Peg Board Shelf

The first space we decided to tackle with a DIY plan was our office. John works from home and I was tired of having his work spread all over the kitchen counter. On the flip side, he was frustrated with my craft supplies taking up our kitchen table for days on end. We wanted to prioritize the office space so we could create a division between our work and our home life. Our office now has two sides; the side shown below with our giant pegboard, and the opposite side, which has a more conventional desk setup. This will be getting a facelift too, so stay tuned!

How we created our pegboard

Creating an oversized pegboard is a relatively easy project! The hardest part was measuring out the peg holes. John and I made measurements around the edges of the panel and then worked our way across the board using a measuring tape and a pencil, marking the centre of each hole. I got the idea for this project from Mandi at Vintage Revivals and looking back, I should have gone through her post a bit more thoroughly. She used a standard peg board as a stencil for drilling the holes. Brilliant! 

Next, we created a guide for each hole by drilling into each pencil mark with a 1/8″ drill bit. We then went back and re-drilled each hole using a 3/4″ bit to match the size of wooden doweling we planned to use for the pegs. 

Finally, we cut pegs out of the doweling. We measured the width of the pine boards we used for the shelves, then added an extra inch to account for the part of the dowel that would be sticking into the pegboard. Using the 3/4″ dowel was a good fit for the size of panels we created, but you can adjust your dowelling to match the size of your pegboard.

I had planned to leave the wood natural, but once I saw it in the room I realized it didn’t fit with our wall colour. Instead, I decided on a darker stain for both the panels and the desk top. I went with the Miniwax Special Walnut stain. 

Pegboard with hanging paints

I absolutely love how this turned out! The Ikea shower clips were so cheap ($4 to be exact) and I feel like they had the biggest impact on making this shelf beautiful, but functional.

What we spent and where we spent it

PANELS
24″ x 48″ Pine Panel x 3: $155.96 (these had to be ordered in sets of 2, so we still have one spare panel)
3/4″ x 8′ Wooden Dowel x 2: $17.38
5/16″ x 4′ Wooden Dowel: $1.69
1″ x 6″ x 8′ Pine Board: $8.20
Riktig Curtain Hook with Clip 24 Pack: $4.00

DESK
24″ x 96″ Pine Panel: $72.99
Alex White Drawer: $99.00
Adils White Table Leg x 3: $15.00
Alex White Drawer on Casters: $149.00

Home office with pegboard