With the rise in people having the option to work from home, you may want a workspace that feels new and separate from the rest of your home. Garden offices could be the perfect solution as it offers you the flexibility of a specified workspace without having to leave your home. You could even add indoor heaters to add a further level of comfort to it.
But for the green-conscious among us, how can we inject some sustainability into our garden office? In this article, we’ll look at how recycling pallets into furniture can equip your space going forward.
Pallet desks
For most workspaces, a desk is an absolute necessity. A stable surface saves the hassle of working from your lap or worse, the floor. A good-quality wooden desk is likely to be expensive, which is why building your own may be a great alternative.
Pallets are a great choice, as they’re inexpensive and can be modified to your needs in a number of ways. There’s plenty of inspiration out there for what you can build. Whether you want it to be adjustable so you can stand and sit at it on command, have it mounted to the wall, or even a low-set desk, the possibilities depend on what you want.
For a more traditional style desk, all you’ll need is a pallet and anything that can be used as an even set of legs for it to stand on. This can range from lengths of wood bought from any home improvement shop to another pallet or two that are the same height. With a few nails and screws, you can have a desk that stands comfortably, ready for whatever you’re to work on. You could even sand down the surface or add a sheet of glass for a smooth finish, or a layer of wood polish if you have one you love the look of.
If there’s leftover wood and a smaller pallet, you could even build a small side table for any small trinkets, lamps, or books. This can avoid clutter on your main desk and means you cut down on waste.
Pallet lounging chairs
One of the main attractions of working from home is that you don’t have to work in the same environment as the office. As much as we’d like to, we can’t replace our office chairs with something comfier like an armchair or a chaise longue. But when working from home, we have the option to stand up and relocate ourselves to a more relaxed seat, which might help us focus.
Adding a lounge chair to your garden office could it make it feel more homely. In this tutorial from Freckles, some cushions, a coat of paint, and some sanding turned two standard pallets into a great outdoor lounger. You can really make this project your own with your choice of colour for the paint and designs for the cushions for a chair that matches the interior of the office or brings its own unique punch.
Pallet storage
Every office has bits and pieces lying around causing clutter. There are plenty of ways pallets can be recycled into storage pieces to house any errant chargers, cables, or stationery that needs a home.
A chest of drawers is a great addition for storage in workspaces and can be made using leftover pallets and any basic hinges available at hardware shops. The more pallets you have available, the more storage you can create from nothing. And thanks to the internet, you have access to build walkthroughs right at your fingertips.
But it doesn’t stop there! Have some extra trinkets or framed pieces you want to display above your workstation? You can turn the pallets into shelves or shelving units to mount on the wall for an added level of storage.
There are tonnes of ways you can give your garden office a breath of rustic personality. DIY not only does this but gives you more freedom in how the items are built and how they look. Pallets are versatile in how you can recycle them into something new. You could build yourself an adjustable desk, a relaxed lounger, or several storage facilities to make your garden office feel more like a workspace.