It all started when Nick Neitzel had some extra pallets lying around after a landscaping job at his house.
His wife mentioned some of the interesting pallet artwork she had seen on Pinterest, and Neitzel gave it a try.
After making pallet walls for both his son’s and his daughter’s rooms, Neitzel added pallet shelving with uplighting, used a scroll saw to cut out decorative shapes, and began experimenting with stains and paints. He posted a couple photos of the finished projects on Facebook.
And that’s when his hobby went viral.
“Everyone started making positive comments and saying, ‘I’ll take one,’ and I said, ‘No, no I’m just showing what I did; I’m not selling these,’” Neitzel said. “People (were) offering to run my Etsy account and I said, ‘What the heck is Etsy?’ I have zero woodworking background. This is just me monkeying around.”
A 30-year fitness industry veteran, Neitzel’s full-time job is as facility services manager at the Wisconsin Athletic Club. But on nights and weekends, he’s salvaging free pallets from industrial parks and sawing away in his garage.
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- Neitzel sometimes sells his pallet creations at craft shows.
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- He breaks apart the pallets to reuse the wood.
Some of Neitzel’s most popular items are unique home décor pieces, such as state cutouts and clocks. The older wood with more patina has a barn-style look that appeals to many people, he says.
His pieces sell under the name Palletable for between $10 and $150, depending on the size and the time he put into them. While the hobby isn’t a moneymaker, he enjoys doing it.
“I like seeing smiles on the faces of people I know,” Neitzel said. “Especially when they’re looking for something specific.”
