How to DIY an Oversized Pegboard Wall

A Long Overdue Home Gym Update

Well, I think it’s safe to say I didn’t meet the 8 week deadline for One Room Challenge Fall 2022 with the home gym remodel. After a month of bad bugs for my kids, my whole fall schedule was thrown off, and the home gym just fell to the side. But, one of my all time favorite projects I did complete: DIYing an oversized pegboard wall!

• Active Time: 3 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours
• Cost: $100 (not counting tools)
• Power Tools Needed: Drill, Driver, Circular Saw, Miter Saw, Orbital Sander
• Difficulty Level: Intermediate
• Help Needed?: Yes. You need 1 extra person to help lift and install the pegboard wall

This oversized pegboard wall was one that I was a little afraid of. I was so inspired by the The Home Depot’s Blog‘s post detailing one. It just seemed like the perfect add to the gym for storage of all the little things–the bike shoes, the workout towels, the exercise brands.

But, every time I went to start it, I got really nervous and worked on something else. Now that it’s completed, I can’t even remember what I was so nervous about! It really is as easy as decided where you want the holes and drilling them!

And, you don’t need a home gym to hang this in! It would work great in an office, a craft room, a homework space–anywhere where flexible vertical storage is needed!

Let me walk you through the whole project step-by-step!

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Supplies Needed

Here’s all the supplies needed to DIY your own oversized pegboard wall.

• 4’x8′ 3/4″ sanded plywood (I had Home Depot cut mine to size, but you can always cut yours to size at home if you need to trim it too)
• 1″ dowels (you can buy more or less depending on how many pegs you want)
• 1 2″X4″ (you may need more depending on the size of pegboard you install)
• Drill
• Impact Driver
• Orbital Sander
• Circular Saw to cut shelves (can omit if you don’t want shelves)
• Miter Saw (or jig saw, hand saw, or circular saw with wood clamp to cut dowels)
• 240 grit orbital sandpaper
• 4″ self-drilling interior wood screws (make sure you have the right bit for your drill at home)
• 1.5″ interior wood screws
• 1″ Forstner or Spade Drill Bit
• Studfinder
• Drill guide–if you don’t have one or want to buy one, you can build your own with a few scrap pieces of wood–post coming next!)
• Pencil
• T Square (can sub Large Level or long piece of wood with measuring tape)

You also need a good workspace for this project. Here are a few options that would work:

• 2 saw horses to set the plywood on
• 2 small work benches to set the plywood on and have space underneath to drill through the board
• Use the 2x4s you bought to hang the pegboard to prop the plywood off the ground

Ready to get started on DIYing your pegboard wall? Let’s go!

Step 1 : Decide on the Size of Your Pegboard Wall (Do this Before Buying Your Supplies)

Measure out the space you plan on installing your DIY pegboard wall on.

Mine is 42″ wide by 60″ tall because I wanted it to fit in this little nook wall behind our Peloton. So, I only needed 1 piece of 3/4″ plywood. And, I had Home Depot cut it to size for me.

FYI: If your space needs more than 1 piece of plywood, you’ll need to buy more 2x4s to mount the pegboard wall to your wall.

Step 2: Mark the Peg Holes

Ok, once you have your supplies, let’s get your work space set up to DIY your pegboard wall! I used 2 sawhorses with the pegboard set on top outside, and they worked perfectly.

For this step, you need a T-Square, or if you don’t have one, grab your measuring tape and a large level or even a piece of scrap wood–something to help you draw a straight line.

Now Use your pencil and mark where you want your peg holes. Mine are 8″ apart.

But, this is the fun part about DIYing your own pegboard wall–put the holes where you want them! Does 6″ spacing work better for you? Great! Does 6″ look too close? Do 12″. Whatever works for you is where you should put your holes!

And, don’t stress about any extra pencil marks–we’re going to sand them off before we install it on the wall.

Step 3: Drill Your Peg Holes

Now we’re starting on what was the most nerve-racking step for me: drilling the holes.

I got myself all worked up about drilling into the plywood, but learn for me–don’t . You’re just drilling into a piece of wood.

If you’ve never used a forstner/spade bit before, it can look scary, but it’s super easy to use.

Same with the drill guide. I had never used one before, but it’s a great tool to make sure you’re drilling your holes straight for your pegs.

So, here we go: using your forstner/spade bit in your drill, and your drill guide to keep your drill straight, drill your holes on each of your marks.

My biggest tip for this step is to not put pressure on your drill, especially when breaking through the plywood. The forstner/spade bit and the drill will do the work. If you put pressure on the drill, you can have some splitting of the plywood around the holes.

Step 4: Sand the Plywood

Once all your holes are drilled, now’s the time to sand your plywood. I used my orbital sander and 240 grit sandpaper, and sanded the hole piece, including the exposed edges on the sides.

And, don’t forget the inside of the holes you just sanded! I Just wrapped a piece of 240 grit sandpaper in a circular shape and hand sanded inside each of the holes. They aren’t perfectly smooth, but any jagged parts were smoothed out.

Step 5: Cut & Sand Your Dowels

Next up I cut and sanded my dowels. I cut my dowels to a few different sizes–8″ ones to support the small shelves I cut, 6″ ones for hanging bands, and 4″ ones for hanging cycling shoes.

So, play around with what works best for your DIY pegboard wall.

Once you’ve cut all your pieces, make sure to sand them all over.

Step 6: Cut Your Supports

Now cut your 2x4s to size. These are going to be installed horizontally onto studs. If you’re using less than the whole 4’x8′ plywood board, you can probably use 2 supports. If you’re using most/all of the board, I would probably cut 3 supports to help support the weight better.

I cut mine a few inches shorter than the width of the pegboard, since the side of my pegboard was going to be exposed.

And, I roughly sanded the exposed edges, again since they were going to be visible.

Step 7: Install Your Supports

Ok. Now that all the prep is done for your diy pegboard wall, let’s get to installing it! These next steps you need a helper if your diy pegboard is bigger than a small square.

You need to install the supports first. Again these are going to run horizontally along the wall, so you can evenly distributed the weight of the pegboard wall on multiple studs.

For this step you’ll need your studfinder, a measuring tape, your level, your impact driver with correct drill bit, and 4″ self-drilling interior wood screws.

Use your studfinder and mark the studs with a pencil. I marked mine about 12 inches below where I wanted the top of the pegboard and 12 inches where I wanted above the bottom of the pegboard.

Then, have your helper hold the first support board up and drive in the first 4″ screw (pick a stud in the middle if you have more than 2 studs to work with). Drive it in 90% of the way, so the board is held up but you can still adjust it up and down a smidge.

Now, have your helper hold the board straight and place the level on the board. Once you’re sure it’s level, go ahead and drive in the screws to all the other studs, stopping to check to make sure it’s level before driving a new screw.

Once you’ve done this with your first board, repeat the same process with the second.

Step 8: Install Your Pegboard Wall

Here’s the big moment! Getting your diy pegboard on the wall!

I have to tell you, this was easily the hardest step, so just read through my tips before you dive in.

The step itself is easy. Doing it while holding a heavy awkward piece of wood up, level, is the hard part.

So, I’m going to tell you how to do this step. Then I’ll share with you tips on how to make it easier, which we learned the hard way.

Having your partner hold the board in place and level, use your drill and predrill holes for your 1.5″ screws to screw into the plywood and into the wall supports.

Then using your driver drive the screws in place. Again, start with one in the middle and put it in 90% of the way to help make minor adjustments to ensure it’s level. I put a screw about every 6-8″ to be extra safe.

Once you’ve finished one support, repeat the same process for your other support(s).

Ok, Now The Cheat Sheet to Help

So, the steps themselves are pretty straightforward. But, this was so challenging for us. Here’s a few things that seemed to help:

Use Painters Tape to Mark Where the Supports Need to Be

When you’re screwing the pegboard to the supports, you want to make sure the holes you drilled don’t overlap the 2×4 supports.

Easy to worry about for 1 support. Not as easy to worry about when your screwing into multiple supports.

So, we finally figured out if we marked where the bottom support was on the wall we could see with painters tape, we could confidently screw the top support into the support and not worry about messing it up.

Prop the Pegboard Up

Once you know where the board should be, prop it up on books, a chair, a paint can, anything that will hold it in place. Your helper can now still help keep it level and in place, without also trying to wrestle the weight of the giant board.

Huge help.

Step 9: Cut Shelves (Optional)

Measure out the size of the shelves you want. Using your jigsaw or circular saw, cut out the shelf from your 3/4″ plywood.

Then sand the edges with your orbital sander and 240 grit sandpaper.

Make sure you have 2-3 dowels for each shelf–that’s what holds them up. I used 2 for mine (all under 12″ long), but I’d use 3 for anything more than 15″ long.

Cut the dowels the same depth as the shelf to give it the best support.

You can do this step earlier if you want! I just couldn’t decide what size shelves I wanted until I saw it up on the wall.

Step 10: Wood Fill & Finish (optional)

Totally optional step. If you don’t want to see the screws, now’s the time to wood fill the screws.

And if you want to paint or stain the board, go for it! I kept mine as it came, but you do you!

Step 11: Decorate!

Now’s the fun part! Place the pegs and shelves on your diy pegboard.

Don’t be afraid to play around with it. It took me about an hour o get the setup that I like the best, and one that’s the most functional for our gym space, while maximizing what I can hold on the pegboard.

The Reveal!

This is one of those projects that came out better than I expected!

The wood feature in the gym brings a beautiful natural element to the space.

And, the storage. Let’s talk about the storage. It holds so much more than I expected, and I love that I can move the dowels and shelves around to make the storage space fit our needs.

What do you think ? Would you try creating a DIY pegboard wall? What space would you put it in? Tell me in the comments below!

Have Questions? Looking for More One Room Challenge Fall 2022 Updates?

Check out our post ORC Fall 2022 Prep , ORC Fall 2022 Week 1, and ORC Fall 2022 Halfway Update!

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