Spring is often the time that people get interested in cleaning and organizing their lives and I am no different. The garage shop where I usually do my DIY-ing is usually pretty cluttered, but over time I have worked hard to utilize the space in a more efficient way. My latest project in that vein is to create peg board storage. I love peg boards because they are very versatile and allow for vertical storage for tools of all shapes and sizes.

In this article I will lay out the best way to hang up peg board for maximum strength and utilization. If you are interested in more, check out the video I posted to YouTube here:

Supplies

1 - Peg board

2. - Scrap pieces of wood (1/2 to 3/4 inches thick - other spaces could work also - more on that later)

3 - Drill

4 - Screws

5 - Washers

6 - Peg board hooks

Here are some of the supplies I used (affiliate links):

peg board baskets - https://amzn.to/2y5DGAl

Peg board hooks - https://amzn.to/2y5DGAl

Peg Board hooks for a power drill - https://amzn.to/2y5DGAl

Magnet Tool Holder - https://amzn.to/2y5DGAl The one that I used was from Harbor Freight, but this one will work as well.

Step 1: Gathering Materials and Picking Your Spot

The materials required for this project are simple and inexpensive. Peg board is readily available at any big box hardware store and if you want to get fancy they sell sheet metal peg board on Amazon. Peg board hooks are also available just about anywhere. I purchased mine on Amazon and have provided some affiliate links above. I also purchased some peg board baskets which I love. They come in all shapes and sizes . You can also create your own accessories that will cost you very little (more on that later).

Once your supplies and materials are gathered, you will need to pick a wall. It should be a wall that is open and easy to get to. That way you will be able to access your tools whenever you need them.

Step 2: Find Your Studs and Place Your Spacers

Nest you will need to find your studs. There are multiple ways to do this, but I like to use a stud finder. They are pretty cheap and work pretty well. Fastening your peg board into studs is very important because it allows for more weight to be added to the peg board. If the peg board is not fastened into studs then you risk it being pulled down by the weight of the tools that you hang up.

I like to use scrap pieces of wood as my spacers and what I do is to screw the wood pieces into the studs and then screw my pegboard into the wood pieces. I used larger pieces of wood because I wanted a lot of strength, but you could use smaller pieces of wood or even a small spacer and drill directly from the front of the peg board to the stud. The important thing is that you allow for at least 1/2 inch of space behind the peg board. This gives the hooks enough space to hook in to the the peg holes.

Step 3: Hang Up Your Peg Board

As I mentioned in the previous step, I screwed scrap wood to the studs in the wall and then screwed the peg board into the wood. The important thing to remember is that most screws heads are smaller than the peg board which means that they will not hold up the board. To solve for this you need to put a washer between the screw and the pegboard. This increases the surface of the screw head and fastened the peg board to your spacers.

Step 4: Hand Peg Board Hooks Onto the Peg Board Wall.

This is where you can go crazy. You can hang tools in whatever configuration you want and you will be surprised at how much weight a pegboard can hold if you fasten it properly. I used a variety of pegboard hooks from simple straight hooks to loops to shelves to baskets.

You can make some accessories yourself or you can purchase all of the hooks that you want. The great thing is that you can change it anytime you like. you can add new hooks for new tools or rearrange them to better reach the tools you use most often. Check out my pictures to see all of the tools that I was able to fit on my board. I have also included affiliate links to all of the peg board hooks that I bought if you want to pick up some for yourself.

Step 5: Congratulate Yourself for Being Neat and Tidy

Congratulations! You have made progress on your path to organizing your space! Go you!

Seriously, though, it feels great to get things more organized. You can find what you need when you need it which makes all of your projects quicker and more efficient.

I have a friend who is an engineer at Boeing and builds airplanes. His garage was immaculate (and I was jealous). He often repeated the saying "everything has a place and everything in it's place." That is certainly something to strive for, but I am not there yet. On to the next organization project!

If you like my article, please consider checking out my other instructables. You can also subscribe to my youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/diywithdave?sub_confirmation=1