallets! See my post HERE to see my tips and tricks for which pallets to use & how to dissemble them.

My husband built me this piece as a worktable. It was such a quirky little piece of furniture, and I actually really disliked it when he was building it. I told him we didn’t have a good place for it. But now it’s one of my favorite pieces in our house. It’s funny how that always seems to happen to me.

I love how the wood is weathered and uneven. We did sanitize it with bleach and soap, and sanded it all down so it would be super smooth.

It really pulls those authentic rustic farmhouse vibes together in our kitchen.

We don’t actually use it for food… especially since it’s made with… pallets. But it’s a great place to throw stuff on when we get home, etc.

One of the best parts is that is has this lovely worn, rustic beauty to it. The kind that has seen the good side of one hundred years. While I paint almost everything white, I LOVE the look of natural wood.

So for all of you people who have been asking me for the how to, here it is finally! YAY! And if you are like us, and just have a saw, some screws and a drill on hand, you can make it for free if you hit the jackpot and find some pallets.

Don’t know where to find pallets for free? Read my post HERE on where I get mine, along with all the red flags you should be aware of.

Step One:

Cuts:

Two 2×4’s 20″ long.

Four 2×4’s 36″ long.

Screw the 20″ boards flush to the edges of the 36″ long legs.

Step Two:

Cuts:

Two 2×4’s 48″ long.

Wrap the outside of the legs with the 48″ boards, flush with the ones from step one.

Step Three:

Cuts:

2×4’s 17″ long.

Add a shelf support board in between both sides of the legs, screwing in from the outside of the legs.

Step Four:

Cuts:

Two 2×2’s 17″ long.

Now add a 2×2″ board running on the outer edge of the shelf support to act as a ledge.

Step Five:

Cuts:

Two 2×4’s 38.5″ long.

Run two boards in between the two shelf supports and screw in. You can do pocket holes for this or even use brackets.

Step Six:

Cuts:

Two 2×4’s 20″ long.

Run two supports in-between the top, outer boards.

Step Seven:

Cuts:

Three 2×6’s 24.5″ long.

Run shelving boards across the supports for the shelf part.

Step Eight:

Cuts:

Two 2×4’s 48″ long.

Three 2×6’s 48″ long.

Add boards across the top.And you are done!

You want to hear the funny thing? So I didn’t like it at first, but then I was looking through Pottery Barn and Billiards Designs catalogs and I saw basically the same structure, but for hundreds of dollars… you bet I told my husband I loved him after that. Haha! So I’ve learned my lesson & I let him do his own thing when building furniture. He knows what he’s doing.