I was asked by my daughter to make a wall-mounted bar with a drop-down counter to go on the wall next to their jacuzzi. The idea was while they are chilling on the spa, they can have a counter within reach for their drinks and snacks. The wanted it to be weatherproof so it could survive outside all year round, so using a pallet was definitely the way to go. As an extra bonus, I added the logo for my son in laws favourite sports team and their team chant.

Step 1: Cut Your Pallet

To start you will need a pallet in reasonably good condition. If you have a painted one it will be lots of work to sand it clean. Using a jigsaw or hand saw cut the pallet in half.

Step 2: Close in the Back

Because the bar will be outside permanently, I wanted to line the back to try and keep some of the spiders and dirt out. Using a thin piece of plywood, cut the wood to size to seal up the back of the bar. To fix the plywood to the back of the box, you can cut a scrap of wood and nail it to the back of the pallet. To fix the plywood to the back of the box, you can cut a scrap of wood to hold the plywood in place. Add glue and nail in place for extra support.

Step 3: Enclose the Top and Bottom

To close in the top and the bottom of the pallet, you can remove two slats for the leftover pallet and attached them to both side. This will stop some of the dust and rain getting inside the bar. The bottom shelf is what will hold all the bottles in place. In case any rain did get inside the box, you can add some holes using a hole saw. This will let the water run out and prevent the wood from rotting.

Step 4: Add Shelves

Using more offcuts of wood you can cut some wood to make shelves for the inside. To hang the shelves I cut small pieces of wood which were attached to the sides of the box for the shelf to sit on top of. It is a good idea to use a bottle to make sure you leave enough space for them before you fit the shelves.

Step 5: Cut the Counter

Cut a piece of wood to the correct size to fit inside the gap as your drop-down counter. This is where pallets can be frustrating, you can cut your wood straight but the pallet is not straight. In some areas, I had to use a sander and sand down the side to get it to fit inside the gap. You will also need to leave a slight gap for the hinges.

Step 6: Paint and Seal the Bar

You can now paint and decorate the drop-down counter the way you want it. Use a suitable outdoor paint and seal the whole bar with an exterior varnish. Because I used formply, I had to sand the surface off and use a primer before I painted. If your wood has a good and bad side put the bad side inside. I messed up and did mine the wrong way around. And thanks to COVID19 I could not pop out and get more paint, so I just went ahead.

Step 7: Add the Hardware

You can add some handles and a roller latch to the bar. The roller latch will keep the door closed when not in use. Add some hooks to the inside of the box and the drop-down counter to hold the counter in place when in use. The hooks and chain I used were not suitable. The hooks need to be bigger and the chain should be a solid link. The links on the chain I used opened up once the weight was applied to the counter. But I only found this out when I was testing if it was strong enough.

Step 8: Add Your Decal

I made some decals for the bar using a Cricut vinyl cutter, but you can buy decals online. And that was the bar complete.

Step 9: More Projects You May Like

This barn quilt headboard made up of lots and small pieces of wood cut to size and painted. Then put together like a jigsaw puzzle making up a unique design.