Monday, August 27, 2012

DIY: My Lowe's Creative Ideas Pallet Project


I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last blog post. I've been busy! I've been working my dental hygiene job, attended the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago, and I finished another Lowe's Creative Ideas project! Let's talk about the latter.

This month's theme was "Address the Mess." Well, there's no shortage of messes around here. "A place for everything and everything in its place" is a nice thought, but I'm not sure I'll ever manage to do it. But Lowe's motivated me to organize at least one thing - some of my garden tools.

Our largest garden is on "the back 40" of Our Little Acre and there are times when I simply don't want to walk all the way up to the garage or even to the front of the storage building we have near the pool, to get the garden tool I need. Usually it's pruners, a trowel, or a pair of gloves. So here's my little solution to that problem.


Pallets are hot. For years now, gardeners and other people have been making use of these free discards to create useful objects. Most gardeners plant them. I decided to use one to help me be more organized and keep certain gardening tools handy. I enlisted the help of my trusty assistant, Romie, because he's just so handy with power tools. Secretly, I think he likes playing with them, too. So I showed him what I wanted, and he obliged me.



Step One was to make a little compartment at the top of the pallet. He cut the top front board on the pallet to make a door.



































Then he cut pieces from another pallet to make a top and bottom for it. Hinges were attached, and I used magnetic closures to keep the door shut. A simple black knob on the door and that was complete. This was the hardest part of the entire project, but it wasn't really hard. Especially because Romie did it. 



I brushed the entire pallet with a metal brush to remove dirt and loose splinters.

Next, I took white Kilz primer (we had some left over from a previous home project) and dry-brushed the pallet with it to give it a weathered whitewashed look. Once that was dry, we attached a plant pot strip that I bought several years ago, but hadn't used for awhile.



Then came the tool hangers that I chose from Lowe's large assortment.



We hung it on the back of the building, on the east wall, using six wood screws. There's an eave that helps protect it from the rain, but there's also a large crab apple tree that will aid in keeping the rain from it, too. We rarely get a rain from the east anyway.

I planted the pots with petunias and begonias, and put my pruners and gloves in the compartment at the top. I think I'll stencil something on the blank space to the right of the compartment.



Voila!



Visit Lowe's Creative Ideas for more garden inspiration and great DIY ideas!







_____________________
Thanks to Lowe's for providing the gift card for the materials I needed to complete this project. Also to Ethel Gloves, Corona Tools (pruners), Clarington Forge (spades), and Dramm (hose and watering can) for the other gardening products shown in this blog post.  Oh, and I must also thank Troy-Bilt for the pallet, upon which my tiller arrived. :-)


21 comments:

Erin @ The Impatient Gardener said...

That is so cute and über cute, Kylie! Well done!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

This is one of the better ones I have seen Kylee. Good job Romie.

Shawna Lee Coronado said...

LOVE this idea. You pallet genius you!

Shawna

Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidnece said...

This is a pallet project even I can like...sorry, you know I'm not a fan of planted pallets. But THIS is CUTE! Helen

Susy Morris said...

Great storage place for those Ethel Gloves! Great project, so fun!

Kylee Baumle said...

Erin ~ Thanks, Erin!

Lisa ~ Thank you, Lisa! He's more than able, even if not always willing. LOL!

Shawna ~ Thanks, Shawna! I'm kind of pleased at how the whole thing turned out! :-)

Helen ~ I totally understand, Helen. Some are well done and some aren't. Glad you like this one! I feel honored!

Susy ~ You know they're my favorite gloves! :-)

Ed aka Recdiver. said...

Ed aka Recdiver ~ Nicely done. Tell Romie he does good assistant.

marmee said...

i love this and feel it is very doable. i have just the place for it now all i need is a pallet.
where do you think the best place to get a free pallet would be? dave is going to be so happy i have one more project i need help with.

thanks for sharing.

Kylee Baumle said...

Ed ~ That, he does! Glad you like it! Now go make one for Mia. :-)

marmee ~ I would try a home improvement store or anywhere that sells bags of salt for water softeners or lawn equipment. Any number of places are likely to be glad for you to take one off their hands! I'm sure Dave sits there just waiting for another project, doesn't he? ;-)

Diana said...

Fabulous! That's the kind of creativity Lowes wants with their program -- it's adorable. Don't we all want our tools to be exactly where we are when we have a gardening urge? I leave things everywhere, too, instead of in their place!

Kylee Baumle said...

Diana ~ This is so much better for me. The fewer steps to find things, the better! Thank you for your encouragement, Diana!

Anonymous said...

This is a great project. I'm thinking I could make one to hang inside my garage to help me organize my small garden tools. I could attach some clothespins for hanging wet gloves to dry.

browser said...

I cannot help but see a pallet, painted white and stuck onto a wall.?

Kylee Baumle said...

Anonymous ~ The clothespin idea for wet gloves is a great idea!

browser ~ Yep, it's a pallet!

Unknown said...

I came across this on pinterest and loved it so much I've featured it on my Fabulous Friday Finds I love so many of your ideas- following you on Twitter so I don't miss any!!

Amanda said...

So apparently Facebook doesn't always notify you when someone tags your FB page, so I thought I would let you know that I shared this with my FB fans :) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153280367750217&set=a.353593675216.349539.323548680216&type=1

Unknown said...

Because that's what it is.
But to me it gives off the vibe of a white picket fence
top

Anonymous said...

I love everything about this pallet project. I have made planters, used for fencing.

Tom Bradly said...

I love this project - so simple but really useful around the house! I have used some pallet wood for similar functions around the garden and loved it.

Unknown said...

This is such a great and very timely. I had a pallet leftover from a Menards delivery. My garage is a hot mess and my partner and I are thinking of ways to do low cost organizing using leftover wood we have in the garage already. This is perfect. Also allows me to use up a bit of paint I have hanging around in my crawlspace. Anything to keep from sending stuff to the landfill. Reuse, reuse, reuse.

Unknown said...

This is very timely. I have a pallet that came to me with a Menards delivery and I wanted to put it to good use. I also have a garage that is a hot mess from a summer of redefining my back garden and building a deck. I have lots of leftover lumber for shelves but this will be excellent for storing my everyday garden tools. Also allows me to use up a bit of paint I have hanging around my crawlspace.

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