Pinterest Inspired: DIY Pallet Wall

Hi. Hello!

Welcome to 2013.

Let me start this post off by saying I understand 2012 was the year of the almighty pallet and we're now in, ahem, 2013.

Pinterest gave us all things pallet board: DIY headboards, patio furniture, theater seating, shelves, coffee tables, staircases, picture frames, farmhouse tables--you name it, you can construct it with pallets. The minute I saw all of those projects on Pinterest, I swooned like a fat girl in front of a bowl of guacamole and tortillas chips.

That's major swoonage, guys.

And although this is a new year and we're all ready for the next big thing...if loving pallets is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Think about it--pallets are cheap, easy to come by, versatile and green. To be totally honest, I've never paid for my pallets. I've done my share of dumpster diving. I'm not afraid to get dirty.

And now, onto my project. As you know, my husband and I have like, a bajillion kids running around our home. By no means are we living in a mansion here. Our home is small. Cozy. Like, 1600 square feet or so of "coziness". We do our best to pare down our belongings so we'll have breathing room but let's be honest--you can only carve out so much living space before you start heading outdoors.

Thankfully, we live in Southern California where it's nice to be outside at least nine months out of the year. I wanted to carve out some sort of cool hang out spot so I could sip my herbal tea and read a magazine while the chil'rens were terrorizing the neighborhood with their bikes, skateboards, scooters and Nerf guns. My backyard is a virtual wasteland of dry grass and bike parts, so I knew I had to focus on the front yard first.

My son Cyan and I got busy one late summer evening and dragged out the outdoor furniture to a little nook in the driveway and set up this sweet little spot for us.

I love my familia!

It was great. Awesome. Cool. Sweet. Comfortable. Until I realized we had absolutely no privacy from the street. I took up this issue with my husband one night.

Me: We need a fence.
Husband: I've been saying that for years. We could build a wall right here. Install a water fountain right there. Put in a hammock. Install some speakers. I could paint a mural right here...
Me: Hol' up. Right now, I just want a fence so I can sit outside without a bra if I want to.
Husband: I can make it for you, Queenie. Let's get busy.

We knew we didn't want a permanent structure because it would block off our garage entrance. But we absolutely wanted to take advantage of our long driveway which basically eats up a ton of square footage in our yard. We spent many a night after the kids were in bed, sitting in the moonlight and staring at the driveway, trying to envision what we wanted. Brainstorming, if you will. I had a few ideas floating around my head involving pallets and some sort of makeshift room divider or privacy screen. I knew we were on to something.

The privacy screens from our local Panera Bread was our inspiration.

We just had to figure out how to secure the walls onto our driveway without breaking up the concrete.

Remember when I said I dumpster dive and get dirty? Okay, so sometimes I mean, I make my kids dumpster dive and get dirty.

We didn't want it to look like we just threw up a few pallets and called it "a fence". We aren't that bohemian. We wanted it to be creative and to look intentional but at the same time, not have the pallets look so spiffy that they didn't appear to be pallets anymore. No sanding, no staining, no painting. Just 100% pure pallet realness for you.

But all this required even more time sitting in the driveway under the moonlight, staring at our placement of the pallets, trying different configurations, making sure they looked legit. We settled on a pattern and Michael attached them to heavy-duty railroad ties, which he then secured onto the concrete.

Of course, you can still see through the pallets but I don't feel like every car that drives down my street knows my business.

When it was all said and done, we added a few succulents, planted a wisteria vine that will hopefully grow and trail over the fence next Spring, pulled up a few Adirondack-style chairs and now we're sitting pretty.

Don't forget to follow me @pearmama on Pinterest.