20 Chic + Creative Ways to Use Pegboard

It’s no accident that a wall of unpainted pegboard — that is, engineered wood with evenly spaced holes for storage hooks and accessories — evokes old-school garages on classic TV shows. The hard-working material, which was trademarked (as Peg-Board) and introduced to consumers by the Masonite Corporation nearly a century ago, became a mainstream hit after World War II, when it was marketed as an inexpensive and effective way to organize everything from home-maintenance tools to kitchen equipment.

Today, pegboard is every bit as practical as it’s always been; it’s also, with all due respect to ‘50s sitcom dads and housewives, a lot easier on the eyes. Consider these updated takes your DIY-friendly, designer-approved toolbox for putting every inch of your storage space to work — without sacrificing style. (Case in point: This spectacular kitchen, where counter-to-ceiling pegboard painted white to match the backsplash displays both a cast-iron collection and a statement-making painting. More art on pegboards, please!)

Create a catch-all that clears countertops and feels cohesive by drawing inspiration from HGTV Smart Home 2023, where a desk area in the combined laundry, pantry and mudroom delegates storage to a framed pegboard painted gray. That cool charcoal tone picks up a similar hue from the room’s geometric wallpaper and slate flooring; echo the look by pulling a color from a prominent pattern in your own landing space.

Make the most of timeworn old bedroom furniture by reimagining it (as designer Brian Patrick Flynn did with this vintage dresser and vanity) as a gathering spot for backyard get-togethers. Transformed with a few coats of durable outdoor paint in a pretty pastel and sporting all-purpose white pegboard in lieu of its mirror, this piece can now function as a potting bench, a bar station, a barbecue buffet — you get the idea.

Create an all-in-one workout station by equipping a 2’-x-4’ sheet of pegboard with screw-in ceiling hooks that line up with removable, over-the-door hooks, then personalizing with paint. A storage system like this one is the perfect now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t reminder to meet your exercise goals; just tuck it into a closet when company comes over.

This serene, feminine bunk room and play area is all about the interplay between white textiles and walls, barely there blush paint, and minimalistic, unstained pegboard that matches the floorboards and built-in furniture. The key to getting this look is the simplicity of the board’s accessories, which are limited to shallow floating shelves and round, oversized pegs. Those simple, shapely elements — and the muted palette of the stationery items and craft supplies they’re storing — coordinate beautifully with their surroundings. (Bonus points for the tassels on the bunk cubbies that mimic the spacing on the board’s holes.)

To maximize functionality in HGTV Smart Home 2024’s garage mudroom area, designer Tiffany Brooks punctuated the stop-and-drop seating area with tall, narrow pegboard above the built-in bench. The clothing and gear that collect in this spot will change with the seasons, and the board’s ball-end pine pegs can shift to accommodate everything from snowshoes to swimming goggles. Woven water hyacinth baskets beneath the bench and the rustic wood cabinet near the door complement the pine board’s organic look (which is terribly chic against the velvety black paint Tiffany chose for the cabinetry and walls).

Put your yard’s perimeter to work — and banish backyard clutter once and for all — with a pegboard that centralizes patio and pool toys with baskets, bags, pegs and hooks. Don’t concern yourself with matching the fence for an installation like this one; instead, pick a seasonal shade that’ll draw kids’ eyes (and show them exactly where to return their gear when playtime is over).

This small, contemporary wine bar packs a punch with striking details. Black and white, wall-mounted wine holders create an artful display in this stylish urban space. Exposed light bulbs hang from an eye-catching ceiling fixture and a state-of-the-art wine cooler adds additional storage.

No medicine cabinet? No problem: This practical project combines shallow floating shelves with contrasting pegs to create open storage with near-infinite arrangement possibilities. Diminutive ledges like these would feel lost in space mounted directly to the wall; against their seafoam base, they’re collected and cool.

Craft-station organization is all about having eyes on your supplies, and the less-is-more accessories mounted high on this sewing-station pegboard are ideal for maximizing visual access to the materials they’re storing. Add a bit of interest by pairing your pegboard’s plexiglass shelves with quirkier, opaque storage — like the wall-mounted vintage canisters holding brushes here — for items you don’t need to inspect from top to bottom.

Considering how much they can cost, ornate floor mirrors are surprisingly unsuitable for much more than leaning against the wall and looking pretty. This charming pegboard-mounted hybrid, on the other hand, combines maximalist decorative molding with industrial practicality, provides perches for plants and accessories, and rings in at a fraction of what you’d pay for a store-bought piece with no storage. Your move, other fancy mirrors.

This cute-as-a-button DIY turns a thrifted TV cabinet into a kid-sized play kitchen, complete with a customizable pegboard “backsplash.” Sure, designers are deploying pegboard in full-sized, high-concept kitchens like the one we featured in this feature’s introduction — but why should grown-ups have all the fun?

Speaking of designer kitchens, might we highlight a project that leads into pegboard’s initial midcentury heyday? Architect Wayne Turett built his Greenport Passive House to demonstrate that carbon-neutral, sustainable materials and spectacular design are anything but mutually exclusive, and his kitchen island showcases standard pegboard’s capabilities as an unexpected cabinet material. Painted dove gray and styled with Eiffel-base barstools, it’s a pragmatist’s perfect piece.

Unpainted pegboard epitomizes industrial chic in the HGTV Smart Home 2022, where Tiffany Brooks paired the composite wood with sleek black metal surfaces and visible rivets in a gardener’s workspace. Again, the piece’s coordination with the rest of the garage makes the pegboard itself feel like a style choice rather than a concession to practicality; because the shelving on the other side of the laundry room door also pairs riveted steel with warm, neutral wood, the room’s composition feels intentional and even elegant.

DIY phenom Ursula Carmona’s ultra-customized home is a luxe, mostly monochromatic testament to her upcycling skills — and that all-encompassing aesthetic extends to her picture-perfect workshop, where pegboard she framed and painted dissolves into the black wall. Mounted with smaller, gleaming frames and a trailing pothos, this just might be the sexiest utility space in North Carolina.

This groovy garage playroom goes all in on wall-spanning grey Lego base plates and white pegboard to create a graphic and satisfyingly functional creative space. Tailor treatments like these with trim that pulls them together; beneath the Lego plates, the garage’s concrete slab is painted white to mimic a baseboard. The traditional molding on the windows, in turn, functions the same way on the pegboard wall.

In this chic playroom, symmetrical accessories and deep gray molding that matches the doors, closets and baseboards make the rear wall’s large white pegboard feel like built-in cabinetry. Our favorite detail? The three brushed nickel towel bars deployed to support craft supplies (and add just a hint of opulence).

Sure, you could conclude a closet-to-homework-station flip by removing the coat hooks from the doors’ interiors — but if you leave them where they are, you can create a supply caddy with a long, narrow strip of pegboard and dazzling blue paint. Complete the look by creating a “frame” and hanging loop with decorative tape.

This colorful, graffiti-inspired office features a mural behind the green sofa that demands and holds attention; to balance it on the opposite wall above the desk, designer Gina Sims painted her client’s framed pegboard a fiery orange. That active, immersive hue recurs in accessories and textiles throughout the room, creating a sense of movement and harmony that’s sure to foster creativity.

This colorful playroom is the ultimate art station, thanks to the pegboard-mounted towel bar that dispenses rolled white craft paper. That pegboard is also an awfully convenient way to mount a television without sinking anchors into the recessed wall, no?