Small & Mighty: Make Workshop’s Pegboard
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“I had tables built to the height you need for sewing and cutting, and my office space is made up of freestanding cabinetry. It’s industrial-looking without anything seeming out of place.” —Diana Rupp -
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Diana Rupp, owner of Make Workshop -
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Rupp and her instructors stock the pegboard with necessary supplies during classes, keeping the tops of the custom tables clutter-free so students never feel cramped.
Posted by ReadyMade
Written by Erica Cerulo, Photography by Lajos Geenen
You’ll find unexpected uses for this organizational system in your own space.
Check out more storage projects like this one.
Stats:
Make
Founder: Diana Rupp
Work: Classes in knitting, batik, letterpress, embroidery, and all manner of craft
Years in Residence: Two in this space and eight overall
Employees: One (Rupp), plus a half-dozen guest instructors
Square Footage: about 500M
Make it! Multitasking Pegboard
It's shocking how much the pegboards at Make Workshop hold: Spools of thread, clipboards with photos, scissors, irons, and even ironing boards...
Skill Level
Moderate
Active Time
Half a day
Cost
$$
- Pencil
- Drill with Phillips-head countersink and spade bits
- Box of 1½-inch drywall screws
- Two ¾ x 1½ x 8-foot poplar strips
- 48-foot sheet of pegboard
- Four toggle bolts that correspond in size to your spade bit
- Masking tape
- Pegboard hooks
Materials
- Stepladder
- Level
- Tape measure
Tools
On the wall that will hold your pegboard, use a pencil to mark where you want the top-center of the board to be.
Lay the poplar strip flat and use a drill to insert a screw into the center point until ¹/₄ inch of the screw protrudes from the back. Insert another screw 12 inches to the right of center, making the end of the screw flush with the back of the wood.
Using a stepladder, line up the center screw with the mark you made on your wall and tap the board with your hand so the protruding screw pushes into the drywall. Fasten the center screw to the wall with the drill. Use a level to position the board and fasten the second screw.
On the back of the pegboard, make marks 1 inch and 3 inches from both ends. Make sure these points don’t line up with the holes of the board. If they do, adjust accordingly, and then make marks at corresponding points on the strip on the wall.
Drill four holes through the strip and into the wall as marked using a countersink bit. With the Phillips-head bit, loosen the screws in the strip and remove it from the wall.
Insert the toggle bolt screws into the strip, making sure the heads do not protrude. Screw the toggles onto the bolts about ¹/₄ inch from the end, and wrap masking tape around the short ends of the bolts so that the toggles don’t fall off.
Using a spade bit, re-drill the four holes in the wall that you started with the countersink bit. With some assistance, line up the toggle bolts in the strip with these holes. Starting at one end, squeeze the toggles closed and push them into the wall so they open like umbrellas on the inside of the wall. You should be able to pull back on the strip and feel like it’s secure. If it’s not grabbing, you may need to switch to longer toggle bolts. Reinsert the two drywall screws with the Phillips-head bit.
Starting with the toggle bolt closest to the two screws and pulling the strip slightly away from the wall, tighten the screws of the toggle bolts. Level the strip by loosening bolts if necessary, and give a good tug to ensure that all of the bolts are grabbing. Remove the two drywall screws.
Align the pegboard to the strip with the help of a friend. Partially insert a drywall screw at each corner through the holes of the pegboard.
Space eight more drywall screws evenly along the top of the pegboard, working out from the center and securing them to the strip. After installing four of the screws, remove the placeholder one at both ends that you inserted during the previous step.
Sandwich the remaining wooden strip between the pegboard and the wall so it sits along the pegboard’s bottom edge. Insert drywall screws following the previous two steps.
Get out your hooks and supplies, and start hanging.
