As someone who loves sign painting and canvas art, I needed a smart storage solution for my growing collection of small paint bottles in my new craft room. These compact wall shelves came together perfectly from the stringers and deck boards of small pallets my husband regularly brings home from work.
Materials & Dimensions
Each shelf uses hardwood pallet boards measuring 3 1/4 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. The side pieces were cut to 7 1/2 inches tall, giving the shelf an overall width of 15 inches — just right for lining up rows of small paint bottles without them tipping over.
Tools Used
- Pallet buster – for safely and efficiently breaking down pallets without wasting boards or straining your back
- Craftsman miter saw (secondhand find from a local Habitat Re-Store) – for precise crosscuts to length
- Orbital sander – for smoothing all pieces before assembly, removing splinters and rough grain typical of reclaimed wood
Build Steps
- Disassemble pallets carefully with the pallet buster to salvage clean, usable boards.
- Cut the side pieces to 7 1/2 inches and the front, back, and bottom boards to the 15-inch width.
- Sand every piece thoroughly with the orbital sander to prep the surfaces for glue and paint.
- Assemble the frame: one board across the front, two boards stacked across the back (for extra rigidity and a small lip to keep bottles from sliding out), and one board across the bottom as the shelf base.
- Apply wood glue to all joints, then predrill pilot holes to prevent the reclaimed wood from splitting.
- Secure the front boards using reclaimed nails salvaged from the original pallets, keeping the build fully upcycled.
I’m currently making several of these shelves to fully outfit my craft room paint storage — they’re inexpensive, sturdy, and a great way to repurpose pallet wood that would otherwise go to waste.
