Not Wood Pallets: Reuse Old IKEA Shelves For A More Unique Raised Garden Bed DIY

If you're always looking for ways to repurpose things in your home that no longer suit their original purpose, you probably search for inspiration on how you can use them in your garden. There are actually quite a few common household items you should be repurposing in your yard, including metal cans and plastic storage containers. If you've been keen to make a raised garden bed using wood pallets but haven't found any yet, you might like to follow Instagrammer ora.musicofficial's example and turn an old IKEA shelf unit, like the KALLAX, into a unique raised garden bed with compartments.

While at first glance, this might look like a brilliant idea, there are a couple of issues you might like to think about before trying this. First of all, taking the KALLAX unit as an example, it's made from particleboard and fiberboard with recycled honeycomb paper filling. These products could contain chemicals that might leach into the soil. You'll also find that the board is going to decompose fairly quickly due to the consistent moisture of the soil. The creator has mitigated that slightly by lining each of the compartments with plastic, but this still won't solve the problem for long. So, if you want to try this quick and easy project, refrain from growing edibles in the raised bed and don't expect it to last more than one season.

You might have explored all the ways you can upcycle old drawers into something beautiful for your garden, but even though your IKEA shelving unit won't last as long, you can still take it outside and lay it on its side on the ground. You might want to use some porous landscaping fabric underneath to stop weeds from coming through. Line each section with some black plastic, but make sure you poke holes in the base of this so that water can drain through. Fill each of the compartments with quality potting soil.

You can now plant some lovely flowers or other ornamental plants in your new garden bed. This would be ideal for spring or summer annuals to add a bit of color to your yard. You can start these from seeds or buy transplants from your local nursery. This would look particularly cute filled with bright blooms such as zinnias, cosmos, or daisies. 

Instead of filling the shelving unit directly with soil, you could also use it as a herb planter, keeping all your herbs in individual pots within the compartments. From there, grab a bag or two of river stones or pebbles and fill in the spaces to make the whole garden bed look intentional. This is just another way you can reuse plastic nursery pots in your garden. It could even be the ideal solution for housing your grow bags neatly for a season — thanks to the walls of the planter, the bags will be somewhat concealed and look more like a fixture in your yard.