This Girl Is On Fire......

I should be painting... I should be painting... I should be painting...

Thats what I keep telling myself. I began transforming my sons incredibly bright purple room the beginning of the month. SO HARD to cover; Even with the good expensive paint. Ive made it through 2 of the 4 sections and am just so over painting.  I keep saying my mantra, but then I keep thinking of all the other projects I have wanted to be doing.... dog bed, personal workspace, and what todays post is about; a firewood shed.

Ive seen many posts on Pinterest about storing firewood, however a majority of them do not have any kind of cover. Which we would prefer. Nothing worse than wanting a fire some random evening, and my husband states "It rained yesterday, the wood is to wet.. HATE THAT.

So.. Remedy the situation we shall.

I found THIS pin on Pinterest using nothing but pallets and 2x4's.  Seemed easy enough, however I'm huge on making this look as pretty as possible, even if its just something thats meant to be functional.

I sat down with hubby and we figured out how many pallets, 2x4's and plywood we would need.

In total:

7 - Pallets-
8 - 2x4's
1- Plywood sheets- Cut in half
2- pieces pine board (they were left behind my previous owner)
2- Bundles shingles (left behind by previous owner)
1- qt exterior paint



I started by running to our local Lumber Liquidators. They Leave pallets up for the taking near the back of their packing lot. I was only able to cram 5 into my Grand Cherokee, so hubby picked up the other to the following day.

We started by laying them out how we would put them together. 

2 pallets lengthwise on the bottom, 2 on the back,  1 on each side, and one piece in the middle 

The Next step was to attach them on together. We did this by laying a 2x4 lengthwise across the front and backs. We use 3inch outdoor screws for this part. 

As you can see in the picture above. We then cut some pressure treated 2x4's to lay along each side and the middle. This is where we would attach the sides and middle. 

It was somewhat tricky. Im new with using the drill, and going in at an angle to make sure everything would be connected was a little tough. Once hubby shared with me I could turn the drill off warp speed and go a little slower, things went better. Also, for the newer DIY'er, pressure treated wood is harder to drill into than standard wood. So don't get to frustrated. Also, an impact driver made this step ALOT easier for me. 

To give the roof we would add a little slant, We took the back 2x4 and played it flat when we attached it. 

The piece in the front we laid sideways and had to screw at an angle to attach it. You could also just as easily add a taller cut 2x4 to the front sides before attaching if you wanted a deeper angle.

After we had connected all the the pieces, it was time for a roof. Thats the whole point of this project. Wanting to have a fire on a random Tuesday night, but not having to hear 

"Sorry, we can't; the wood is wet "

We picked up a standard piece of plywood and asked Home Depot to cut it in half. 

Hubby is nice and tall and was able to drill it on. The nice part about using a standard piece cut in half, is it left a "Lip" over the project. So there is some overhang on each side. will help the wood stay dryer. 

 Hubby found a few random bundles of shingles left. behind from the old owner. So we got to work and made a small roof over the plywood.

                               

While we did use pressure treated 2x4's, pallets are not pressure treated, and while I don't expect this bad boy to last for ever, I wanted to give her a fighting chance. I bought a standard off the shelf can of white exterior paint, and the kids helped me paint a few coats. Will add some protection, and also took away the look of just standard pallets. 

Hubby found a few random pieces of pine in our basement and cut them to fit front to add some trim. 

 

In the end, its not the most beautiful wood storage ever created, however it cost under 40$ between the wood, screws, paint, etc etc. 

We had a cord of wood delivered this weekend. Some for camping, and some for here at home. This Pallet Woodshed was able to hold more than half that wood. 

I now do not have to lose out on a great evening fire due to wet wood. 

Huge thanks to my husband for helping me plan out the crazy idea that I was clueless on and for helping me assemble the project. 

Hope you enjoyed!

Blessings!