DIY Craft Room Pegboard

I've had a pegboard in my basement workshop for several years and always thought I should make pretty one for my craft room art studio (Sounds more professional, don'tcha think?).  Back in April when the weather started turning nice outside, I started on my journey to make humongous wall size pegboard.

How big did I want my pegboard?  Decisions... decisions!  I figured 48"x48" would nicely cover the wall I wanted to put it on.  I Since I don't have a pickup truck to haul a full 4'x8' piece of pegboard, I opted for two pieces of 2'x4' pegboard with the 1/8" holes.  Pegboard also comes 1/4" holes, but since the one in my basement is 1/8", I wanted to be able to swap hooks and accessories between the two if I needed to.  The 2'x4' pegboard fit nicely in the back seat of my car.  Along with pegboard, I picked up some 1"x2" boards from the lumber area and some MDF trim.

To make sure the primer/paint would stick well to the pegboard, I hand sanded it.

Then I used some leftover primer to paint it white.  I didn't bother to paint over the primer, although the proper thing to do would be to paint over it.  Or, use a paint/primer combo.  Long time readers know I try to use what I have on hand... so primer it was!  I did put a couple of coats on using that 2" roller.  If you try this at home, I recommend using a larger roller.  A roller puts a nicer finish on than a paint brush.  Oh, one other thing... put a tarp or newspaper underneath as paint drips through the holes.  I used a skewer to poke through the holes where the paint didn't drip through.

Once both pieces were dry, I moved on to the trim pieces.  Using leftover spray paint from the filing cabinets I redid several years ago, I painted the trim to match.  If I were to do this over, I'd opt for real wood trim instead of MDF.  MDF doesn't seem to hold up very well to dings and bangs.

Like the improvised saw horses?

Once the trim was dried, I laid out the pegboard and trim to measure how big I wanted it and to cut the 45-degree mitered corners.

As I cut each piece of trim, I marked the back so I wouldn't forget which piece went where.  I also marked the back of the pegboard.

To give the humongous wall-sized pegboard stability plus spacing between it and the wall, I used 1"x2" pieces of lumber cut down to fit the back.  I learned that I could cut the wood a lot easier by clamping it into the workstation.  Who knew?!

Since the edges of the 1x2's were going to be exposed, I primered them white.  As you can see, I didn't care about the drips since those sides weren't going to been seen.

I attached the 1x2's to the back of the pegboard using an air compressor and stapler.  I also used glue between the layers.  The corners were tacked together using an air nailer.  Gotta love power tools!

Across the center line where each piece of pegboard met up, I put another 1x2.

Back of Pegboard

Front of Pegboard with No Trim

Lastly, I glued and nailed the trim in place.  I filled all the nail holes with wood putty and then touched up with paint.

Tada!!  My wall sized pegboard!

Disclaimer:  This is how I did my project.  There are certainly less involved ways to make a pegboard. Your mileage may vary vary... You can make it as plain or pretty as your skills can take you.

My next dilemma:  How am I going to hang this thing by myself?!?!?  More on that in my next post.

Edited:  You can see my hung pegboard HERE.

Until next time...