What are pallets? And why should anyone care? Is a good question being asked a lot since Pinterest came into popularity. Pallets are used and abused wooden platforms used in conjunction with machines to move heavy loads around warehouses and stores. A surging DIY movement is bringing these pieces of equipment out of obscurity and into people’s homes as popular do it yourself foundations.

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A classy wood dining table can add a simple, rustic look to decor. A nice indie bird backdrop only accentuates the mood. Everyone loves kitchen islands, and huge (EXPENSIVE) granit counter tops. Why not create a pallet island, skip the granite, and have an awesome conversation starter that costs almost nothing? Pallets are durable. This means they can easily be kept outside on a patio without worry of them falling apart, just like the beautiful patio table pictured above.

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Now these are coffee tables! It doesn’t take an incredible amount of skill to put together a gorgeous pallet table, since the pallets themselves are already put together. Then again, there’s always a way to make something easy… way more difficult. Adding a drawer will create a more unique and complex table with some storage space. If you’d like to stick to the easy road, just stack two pallets and add some pre-made wheels.

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The Victorian style of having library walls covered in rich, old growth forest wood, polished to a sheen and carved into intricate designs is just not that practical any more. Enter the pallet walls pictured above; two walls appointed with the naturally aged and personality-filled wooden slats torn from retired wooden pallets.

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A little creativity can turn a pallet into the perfect addition to a kitchen. The appeal of real wood is universal. Using wooden slats, one can form a beautiful shelf to hold anything from magazines, to plants, to a fine wine collection.

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When green thumbs find themselves with limited space, they have to get creative. With only the slightest modifications, retired pallets can become the perfect vertical greenhouses, as their slats turn into tiered shelving ideal for crawling plants or vegetables.

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The possibilities of pallet furniture are endless. A modern atmosphere can be accentuated with a carefully manicured pallet couch, and an outdoor space with an informal air can be made more unique with a simple chair. Making pallet stools is surprisingly easy (and colorful), and a TV stand comes as no surprise for the pallet aficcionado. Even an elegant dresser can be formed out of one of the most mundane products of our “better in bulk” culture. Pallet reuse is definitely great for the environment, and great for home design.

Thin enough to slide under your door yet able to transform into full-size tables, chairs, bookcases and more, flat-pack furniture isn’t just incredibly clever. This modern rethinking of furniture assembly is super-convenient, using slots and tabs rather than tools and fasteners. Best of all, flat-pack furniture is often made from a single piece of material and gets green points for ultra-compact shipping.

Typography-Inspired ‘Chair’ Chair

(images via: swiss miss)

With all of the pieces in front of you, there’s absolutely no doubt what this collection of flat-pack components is meant to create. Somehow, it just works out brilliantly that each letter in the word ‘chair’ happens to be ideally shaped, with an A as the back, a C as a seat and the R and H serving as legs stabilized by an I.

Flat-Pack Modular ‘Pizza Box’ Furniture

(images via: coroflot)

Imagine getting a pizza box dropped off at your door and magically turning it into a full-sized desk. Well, not a pizza box, exactly – more like an insanely clever pack of cardboard pieces that fit together into various configurations. Each set contains five slotted board modules that can be connected with other sets to create all manner of storage space, tables, benches and more.

Packing Boxes Double as Furniture

(image via: yanko design)

Let’s say you’re on the move a lot – so much, that it barely seems worthwhile to have any furniture. Enter ‘Move’ – moving boxes that, once emptied of your belongings, can be folded into chairs and bedside tables. “Move is a packing box which can be folded and reused as furniture once it is unpacked,” says designer Janine Perkuhn. “Re-usage and eco-material make Move sustainable and inexpensive at the same time. Corrugated cardboard is bio-degradable, 100% recyclable and yet extremely stable.”

All-in-One Flat-Pack Room

(image via: kapteinbolt)

Functional furniture and privacy in a dorm, loft, office or other open living/working environment rarely go together in a way that’s simple and stylish, but this flat-pack room set makes it possible. Two standard-size plywood boards on hinges have perforated sections that fold out to form bookcases, work surfaces and a bed/seating area. Lightweight and easy to move around at will, they can be combined into modular rooms that act as dividers, but retain an airy feel.

Doca Autunno Graphic Flat-Pack Table & Bookcase

(images via: cubeme)

Colorful, fun and lightweight, the Doca Autunno flat-pack table folds together from a single piece of cardboard like origami. Put more than one $65 unit together, and you can create bookcases that are surprisingly sturdy given the seemingly impermanent nature of the material.

Space-Saving Fold-Out Furniture Mat

(images via: shin yamashita)

One of the biggest challenges of small-space living is figuring out how to arrange furniture so that it folds up out of the way, but is also easily accessible. The ‘Land Peal’ fold-out furniture mat by Shin Yamashita packs an incredible amount of function into what’s essentially an area rug. A desk, a chair, a lamp and other furniture components emerge from its folds for a mini-room ideal for the tiniest of living spaces.

Flat-Pack Antiques by Studiobility

(images via: design sponge)

Let’s face it, flat-pack furniture is not generally made for those with romantic tastes. It’s modern and minimalist, lacking the decorative details that many people crave. But this set of “flatpack antiques” by Icelandic design firm Studiobility’s curvy legs and subtle raised patterns maintain flat-pack convenience while also offering a little something extra in the looks department.

Tool-Free Flat-Pack Furniture for the Non-Handy

(images via: ojadesign)

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could forgo the nightmarishly vague instructions and pile of tools, and simply assemble furniture using slots and tabs? This set of flat-pack furniture not only minimizes waste by creating all the pieces out of a single sheet of plywood, but makes them incredible simple to set up.

Fold-Out Table to Small, Light Portfolio

(images via: roberthalsbeck)

Despite their space-saving abilities, fold-up tables still aren’t exactly easy for a single person to carry from one location to another. This folding desk, display counter or kitchen table by Robert Halsbeck has an intuitive design that utilize the legs as a convenient carry handle, with the whole package no larger than a portfolio.

Green Flat-Pack Office Furniture for 400

(images via: unplggd)

How do you furnish a gigantic warehouse of office space for 400 employees – without racking up a whopper of a carbon footprint? A design firm called ‘Because We Can’ came up with an ingenius solution: making the whole kit and kaboodle flat-pack, from conference tables and benches to cubicle hooks and document bins.

Interactive  Puzzle-Piece Modular Furniture

(images via: monolectif)

Furniture that fits together like a puzzle isn’t just visually stimulating, it’s fun to put together as well – and this plywood furniture series by Paul Bellila even allows you to try your hand at creating some organic and unexpected shapes.

Flat Jack Bookcase Transformation

(images via: apartment therapy)

From three notched sections of X-board to a bookcase in minutes – check out the transformation of the Flat Jack, which is made with 100% post-consumer paper waste. This award-winning design cuts back on materials and drastically reduces shipping weight, earning designer Ross Gardam the Living Edge award for sustainability.