Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » diy wednesdays: pegboard wall unit

this summer when we were building out our shoppe, we were super lucky to have many talented and generous friends around to help. one of them was our favorite master woodsman/metalsmith anand gowda of gravy service. he completely blew us away when he whipped up the ‘cabinet of curiosities” and cash wrap for our store (grace took some great shots of them during her visit last week). well, we had some material left over from that project, so we thought we’d reuse it in an attempt to squeeze out some useful space in our apartment’s skinny little hallway. anand was kind enough to help us with the design and the cuts for this pegboard magazine rack/entry way organize-a-majig. just click “read more” for the full instructions!

happy halloween!
derek & lauren

Here’s what you’ll need:
1 sheet of pegboard
1″ x 1″ pieces of wood for the frame
a piece of wood for the shelf
3″ screws to attach the frame to the wall
1 1/2″ wood screws to attach pegboard to frame
Pegboard accessories
Bungee cords
Measuring tape
Level
Drill
Pencil
Stud finder (optional)

1. Decide what size wall unit works for your space and cut the wood (or find an Anand to cut it for you). Our pegboard was 51” x 37” with a 53” x 6 1/2” shelf. We cut the pieces of 1” x 1” to make a frame we could mount flush to the back of the peg underneath the shelf (top and bottom were 49”, the sides were 37”).
2. Center the top length of 1″ x 1″ underneath the shelf, and attach it using 1 1/2”screws. (Remember to pre-drill ALL your holes).
3. Decide how high you want to mount the shelf. Find the studs in the wall and secure the shelf to the wall . Use a level to make sure its, um, level.
4. Attach the side pieces, again using that level.
5. Finally attach the bottom piece of the frame. (see process shot)
6. Hold the pegboard piece in place on the frame, and mark where you want to put screws with a pencil. We put 5 in the top and bottom, and 3 in each side.
7. Pre-drill all the holes and attach the pegboard to the frame using 1 1/2″ wood screws.
8. Attach pegboard hooks (sideways) to the peg and stretch bungee cords between them so they’re taut enough to hold up your magazines and newspapers.
9. There are tons of fun pegboard accessories out there. We found a couple that were perfect to hold our keys, umbrella… whatever we need as we’re running out the door.

This is really clever. It looks great, too, with the arrangement of picture and objects on top. Not sure about the bungee straps though. I wouldn’t want magazines in the same area as my landing strip. I’d rather just have hooks for keys, umbrella, dog leash, etc. Would be interested in other ideas for ways to make the pegboard work as a landing strip. Thanks for sharing this.

so funny! I was JUST out looking for one of these today! They are really useful– esp. if you have a wall but can’t fit shelves on it! And esp. if you have an overflowing ‘craft tool situation’ like I do. Thanks for the tip!

I use a pegboard above my sewing area:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlebitsys/1674036584/

I had this from a show long ago, I painted it awhile ago so I need to change the color to something more neutral. Anyway, you can purchase all sorts of hanging things for them. I also have yet to attach mine to the wall, it’s just sitting on the table!

I love the idea of the bungee cords for magazines.

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I just want to throw in an enthusiastic word of support for the look of this. Ugly? I’d rather say “not going to fit in the specific setting the reader imagines.” The bungee cords are an inspired way to extend the usefulness of the pegboard in my studio, and they come in such a huge range of colours and looks (black rubber anyone?) that they could add spice to lots of different settings. So the raw panelling and wood don’t do it for you? Stain or paint? Heck, this season, wallpaper it.

I think it’s a winner as an open-ended project and I’ll use it in my new loft.

i am sorry, i read through the post, and maybe i don’t understand you properly, but i didn’t find information about the artist who made the picture of the bird which is on the wall above the pegboard. sorry if i am being stupid and missing something, but it is a very nice picture and i would like to know who the artist is.

Felicity, I’m not 100% sure, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the print you’re asking about is by Charley Harper.

As for the pegboard/bungee setup, I love it! I think it looks great. I actually like the way pegboard looks unpainted, and bungee cords are just fun. Really, though, this is all about concept…you could very easily adapt this with paint, wallpaper, rope, ribbons, (or whatever!) to suit your own taste.

I did this in my old 1950s kitchen that had lots of wall space above a washer/dryer but only 2 drawers in the whole place. I had the pegboard high on the wall with a shelf at the bottom. Painted it BRIGHT yellow — fabulous in a kitchen with lots of white. I too used bungee cords, but as a tool for holding a cookbook open and upright (I had butcher blocks cut to cover the w/d — really amazing counter space and a great height to work with). I hung all of my cooking tools on the hooks they sold at home depot and loved it.

The cool thing about pegboards is they have so many little attachments besides just hooks. You can find little shelves that hang in pegboards or mechanisms for hanging little jars from them. Really endless possibilities. I like the industrial look of the bungees, but for those that don’t, try elastic by the yard from your local fabric store. Thicker(wider) usually = stronger. The smaller sizes have too much stretch in them to use for support in this way, but a wider band used for waistbands in garments would be suitable. It comes in black and white at most stores, but ordering online opens up a lot more colors.

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