DIY Pallet Dog Gate

My boyfriend and I acquired two dogs a few months ago from a family member who passed away.  We LOVE them, but quickly discovered that if they get anywhere near an open door, they will RUN!  Also, anytime they get out of sight in the house, they try to mark their territory.  So we decided that we needed a gate to keep them in a more confined area of the house but still have more freedom than being stuck in their kennel all the time.  (Also we're lucky enough to have a fenced-in backyard so they get to run free every time they're outside.)  So, with all the awesome pallet projects out there, we figured we could make a dog gate out of a pallet.  It's pretty easy, as long as you have some basic carpentry skills and tools.  Here's what we did:

Get a couple pallets.  I think we used three total.

Pull them apart with a claw hammer or crow bar or similar.

Tie up your puppies while you're working so they don't escape.
(Apologies for the huge mess in the basement.)

 The next few steps seem to be lost - I'm not good at photo-documenting everything.  Anyway, the next part is the carpentry.  Measure the space where you want your gate to fit and build a frame for your fence/gate that will fit.  Measure twice, cut once!  Always.  You'll probably make that out of the frame part of the pallet, not the actual pallet boards.  You'll probably want to make a spot for hinges and a swinging door - be sure to leave enough clearance for it to actually swing open (we learned this the hard way).  You'll also have to make sure you have a way to attach your gate to whatever wall/surface you're using.  We made some braces to go over the two corners of the walls where it would be attached.  After you have your frame made, cut your pickets out of the pallet boards.  Sand them lightly to smooth them out, but not too much if you want to keep the rustic look.  Now, back to the pictures:

Paint your pickets in whatever colors you'd like!  We used some extra paint
from when we painted the walls of the house.  I used a dry brush technique
and only put on one light coat for the shabby-chic look.

Put your frame in place (see the bracket I was talking about on the left side?).
Then attach your pickets however you'd like.
We also used some cheap upholstery fabric from the thrift store on the sides
and bottom to try to avoid scratching the floor.

Attach all of your pickets and a latch to keep the door closed!
You can do pickets on just one side or both - this picture shows only one
side done but we added pickets to the other side later.

Your puppies will still love you, even from behind their new gate.

The dogs are much easier to contain with the gate, and they still have quite a bit of freedom.  And we have a stylin' gate, rather than just using a plain baby gate or something.  Pallet love + puppy love!