Garbage & Recycling Box

Want to hide that ugly garbage bin? 3 free pallets, some scraps of OSB, 1 afternoon and you can!

Rip 3 Pallets Apart

Make sure to get rid of any nails or rough or broken pieces.

Build a Box

Build a rudimentary box. I'm sure there's proper plans on the internet for this somewhere but I just winged it, and I'm NO carpenter. A couple cross braces at the top and bottom to hold your side walls together, and some center supports (if you want 2 compartments like I did). I used leftover scraps of OSB from our housebuilding project to make the top, bottom and back of the box.

Handy brad nailer did most of it, and some well-placed screws where a little more support was needed. Don't ask me if this is right, or proper, but it did the trick :)

I forgot to add that I clearly also laid pallet boards across the top over the OSB... just lay them out however you want and nail them into the OSB and the tops of your side walls.

Build a Door

Build the door by laying four measured and cut pieces of pallet wood on the ground, and nailing some cross pieces close to the top and bottom to hold them together.

Sand them down a bit if you want a cleaner look.

If you want your doors to tilt out, screw on a little OSB floor with some triangle-shaped pallet pieces to hold it together (professional sounding, I know!) You probably want to use some good screws here so the "floor" piece can hold the weight of a full garbage.

Add Some Handles and Hinges

Add some gate handles to the top cross braces and two spring-loaded hinges to the bottom of each door, and voila, you're in business. This box has been doing recycling/garbage duty for almost 3 years and has held up perfectly. I love it.