Wooden Pallet Art...

So, as I have mentioned at least twice in previous posts, I love Pinterest, and get a lot of ideas from my virtual boards. It's not just home decor that I have gotten inspiration from Pinterest, but also crafts, recipes, fashion ideas etc. After pinning ideas for sometime, I decided I needed to get started on some of these projects.

My first major project that was inspired by pinterest were the drop cloth curtains that Matt and I made for our living room which you can see here. This next project is in the living room too. I wanted to turn the pile of pallets into some great art for the living room.

We have this great expanse of wall behind the TV in the living room.  I've always had a difficult time filling.  Most things that I choose are too small and and make the room look unfinished.  For a long time, I had a ladder hanging on the wall, which I loved that you can kind of  see in this old picture. 

I've been thinking of something to update the focal wall in the living room, and I started pinning pallets.  I seem to have an affinity for decorating with industrial objects. 

First, we had to find a pallet.  Matt was going to check at work, but one day at an electric store down the road from our house, we hit the motherload.  Middletown Electric frequently puts out used pallets and these huge wooden spools that they roll wire on and they are free for the taking.  We could not find one pallet that was whole which also didn't look too new, so we grabbed two pallets of similiar shape and weathering and threw them in the back of the truck. 

With a little elbow grease, Matt was able to remove an extra slat from
the pallet we were not using and...

he removed the broken slats from the pallet
that I wanted to hang on the wall...

Here is it, looking as good as new after adding the new slat to it!

Matt used four #8-10 screws and the #8-10 anchors to hang it on the wall. He estimates that they hold 50lbs each and since the pallet did not weigh 200lbs he thought it would be well supported. Sorry I do not have pictures of the hanging process...hubby does not like heights and let's just say he wasn't agreeable to a photo-op while standing on a ladder trying to hang a 100lb pallet on the wall for his crazy wife!  Here is what it looks like hanging on the wall, without the picture frames inside. 

Yeah, I thought since it wasn't hanging in the kitchen or dining room, that plates or serving ware wouldn't be very appropriate unlike my inspiring pins.  By the way, the prints on either side of the pallet are from Target (of course).  I bought them over the summer.  They were originally $45 a piece, but after watching them on clearance and checking at two different stores I was able to score both of them for $12.48 a piece! As for decorating the inside I decided on white frames.  I had a few extra lying around the house and on a recent trip to Ikea I picked up a few more frames in varying sizes.  I bought eight more frames for $20.  Most of the smaller frames you will see cost $1.99, which I why I love Ikea so much!  Here is the pallet from a few different angles...

And here are some close ups...

Just a few details: the large prints on the sides from the pallet are from Target, as well as the largest white frame inside the pallet.  The rest of the frames are from Ikea.  From the left of the pallet starting at the top, is a cobalt blue glass bottle I had on hand from Ikea.  Next I strung three skeleton keys from inside the shadow box frame.  The black and white print is of the Brooklyn Bridge that I found in a clearance bin at our local grocery store.  On the bottom is a quote from Harry Potter because I am obsessed a fan.  The middle one is from an old calendar of Paris that I have, and finally the last is a print from Ikea. 

I love it, and I am happy that it is finished. Let me know what you think!