11 Easy DIY Scrap Wood Ideas for Beginners

If you are wondering what to do with that pile of leftover wood, you should try one of these scrap wood ideas.

Instead of throwing out scrap wood, turn it into shelves, a piece of furniture, or home decor.

The awesome thing about scrap wood projects is that you can make something for basically free! Another benefit to using scrap wood is that you can practice you wood working skills and get familiar with power tools.

Scrap Wood Ideas

It is a lot less intimidating to work with scrap wood when you are a beginner compared to brand new expensive wood.

Working with scrap wood cleans up your garage, it prevent waste, and it is great for a beginner woodworker.

If you are new to woodworking projects then you can’t go wrong working with scrap lumber.

I gained my confidence with power tools by building small wood projects. If I incorrectly cut a piece of wood or split it, I didn’t feel bad about it.

So, this is a great way to try a new hobby without spending much money.

1. Garden Stake Storage

These garden stakes look great in the yard, but storing them is not easy. Make this small wood organizer from scrap wood to neatly store these seasonal metal signs when not in use.

2. Scrap Wood Coat Rack

I used a 1×4 inch piece of birch scrap wood to make this scrap wood coat rack. Simply determine the length and cut the wood to size.

The piece of scrap wood that I had was 29 inches long, so I went with this length because it fit perfectly in the entry of my home.

Then I gave the wood a light sand with fine sand paper to smooth the surface before staining.

After the wood was completely sanded and wipe down, I stained the wood using Rust-Oleum’s Varathane stain in Kona.

I only applied one coat of Kona stain to this scrap wood shelf because I was going for a rustic look.

After the stain dried, I adhered the piece of wood to the studs on the wall using two wood screws.

I recommend adhering this to studs because a few coats can get heavy quickly.

Now the piece of wood has been adhered to studs on the wall, you can begin attaching the coat hooks. 

3. Scrap Wood Idea – Shelves

I used a 1×6 inch piece of birch scrap wood to make this shelf.

First cut the shelf to the same length of the coat rack because I planned on hanging this directly above the coat rack. 

The piece of scrap wood that I used for the coat rack was 29 inches long, so I went with this length because so it would line up directly over the coat rack.

Then I sanded and stained the wood using Rust-Oleum’s Varathane stain in Kona.

I only applied one coat of stain to this shelf to match the coat rack. 

Once the shelf was completely dried, I adhered the shelf directly over top of the coat rack.

I also made sure to adhere this shelf to a stud to make sure it could hold a good amount of weight. 

4. Scrap Wood Idea – 2×4 Snowmen

This is one of my favorite scrap wood ideas because it so easy to make and only cost a few dollars.

You can even make this wood craft project from scrap paint, old sweaters, ribbon, and felt.

5. Scrap Wood Idea – Picture Ledge

Not only are these shelves very inexpensive to make, they are easy to put together.

As a matter of fact, we made 6 different sets of shelves to give to family and friends as gifts.

Everyone that we gave these floating shelves to loved them, so if you have leftover wood on your hands you should try this project.

If you need a quick, easy, and affordable gift idea, these floating picture shelves are it!

Bringing these shelves as a gift to a housewarming party, will blow your friends and family away.

They’ll notice that you put the time and effort in to make something for their new home. If you need frames, I purchased these frames as a set to go with the shelves.

6. Scrap Wood Idea – Mirror Frame

Give your bathroom an instant makeover with a bathroom mirror frame made from scrap wood.

This frame is so easy to add to any size mirror. Learn how to update your bathroom mirror here!

7. Scrap Wood Idea – Storage Ottoman

If you have leftover plywood, this is a good way to use a lot of it. You can make this custom ottoman to any size and style to fit in your living room.

8. Scrap Wood Idea – Upholstered Bench

It is so easy to make and upholster custom sized padded bench for any space in your home.

This bench was built with scrap wood from other projects and easily supports 3 people, so it is rock solid!

9. Scrap Wood Idea – DIY Desk

Since the cost of lumber is so high at the moment, here is an easy way to use scrap wood.

This desk is made totally of scrap wood and even scrap stain that we had leftover!

10. Scrap Wood Idea – Coffee Table

Isn’t it crazy that some coffee tables can run close to a thousand dollars?

Most of them are just made of flimsy cheap particle board and aren’t even made of solid planks of wood.

I may have went a little over board on the legs for this table, but I upcycled these 4x4s from another project.

This farmhouse coffee table will run you around just $40.

My brother followed these same instructions and made a coffee table with a matching end table.

11. Scrap Wood Idea – Jewelry Organizer

This is a simple scrap wood idea that displays jewelry, so that it’s not only easy to find but it looks like a work of art.

I came across this idea because my wife wanted a jewelry organizer to easily select what she wanted to wear.

I used scrap Pergo flooring and an old picture frame to create this jewelry organizer. 

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