Some of the most valuable and interesting wood materials you can use are the ones you perhaps think about the least.

With our 15 years of experience working with scaffolding, we are more than aware not only of the functional capabilities of scaffold planks but also their character, heritage and beauty in the right hands. 

However, there is another type of wood that is similarly fascinating to us, and that is pallet wood.

Amongst the most common and most overlooked types of wooden boards out there, wooden pallet boards are rich in character, designed to survive the harshest possible conditions in the world, which creates an immediate story that looks fantastic when paired with an industrial room design.

How can you turn a bunch of slats designed for a forklift to move into a shipping container into a chic set of furniture and fixtures fit for a luxury flat? We have five options of varying degrees of challenge for someone into DIY, confident enough with a hammer and willing to dedicate some time to perfecting the finish.

Before we get into those, however, why does pallet wood even matter?

What makes pallet wood so amazing is that whilst almost everyone relies on it in one way or another, and many people see it or use it in their day-to-day lives, very few people actually notice it.

A wooden pallet is a flat platform which is designed to be lifted by a forklift or jack, onto which basically anything can be loaded onto it and strapped into place. Practically anything you buy online or in a big shop has spent some time strapped on a pallet in a shipping container on a giant boat.

Whilst they can be made of other materials, nearly all pallets are made from wood, as they can be dismantled, repurposed and recycled after use.

Because of this, the aesthetic qualities of a pallet are secondary to its raw strength, and that makes it fascinating for use in crafting and design.

Despite its look, wear and tear, pallet wood is very high quality; in 1995, the guitar luthier Bob Taylor made a guitar out of pallet wood to prove the point that you do not need luxury (and increasingly rare) hardwoods to make good guitars.

If you can make a guitar out of pallet wood, you can make basically anything, but here are five ways to not only use pallet wood but celebrate its look, style, versatility and the many oil finishes we offer.

Along with scaff brick, pallet wood is perfect for cladding in an industrial loft for most of the same reasons that scaffold board is ideal for use in cladding.

Any industrial interior design is a celebration of the hard work and hard-wearing materials that made it possible, and there are few better ways to cover that story than through an accent wall covered in pallet wood.

The key to the best results with pallet wood is both in the sanding and oil finish you use to accentuate its texture and grain, as well as in celebrating the seams and imperfections.

A pallet board is often made from a variety of different planks of wood nailed together out of convenience and necessity. After all, the aesthetics of a pallet board are secondary to its function of carrying huge amounts of SKUs of consumer goods.

As with other core parts of industrial design, those functional imperfections are exactly what make them beautiful and what brings together the mix of rustic and industrial design that we have grown to adore so much.

In some respects, a pallet is already an optimal design for a square coffee table, with its two-tier design designed to take the strain of some of the heaviest loads in the world.

It stands to reason, therefore, that you can fill in the gaps found with a typical pallet design, add a set of legs such as our infinitely stylish hairpin design, add an oil finish or sealant, and you have a perfectly functional, robust and unique coffee table.

We have a full set of legs to choose from, as well, so you have a lot of scope to customise your pallet wood table and create a beautiful conversation starter.

Whether you have experience with building wooden furniture or this is your first project, a square or rectangular table is a great place to start building these carpentry skills, and our pre-sanded, oil-finished pallets provide the perfect place to start.

For a project that is a little more complex but extremely rewarding, building a sofa, armchair or comfortable living room bench out of pallet wood is a hard-wearing, durable, but very comfortable conversation starter.

As Ideal Home notes, pallet wood is typically the perfect type of wood to work with, being malleable enough to get creative with even manual tools. A saw, nails or glue and a drill are often enough to get you started.

Whilst a pallet wood sofa can be as simple as putting two pallets (or pallet wood boards fitted together to make a pallet) together to act as the seat and the backboard before adding seat cushions and soft furnishings to perfect the look, there are projects as elaborate or as simple as you are comfortable with.

Whilst we provide dedicated shelf kits for scaffold boards, using pallet wood instead can provide some very similar, beautiful rustic industrial looks, whilst being slightly thinner and narrower.

This can make them perfect for hallways, narrow kitchens, and even airing cupboards and small storage spaces where shelving space is useful but at a premium.

With rustic wood wall art having a moment in the spring sun, turning pallet wood into a canvas to paint motivational messages, signage, or even a map is a perfect place to start in using pallet wood to personalise your home.

The key to wall art like this is authenticity; use authentic boards and paint it yourself, either freehand or with stencils, to create a sentimental and special piece.

For more design inspiration, explore our collection of fresh and kiln-dried pallet wood boards, with each board built to last and carry a timeless rustic style with it.