Reclaimed Pallet Wood Headboard

My girlfriend and I had decided on a project to revamp our main bedroom. After a lot of browsing the web we had a basic idea of what we want and came up with this idea. It is made of reclaimed pallet wood planks cut to different lengths and stained in different colours.

My girlfriend drew a plan in AutoCad to best determine the fitting of the wood and amount we needed.

After getting some cash back from out tax return we decided on what equipment to get. I wanted a table saw but we have a tiny garage so that would not work. After watching a lot of videos we decided on a circular saw which seems to be the most versatile all-around. For the price of the table saw we got a circular saw & sander with some extra cash to spend.

I don't have a preference when it comes to name brands, but the Makita's were on special at our local hardware store at the time and we were told they are sturdy machines.

The next step was to source the wood for the project. We originally wanted to get some pallets but after a lot of searching we found a place a few kilometers from our house that sells deconstructed pallets. That was the best option as neither of us were ready for the hard work of disassembling the pallets ourselves.

They sell different lengths and sizes of the reclaimed wood, and we picked up some longer, wider & thicker planks for our bed base project. (Will publish when it's finished).

For the headboard we settled on 1400mm x 75mm x 16mm planks cut to different lengths. We liked the staggered look but with some symmetry still prominent. The sizes are as follows:

1. 12 planks of 175mm x 75mm x 16mm
2. 10 planks of 525mm x 75mm x 16mm
3. 17 planks of 700mm x 75mm x 16mm

I got the idea for a crosscut jig from DIY Creators on Youtube, go check out the channel for some great projects and videos.

Unfortunately my crosscut jig is not as professionally made as the one below, but it still works very well and I can definitely recommend making one for yourself if you have to make a bunch of crosscuts.

(A mitre saw would probably still be easiest option, but for my project we didn't have space to accommodate a mitre saw).

After cutting to length and some sanding (pics before sanding) I laid out the headboard planks on the big plywood sheet 1750mm x 825mm x 4mm for a rough look.

Project starting to take shape!

Next step was down to getting the planks their different colours. We decided on a random-but-still-structured look for the different lengths and colours.

We used:

1. Clear Marine sealer (which we had leftover from a different refurbishment project
2. Honey wipe on stain
3. Ebony concentrate
4. Oak concentrate
5. Universal white undercoat paint.

The Ebony and Oak concentrate worked pretty well with instructions on the reverse of the lable, you mix some into the clear marine sealer and it changes the colour. For the Ebony it came out a deep black which I just rubbed off with a cloth to create a wash. We did the same with the White undercoat.

Here we just laid the Honey and Clear marine between the normal planks to see how it looks.

The actual fastening of the planks to the plywood was a bit of headache. I decided to screw them in from the back with screws short enough not to poke through the front.

Each layer of planks had to be screwed into place before the next layer could be added, and so forth. With the extra weight of the planks to the quite flexible plywood sheet, it started to buckle and bend. I was scared it was going to break before I could finish the project and after finishing the layout I screwed in two support braces from the back. This added a lot of support and we can comfortably haul the headboard up and down the garage as we need.

(All that's needed is to add longer beams to the side that will be the legs of the headboard which will be fastened to the base for added strength).

Here you can see the finished product (except the final beams for legs).