Boho Pallet Table

Hi Friends!

I have so many DIY projects going on right now that it’s getting a little overwhelming… I’m sure a lot of you can relate, right? I’m forcing myself to wrap up the smaller projects before I dive into anything new, and I wanted to share a quick update I did this weekend on the pallet table we have on our deck.

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I built the pallet table about 7 years ago from 2×4 and 4×4 scraps left from building our deck and pergola. Basically, I build a frame from the pressure-treated wood and the tabletop was a large rectangular pallet. It was a super-simple project, you can find the details in THIS blog post. A few years later I decided to add a large mandala stencil design, you can find the details HERE.

The table held up great for about 6 years, but last year the pallet wood finally rotted and fell apart. The pressure-treated frame was fine, so we just had to replace the pallet. Luckily, I still had a few hanging around in my garage.

Last week I decided to add a mandala design to the new top. Unfortunately, the huge stencil I used the first time around was inadvertently destroyed in my basement, so I used a smaller one I originally bought for THIS project. You can find it on the StencilsLab Etsy shop HERE.

I used exterior paint and a stubby stencil brush for the design.

I am by no means a stencil wizard, but from my experience, the key to success is taking your time and making sure to dab your brush on a paper towel or rag before applying it to your piece – it’s definitely a dry brush technique. If you try to add a lot of paint at once it will look blobby and messy.

Once I got the mandala in the center done, I played around with possible design ideas. I originally thought I would do a random pattern of smaller mandalas, but then I found a bunch of Moroccan-looking border patterns in my stencil stash. I originally used them on the risers on the steps to my deck.

My one piece of advice if you’re stenciling a border pattern is to start in the middle. The first row I did is the top one in the photo below. I started at the end and worked left to right. When I finished, I realized it makes more sense to start from the middle, that way your design will run off the edges on both sides instead of just one.