Summer is on it’s way and we are all looking forward to those long, warm, summer nights that summer brings. The backyard turns into a gathering place for friends and family and when there are gatherings, there must be food and drink readily available.
There is no need to buy an outdoor fridge, cooler or bar – because you can make one for little money and they work awesome! An old refrigerator, some wood and you are ready to party!
This fridge-to-cooler conversion from Matt2 Silver at Instructables looks expensive and complicated, but it’s much easier than you’d think! If you’ve already got an old, broken fridge sitting in your garage, the project should run you only $40 or so, and it doesn’t require any special tools beyond standard items like drills, drivers, and saws.
You can finish the project in just a day or two and luckily, a simple search on Craigslist, you can no doubt found a cheap, used fridge!
You can see the instructions on how to make the above outdoor cooler HERE!
You can use old pallets for a wood source, again, cheap and easy to find! Plus, the exterior wood design looks pretty awesome!
For final touches, you’ll want to add rope catches so that you can prop up the lids without them going too far, screw on some heavy duty handles to both lids, and attach a chalkboard so you can label what’s inside or write a special message to your guests.
You can also use a mini fridge for a smaller-sized cooler that’s perfect for a compact patio or deck. YouTube user Elliott used dog-ear redwood fencing for siding on his converted mini cooler and recommends staining or sealing the wood with linseed oil or SuperDeck.
Get the full tutorial for the larger cooler conversion from Matt2 Silver at Instructables and the mini cooler tutorial from Elliott on YouTube.