This DIY Couple Built the Coolest Backyard Bar for Almost Nothing — Here’s How

In Family Handyman‘s series DIY Diaries, real DIYers share the projects they’re most proud of. They recount the full story—from laying out the initial plans and wrestling with frustrating setbacks to celebrating their proudest moments. These candid accounts reveal the true ins and outs of DIY, and will leave you with practical tips that’ll give you the confidence to conquer your next build.

This is a special installment of DIY Diaries because the interview subject is my dad, Ed Wright! He and I have been a DIY team since I was a toddler. Literally! I was barely two when he started having me help him with drywall during a remodeling project. Plus, one of my earliest memories is helping him build a swing set in the backyard.

Just like my dad was the catalyst for my DIY journey, his dad is the reason he got into DIY. His father developed arthritis very young. He knew how to build and fix all kinds of things, but his hands didn’t let him do the projects alone. Ed and his brother would spend their weekends being their dad’s “hands,” and he’d talk them through how to take on that week’s repair project. Ed says these experiences taught him that anytime they hit a roadblock, the best attitude to take was “it’s not insurmountable.”

His DIY experience carried him through several projects of all scales around the house. It even landed him on the set design team when I was in high school performing in the annual musicals. Since meeting my mom, his wife Jan, they’ve become a DIY team. They get their inspiration from stuff they see on their travels. If Jan likes something, the two of them “figure out if we can do something similar at home.” Ed says she’s an incredible teammate because “she just sees the stuff and we go, ‘Yeah, we can do that!’ She’s got the eye for that.”

The Project Stages

This pallet bar project came about because Ed and Jan had just re-landscaped part of the yard after dealing with a sewer line issue. After they finished installing the paver stones, they noticed that the pallets the pavers arrived on were in really good condition. Jan saw a pallet bar idea on Pinterest and suggested they try to build one themselves.

The pair also realized they could personalize the pallet bar using Ed’s old license plate collection. “There’s a story behind every plate,” he says. Most are connected to a place we’ve been to or that friends we’ve visited. The vision was to build the bar and then decorate the front with as many of the license plates as would fit.

How long did it take to build this pallet bar?

All in all, the project took “two or three weekends to finish.” Ed and Jan started by figuring out the dimensions. The pallets stretched eight feet when put together and the pair wanted the bar top to be longer. So, they settled on ten feet. A trip to the local independent lumber yard yielded some nice pine that Ed and Jan stained a dark color. They then sealed it with polyurethane “to make it durable.”

Once the staining was done, Ed assembled the top. He took extra time when building the pallet bar to ensure the screws were only visible from one side. Then, he assembled the pallets, added some legs, mounted the top, and mounted the plates.

The bar is still occasionally acquiring new features “as inspiration strikes”. It currently sports LED lighting underneath, a later addition, as well as a bottle opener and a bottle-top catcher on one side. It remains to be seen what the next “upgrade” will be.

Were there any setbacks you had to overcome?

The pallet bar sits in a part of the yard that isn’t completely level. As a result, initially, the bar top “was flexing too much.” To solve this, Ed added black iron pipes for reinforcement because “it was easier to level the bar than the yard.” The pipes on one side are shorter than the other to account for the uneven terrain. Ed declares that “the top is now leanable.”

What’s one aspect of this project that intimidated you until you tried it?

“Staining and sealing were intimidating because I’m not good at painting,” Ed says. He let Jan take the lead on the painting portion of the project.

Did you use any budgeting hacks?

Ed is incredibly proud of the budgeting hacks he and Jan used on this project. They “tried to use as many materials that we already had left over from other projects as possible,” to cut costs. In addition to repurposing the pallets, the legs were comprised of “some 4×4 pressure-treated lumber we had lying around.”

What part of this project made you feel most proud or accomplished?

The most challenging portion of the project is also the piece Ed is most proud of: “Getting the top leveled and super sturdy.” He says that “it was a challenge to fit it where we wanted and make sure it could withstand people leaning on it.” But like he learned from his dad, nothing is insurmountable.

If you could have a do-over, what would you change?

Despite his love of the local independent lumberyard, if Ed could do this project over, he’d have made the top of the bar “out of stuff we had on hand.” As it turns out, there was some leftover lumber from a decking project that would have worked well as a bar top. “If we did the decking first, we would have known that wood was an option, and we could have done it for free except for the pipe and screws,” he says.

Advice for Aspiring DIYers

When it comes to learning new skills, Ed suggests looking into whether your local big-box stores offer classes, finding reputable sources, and talking to friends who are handy or offering to help them out so you can learn new skills. He credits his wide array of skills to his “apprenticeship” with his dad. He says it also taught him to “break something down to smaller parts because each part is manageable.”

Ed also learned some things from his neighbors when he was a kid. One neighbor drilled it into him that it’s vital to “practice safety; measure twice cut once and check where my hands are in relation to the blade.”

What’s one essential piece of advice you’d give someone before they start a similar project?

Ed’s main advice to aspiring DIYers is “start with a smaller project; a big project could overwhelm you and leave you stuck.” If you do get stuck, though, don’t panic. “There are lots of ways to build something,” he says. “This bar was driven by materials on hand and logistics of space. Don’t be afraid to adapt projects to make them fit your space. Don’t be afraid to make it your own.”

What’s next?

Ed says, “Projects are a great excuse to buy a new tool,” so he’s got plenty of ideas for more. “Jan is the big picture person, I’m the ‘design and build’ guy. It’s helpful to have her eye because she sees stuff I miss.” For example, “I would have trashed the pallets if not for her idea.”

As part of that teamwork, Ed and his wife have been talking about built-in seating in the dining room to better use the corner space. “We have a beautiful table that was a tribute to our late son,” he explains. The table is taller than their old one. But, “rather than getting new furniture or chopping down the table legs, we’re seeing about just building our own stuff.”

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