This piece was one I recently created for a customer using the plans provided in the Queen Storage Bed with Drawers from Anna's site. It was created using 3/4" birch plywood and 3/4" pine common board.
I chose to cut dado's when building the boxes for stability's sake. I was able to leave out much of the construction screws by using strong, but relativity simple joinery techniques with dado's and rabbets.
The piece's drawer fronts were then veneered with pallet wood to lay flush with the drawer faces, and hardware installed on top of that. The headboard and footboard were both then stained using a Varathane, Minwax (water-based), and General Finishes to create the various tones in the pallet veneer to create a complimentary uniform look to the drawer faces.
The other variation in this bed was that I used Threaded inserts and hex bolts so that the head and footboard could be removed multiple times for transport without damaging screw holes.
Early American (Varathane)
Ash Grey (General Finishes)
Dark Walnut (Minwax)
Wipe on Poly (Minwax Satin)
Mix and match stains in order to achieve the depth of color or based on pallet wood imperfections. I noticed that not all pallets are alike. Results WILL vary. I found it easiest to break down several different pallets and cut and reshape based on a random selection of boards, rather than breaking down and using one pallet at a time.