Pallet wood is really hot last few years and especially this year. It’s so incredible what people come up with. There are a lot of furniture designs. So when I saw lighting design by Studiomama, made from pallets, it immediately caught my attention.
Studiomama, owned by designer Nina Tolstrup [interview on the herman miller life work blog], started the Pallet Project ‘life For 10, TEN, X project’ 5 years ago at 100% Design 2008. The idea was to create a product that could be made for £10 or less.

The first chair was made out of two pallets and 50 screws. The floor lamp made out of 1 pallet, 15 screws, a bolt, some reused cable and a light fitting. I think the floor lamp is fantastic, just because it’s so simple and minimalistic.

You can even make your own pallet wood furniture

Nina Tolstrup also wanted it to be a DIY project. That’s why she sells assembly instructions, in case you wish to make your own furniture. All you need is anything from part of a pallet to two full pallets and you can make your own for nearly pennies.

Photo © Studiomama

The Pallet Furniture was nominated for the Brit Insurance Furniture Award 2010 at the Design Museum, London. Nina Tolstrup is trained as a designer at the prestigious Les Ateliers school of industrial design in Paris and has a BA in Marketing from the Business School in Copenhagen. She’s designing products for companies while also taking a pro-active approach designing, manufacturing and selling her own designs under the Studiomama name.
It’s great to see that people are so enthusiastic about discarded pallet wood, but one should be a bit cautious. A few weeks ago I read an article called ‘Are Wood Pallets Safe for Reuse Projects? It Depends‘ at earth911.com. It turns out that this wood can often be contaminated with toxic chemicals, harmful bacteria and other icky bad stuff.
Nevertheless, best is to be aware and think before you use this wood if you want to make a DIY project.

Design by Studiomama