How To Use A Peg Board To Make Beautiful And Unique Shelving

We don’t tend to clump the words “exciting” and “shelf” together, but boy is that a shame.

In the wide world of DIY projects, there have been tons of really engaging, innovative, and stunning shelf ideas out there — like this mind-boggling shelf filled with secret compartments. It was inspired by the tiny house lifestyle in which people require creative designs to live in comfort.

Instructables user Matt2 Silver also had a muse when he built an innovative shelf for what he described as “one of the uglier, plainer walls in my kitchen.” His inspiration? A simple peg board.

While we typically think of a peg board as something to hang tools on — or the fun triangular peg game you can play at Cracker Barrel while you wait for biscuits — this peg board shelf is unlike anything you've seen before.

This DIY project is so gorgeous and intelligently designed, it’s something I would love to have in my home. Wouldn't you? Let us know in the comments below!

To build this incredible shelf, this DIY-er first broke down a 4 x 4' sheet of 3/4-inch plywood.

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Once he had the piece of wood he wanted, he had to drill 72 perfectly straight holes into it.

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First he drilled some test holes to make sure they were the right space.

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“Alrighty, wipe the sweat from your brow and marvel and the many, many perfect holes you've drilled,” he said.

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After he admired his lovely holes, he sanded his board — but not too much. “Just sand enough to remove any tear out or major blemishes,” he said.

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After he had sanded the board, he did something called “edge banding,” which is “an adhesive backed wood veneer that can be applied to the edges of plywood to conceal the layers, giving your project the appearance of finished wood.”

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He bought the commercial version, which comes with a heat-activated adhesive backing. He adhered his with a normal clothing iron.

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He used aprons to fill the gap between his board.

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He smoothed these edges as well with more veneer edging with an iron.

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He stained the whole board until he got a shade he liked.

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Then he created French cleats in order to mount the board onto the wall.

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“This step is one of the fun ones!” he said. It was time to carve some 1-inch pegs.

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He made them using a chop saw and created different lengths.

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Finally he cut some shelves.

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Last but not least, he slowly began to assemble his shelving and pegs into the board.

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The end result is stunning.

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“This is a great project that really adds interest to any space,” he said.

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“And best of all, it can be rearranged and reorganized to meet any of your shelving/storage needs.”

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Not a bad way to dress up an otherwise dull wall!

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Have you ever seen a shelf or piece of furniture that was inspired by something offbeat? Let us know in the comments!

Please SHARE if you would love this shelf in your own home!