*AD: This post is sponsored by Very.co.uk and contains gifted items.
It’s been seven whole years since I built our DIY pallet seating for the garden and every year since we’ve continued to make changes to improve this corner of the garden. There’s now a DIY brick fire pit, some gravel, a DIY garden mirror featured for a while, a pond and recently we’ve even added a little fence too. However, I’m not going to lie, the pallet seating itself isn’t looking as fresh as it once was. After all, it has been seven years! So I thought it was about time to revamp this area of the garden and give the pallet seating some much-needed TLC.
This pallet seating was actually one of the first DIYs I ever did and it’s far from perfect. If I was building this now, there are several things I would do differently, both design-wise and build-wise. I’d definitely have added some storage, built it slightly bigger and maybe have had a slight recline on the backrest too. I’ve learnt a lot about DIY over the last seven years and I’m definitely a better DIYer now than I was then, but even with its imperfections, I’m still really pleased with this build, it’s had A LOT of use over the years and was most definitely worth it!
However, seven years on, it needs a bit of repairing. One of my regrets with this DIY was the stain I used, which has worn pretty badly and has needed sanding back for years (but never had the time!). If I was to build this again now, I would use an oil treatment which I personally prefer. These absorb into the wood, rather than leaving a layer on the top. I personally think this is easier to maintain with re-applications as it doesn’t ‘wear’ as a stain can. As I haven’t kept up with wood treatment, some of the wood now isn’t in the best condition.
Repairing the Pallet Seating
You can see the slats on the seat look dreadful, but underneath that, there’s also slight rot on some of the pallets too. This is probably where there’s been standing water – and this is probably my own fault for not keeping up with wood treatment and also not covering the seating over winter.
Anyway, I removed all the seat slats as well as the entire row of top pallets. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any pallets to do a like-for-like replacement, so instead, I decided to use some tanalised timber that I had leftover from my recent basement workbench build. I essentially built a rectangular frame, the same size as the seating and then screwed this onto the pallets beneath.
As for the seating slats, again I had no pallet wood for that, so instead decided to opt for some decking boards instead, but turned over so the grooved side is face-down.
I also used my off-cuts to replace the fire pit lid too.
Painting the Pallet Seating
The decking boards worked really well for this, but you can see it all looks quite mismatched and the remaining pallet wood also doesn’t look at its best. Sanding these back was WAY too time-consuming for me, so instead, I decided to give the pallet wood some colour! Very have a great selection of exterior garden paints where I chose Rustoleum’s Garden paint in the colour Serenity for this. I had actually anticipated this to be a darker green, but I think this colour works really well.
I’ve left the decking boards unpainted as I quite like the contrast. I do plan, however, to treat them with this clear decking oil, which we use on our actual decking. I also gave the fire pit a fresh coat of paint too, again using Rustoleum’s garden paint but this time in Evening Blue.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering what happened to the mirror above the pallet seating – unfortunately, it was quite heavy and I really worried about the fence it was attached to in stormy weather. So sadly it had to go, but don’t worry, I’ve simply moved it to another spot in the garden instead.
Adding Some Finishing Touches
After painting and revamping the pallet seating, I decided to add a few new plants, some lights, bunting and a whole bunch of fun and colourful cushions, all from the home and garden range at Very. I think these extras really help make this area feel cosier and it’s now summer-ready!
I absolutely love the outdoor cushions in particular, they’re showerproof, the quality is fantastic and some of them even have two different patterns on either side (like in the photo below!). I think the watermelon ones are my personal favourite and I plan on using all of these in our conservatory when they’re not outside. They’re simply too gorgeous to be stored away for use in summer alone!
In front of the pallet seating is a pond, which is still a little unfinished, but it makes for a lovely view when sitting on the seating. We’ve added a fence for safety with a toddler running around and plan to extend the flower bed in front of this, so the pond is almost hidden when you look out into the garden. It makes this area a real unexpected surprise and a little spot of peacefulness in an otherwise chaotic garden full of toddler toys!
The lights are a great addition for the evenings and add a lovely gentle glow, allowing us to use this spot even when the sun has gone down. We also hope to use more of the fire pit this summer as it hasn’t had any use for nearly 2 years now (that’s having a baby for you!).
So that’s our pallet seating area refreshed, revamped and massively improved. All we need now is some warm summer evenings and a glass of wine or two. If you’re looking for some outdoor decoration this summer, then I definitely recommend checking out Very.
Let me know what you think of this new look!
*This blog post was sponsored by Very.co.uk and contains gifted items. All words and opinions are my own.
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